Why You Keep Getting Out (And How to Stop)

Are you at the point where you can handle most bowlers, but you keep finding ways to get out?

It might be time to develop a mental routine.

You might be wondering what a mental routine is.

Here’s my explanation.

Why is it that one day you’re able to hit the middle of the bat from the first ball you face and yet, on another day, you nick that same ball through to the keeper?

It’s a $1m question.

It’s a question that requires some introspection and advice from people with more experience and expertise than most of us.

The simplest answer is that some days we’re on and some days we’re not.

OK then, but how do we give ourselves the best chance of being ‘on’?

By focusing on what we can control and developing a mental routine that is linked closely to the thoughts and feelings we experience when we are at our best.

Once you build that routine, you repeat it ball after ball.

So, what do you do when you’re at your best?

What preparation have you done in the week before hand?

Did you hit balls every day? Not at all?

Do you work on your fitness? Mobility?

How much sleep did you get each night?

What have you been eating?

These are all things you should take into consideration when building your blueprint and creating a weekly routine.

On the day of the game, what do you eat for breakfast/lunch/snacks?

How much water/hydration is right for you?

Do you have throw-downs during warm up?

Or, do you prefer to bowl or take some catches?

Through trial and error and keeping a record of your day, you will eventually work out what helps you find that ideal level of arousal.

It's likely to be an evolving process.

However, once you’re out in the middle, what can you do to ensure that regardless of what distractions you’re facing, you’re able to perform well ball after ball?

After all, what is it that you’re chasing?

Are you seeking to react in a way that you’ve trained, regardless of the match scenario?

To whack that half volley through the covers whether it’s your first ball or 100th?

To play the pull shot only once you’ve become accustomed to the pace and bounce of the pitch or are you happy playing it from ball one?

Here are some ideas to help you build a mental routine broken into physical and mental.

Physical:

Do your pads or gloves need adjusting?

Do you like to remove any bits of grass or dirt that have fallen off the bowler’s boots or a loose tuft of grass that needs the edges flattened out?

Is your helmet comfortable?

Do your eyes need to adjust to the natural light or changes in light behind the bowler’s arm?

Mental:

What are you thinking about or focusing on?

Are your thoughts loud and clear or do you have a song stuck in your head?

Is time passing slowly in between balls or do you feel rushed?

Are you reacting well to each ball in the same way as you’ve trained, or are you doing something out of character because you’re anxious?

Once you identify what you like to do physically in between balls, write it down.

This allows you to look at it and map out a timeline for the order in which you carry out these steps in your process.

This becomes your physical process.

Now to harness the mind

What thoughts work best for you?

Most players I’ve worked with or read about, speak about the clarity they have when they’re in their best form; that their mind is free of thought as the bowler releases the ball.

But, how do we achieve this clarity when we’ve had a few bad net sessions leading up to game day, our confidence is low or we’ve had a restless night’s sleep?

We need to narrow our focus onto what matters.

What matters most is that we watch the ball and trust ourselves to react appropriately.

This is where we need to learn to trust those hundreds or thousands of hours’ worth of training we’ve done up until this point.

It’s at this point, when the bowler releases the ball where thinking is actually counter-productive.

We don’t need to be thinking in order to react in the best possible way; especially when you’re facing a pace bowler; there’s no time.

We only have a fraction of a second to react.

We need to trust that if our mind is clear and our intent is positive, we will instinctively play a stroke that gives us the best chance of survival at the same time as giving us the best chance of scoring the maximum number of runs.

Often, it’s during the bowler’s run up that some of those deep dark fears can crop up.

Those thoughts about getting out and letting everyone down; thoughts that take our focus away from where it needs to be.

100% focus on the ball.

The seam to be precise.

It’s helpful to know what the best players do

Take bits and pieces from their routines that feel right to you.

In my teenage years, there were few better players to watch than Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey.

What words could you see them repeating to themselves during the bowler’s run up?

“Watch the ball.”

Why do they do this?

To focus the mind on what matters most.

Repeating the phrase during the bowler’s run-up gives that annoying voice in your head less chance to interrupt.

Sometimes giving even clearer focus to your key phrase helps as well, like ‘watch the white ball’ or ‘watch the seam.’

I challenge you to give it a try during your net sessions this week.

Repeat a focusing phrase to yourself as you’re lining up the bowler/thrower in training and work out how much clarity it gives you by how good your shot execution is.

If it’s not working for you, try something else.

Sometimes, singing your favourite songs can work too.

The following question is one that simplifies the entire process:

If you watch the ball out of the bowler’s hand all the way onto your bat, how can you make a mistake?

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