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In an era of cricket where big shots mean big bucks, power hitting coaches are changing the game

'If you hit the ball at greater than 90mph in the air, I guarantee that it's a six on any ground in the world' says hitting coach Julian Wood

Rohit Sankar
Tuesday 16 October 2018 13:38 BST
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In the razzle-dazzle world of T20, big hitting means big pay cheques
In the razzle-dazzle world of T20, big hitting means big pay cheques

As the boundaries and matches get shorter, power hitting in cricket has never been so important.

And such is the rise of the musclemen up and down the batting order that specialist hitting coaches are increasingly being used by some of the best-known and most forward-thinking teams.

"With modern day totals and the rapid rise of T20 cricket, power hitting is one key skill that young batsmen need in their repertoire,” says Julian Wood, former Hampshire player and the pioneer of the science-based power hitting revolution in limited-overs cricket.

With T20 batting reaching insane levels, Wood has ditched the old-school batting manual and compiled one of his own, taking elements from various other sports en route. As is often the case with cricket, the birth of power hitting has a dash of baseball to it.

Scott Coolbaugh is a former MLB player turned coach

“I went to America on a family holiday 10 years ago where I met a guy called Scott Coolbaugh who was the hitting coach of the Texas Rangers. My curiosity was pricked by their methods and once back home I spoke to Graham Thorpe and a few players in the county circuit.

"It became clear to me that most batsmen wanted to add power to their game,” added Wood, but he still needed to figure out how.

What started out as a mere curiosity soon gathered momentum as Wood started exploring ways of maximising the hitting potential of batsmen and the ways he would transmit that to players. He visited America again to study on what baseball players did to enhance their big hitting skills and soon stumbled upon the simple truth that when batsmen slog it is the hip, rather than the biceps or shoulders, that plays a pivotal role in generating power.

This was the breakthrough Wood was seeking and he was soon working with the England Lions and the national team using a range of innovative methods to hammer home his observations. Years later, he now has an established reputation as a power hitting coach and has worked with Australia, Afghanistan, South Africa and a slew of international players.

Hitting coach Julian Wood has used inspiration from other sports to help cricket

“You cannot be a top flight T20 batsman unless you maximise your hand speed. In cricket, wrist or forearm power is often underrated. Ideally, if a batsman has a certain hand speed, the ball should come out of the bat at speeds greater than that. If that isn't happening, something is not right.”

Wood's job is to identify where the speed comes from and goes to, even where the batsman doesn't know himself. In T20 cricket where boundaries are shortening, Wood focusses on helping batsmen clear the rope effortlessly.

“If you hit the ball at greater than 90mph in the air, I guarantee that it's a six on any ground in the world. But I ask them [batsmen] to aim for 100mph. Sam Billings does it, Colin Ingram does it,” Wood affirms while adding that Ingram's remarkable success in franchise cricket is a result of him taking complete ownership of his power hitting game.

Ingram is among those who have benefited from working with Wood. Another is the latest internet sensation, Hazratullah Zazai, the Afghanistan batsman who hit headlines this week for smashing six sixes in an over in an Afghanistan Premier League game. The southpaw had worked with Wood prior to the Asia Cup, as did 18-year old Indian wonderkid Prithvi Shaw, who made a memorable debut against the West Indies as is now being talked about as the cricket-mad nation's next superstar.

Prithvi Shaw is considered one of the rising stars of Indian cricket

Wood's out-of-the-box techniques have contributed a fair bit to his burgeoning acclaim - from hurling sticks to bungee ropes, Wood's coaching routine is unique because he focuses on his research, which showed that batsmen use less of their body while hitting maximums.

That is why Wood went about identifying ways to transfer power to the hand from the torso and all of the techniques he employs looks to maximise this channelling of energy. “Batting is very hand dominant in cricket. When you hit, the body gets into different positions. This is where players and coaches get confused.

"Batsmen do not often get into right positions and there is less focus on that from the coaches as well. Being able to understand which position the body needs to get into for a big hit is important,” Wood adds.

But while his coaching is rooted in biomechanics, it clearly isn't suitable for all forms of the game while Test cricket continues to be seen by many as the pinnacle.

“You need two techniques if you are playing all formats of cricket," concedes Wood

"There is the skill game, touch game and power game. Most players have two out of three. A few like [Virat] Kohli, [AB] de Villiers and Ingram have all three. Someone who plays just shorter formats often gets into better positions to go big because of his mindset."

And yet in the one-day and T20 cricket just one question sums up Wood's beliefs:

“Why hit a four when you can hit the ball in the air at the same speed and get two extra runs?"

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