Okay so yesterday I’m scrolling cricket videos, right? Stumbled on this “RCB Batting Coach Revealed” headline. Figured, hey, maybe there’s a magic fix for my dogshot cover drive. Grabbed my old bat, some beat-up tennis balls, and hauled my lazy backside down to the empty park near my place. Gonna try whatever they’re selling.
The Setup (aka Hunting for Gear)
First, realized my proper cricket balls are buried god-knows-where since lockdown. Dug around the garage, found nothing but dusty helmets and a single frayed pad. Shrugged. Tennis balls would have to do. Dragged my creaky batting tee out too – felt like digging up ancient history. Sweated just setting the damn thing up under this baking sun. Off to a brilliant start.
Whacking Stuff Wrong Repeatedly
Started easy. Just tried hitting straight drives off the tee. Felt stiff. Awkward. Like my arms forgot how to swing. Kept thumping the ball straight into the ground or slicing it wildly towards imaginary slip fielders. Focused hard on keeping my head still, like everyone always screams. Did it help? Nah. Felt worse. Got annoyed. Tried hitting harder. Smashed one ball so badly it vanished into the neighbour’s overgrown bushes. Spent ten minutes searching, gave up. Grumpy.
Switched to someone soft-tossing. Partner lobbed me balls. Tried pulling like I see Kohli do. Top-edged every single one. Hurt my damn shoulder! Played some pathetic half-hearted defence shots. Whole thing felt like hot garbage. Was ready to chuck the bat and go watch Netflix instead.
The “Revealed” Bit That Actually Did Something
Sat on the grass, knackered and sweaty, pulled out my phone. Scrolled the video again, proper annoyed now. They kept banging on about this one point: what your elbow does during the backlift. Not the front elbow everyone yaps about. The back elbow. The non-dominant one. The video guy said something simple: before you even start your swing down, try pointing that back elbow right towards the bowler as you lift the bat. Sounds daft, right?
Figured, screw it, couldn’t get worse. Set up again.
- Lifted the bat up. Focused HARD on twisting my upper body just enough so my back elbow felt like it was aiming point-first at the imaginary bowler.
- Suddenly, felt… different. Tighter? More coiled?
- Swing down. Ball met the middle of the bat. Went straighter. Felt easier. Less arm flailing.
- Tried it for a cover drive. Still awkward, but the contact? Way cleaner. Didn’t feel like I was fighting the shot.
Hammering It Home (Literally)
Got obsessed. Hit ball after ball focusing ONLY on that back elbow pointing thing.
- On the tee? Bang. Middled consistently.
- Soft toss? Whack. Timing clicked way better.
- Tried pulling again. Actually got UNDER the ball! Didn’t sky it once.
Muscle memory fought back hard. Old habits crept in. Needed constant reminder shouts: “Back elbow! Bowler! Point it!” Looked ridiculous yelling that to myself. Didn’t care. My shoulder thanked me – less wild flailing, more controlled movement.
Left tired, sore as hell, but weirdly chuffed. Didn’t fix everything overnight. Cover drive still needs serious work. But for the first time in ages, felt like my arms and body were actually kinda talking to each other during the shot. Went home feeling less like a lumbering troll with a stick.
So yeah. That “RCB Revealed” hype? Mostly fluff. But this one nugget about pointing the back elbow? That worked for this dusty park-level hacker. Gonna keep grinding it. Maybe someday I won’t get laughed outta the nets. Still got the tennis ball bruise on my thigh though. Ouch.
