Fielding Coach?

[Mat the Cat]

What do fielding coaches actually do?

While Australia's fielding is generally very good, I don't see any advancement. Bailey can throw left handed due to an injury but why don’t most fielders learn to do this, as in football players learning their opposite side.

Is fielding any better now, than say, the Border years?

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Bob Simpson was ruthless with it and it changed fielding standards forever - it truly was a leap forward in international cricket.

But every year or so you see advancements in fielding across the board. The latest one that's been happening for a while is the running in pairs or threes when chasing a ball to the outfield. Of course before that was the slide pick up, the bounce throw, the hurl at the keeper.

The other thing is that a lot of younger cricketers come into the international set up and might have techniques that need tidying up, or perhaps an older cricketer gets into some lazy habits.

You could say the same about batting coaches - who out there knows more about batting than Ricky Ponting - but sometimes an objective eye helps - same with a fielding coach.

 

[Belnakor]

they started doing the relay'd throw for awhile too, but they seem to have stopped.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

they started doing the relay'd throw for awhile too, but they seem to have stopped.

Probably because due to training they all have strong enough arms now to hit the keeper.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

The best part of the coverage of the T20 the other night was the interview of Steve Rixon before the game started. It was interesting to hear of all the work he does with the players in trying to simulate all of the different angles they have to contend with based on whatever fielding positions they were likely to be filling in that game.

A good fielding coach would have to be a good motivator; in the Test matches Australia, including the non-squad member 12th men, would be out on the field for at least 15 mins doing rigorous fielding drills and were subsequently sharp in the field. The Indians seemed to have optional drills that they did half-assed with not everybody taking part, and look at how they performed.

 

[damochandler]

bob simpson was a master. fielding coaches these days are more worried about how many times you throw the stumps down in a match. a good firlding coach would recognise who is a good slips fieldsman or not. watson isn't a good slips fieldsman and why hasn't rixon moved him from out of that position

 

[The Passenger]

Bailey can throw left handed due to an injury but why don’t most fielders learn to do this, as in football players learning their opposite side.

throwing on the opposite side is so hard.

kicking is actually a simpler motion than throwing. the mechanics of throwing are way more complicated.

in kicking, the leg basically just follows a straight arc coming through. much like under arm throwing, which is why most people can under arm throw pretty much as strong on either hand.

but with throwing the arm starts bent, straightens up, and then you're wrist has gotta snap (unlike the ankle in kicking which really just stays solid) forward to get more momentum.

a lot more movements in throwing than kicking.

and the ultimate proof of why throwing is harder on the wrong hand, is if it were as easy as kicking wrong footed, it would be seen as common place by now. but it isn't.

john buchanan actually spoke about getting fields to be able to throw both arms to save time of getting it onto the other arm. i think it was basically just put it into the too hard basket as it's something that really needs to be done from a pretty young age i think.

fielding hasn't really advanced that much over the last 15 years, but the advancemenets between the 60 and 70's and the 90's were massive. watch games from 40 years ago. players basically give the ball a royal escort to the boundary rather than get on the ground. outside of the slips fieldsman and a handful of outfielders it was a joke.

 

[dumb]

What do fielding coaches actually do?

While Australia's fielding is generally very good, I don't see any advancement. Bailey can throw left handed due to an injury but why don’t most fielders learn to do this, as in football players learning their opposite side.

Is fielding any better now, than say, the Border years?

i think someone like mike young taught the players how to slide. players also run to the boundary in teams, one to fetch and flick back to the other who is already ready to throw.

in any case there was a dip in fielding standards while tim nielsen was around and now seems to be closer to where it was in our heyday.

 

[FRUMPY]

The key to being a good fielder is repetition (or key to being good at anything). Repetition in Catching, Throwing, different angles, sliding etc.


A specialist fielding coach can take the players for these drills while the other coaches only handle their specific areas.

Key to a strong arm and flat throw is using a baseball glove. This way in the warm up you throw with a partner hard and flat. Then you can also throw from further distances as your arm strength improves. If i was coaching a local club i would make sure they have baseball gloves to strengthen throwing arms and teach them to throw flat. You will find withing one or two off seasons that players are making throws on top of the bails from the boundary line with long flat throws.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Probably because due to training they all have strong enough arms now to hit the keeper.

One of the points of the relay throw is speed. Two short, flat throws can be quicker than one long throw with a high arc. Alternatively, you throw the ball so flat that it reaches the keeper on the bounce. Being a former baseballer, Mike Young introduced this approach to the Australian team.

 

[dan warna]

yep, concur, our fielding went from amateurish to brutal under the simpson regime.

I remember deano trying to bring similar fitness and fielding discipline to the county side he was captaining and they rebelled.

I think s.waugh used to grate at the slide in standards under tubby.

Under s.waugh (who was a border acolyte IMO), our fielding went from talented/good/natural, to absolutely brutal.

heals used to get the ball over the stumps either on one bounce or on the full.

I remember RSA's fielding surpassed us under taylor, and even Sri Lanka went from average to brutal under Dav.

The "Australian' method was adopted by everyone else.

Why did Australian fielding become so excellent? Border and Simpson suffered under windian brutality. Viv used to stare down anyone who didn't send it directly to dujon on once bouce or on the full, even the greats like marshall fielding at fine leg HAD to be disciplined. australia IMO amped it up a notch, but the windians set the standard in the world.