I love stories like this.
It just goes to show HOW MUCH of a difference and impact, you as a parent, can have on your child's cricket (or sporting) career.
A Story out of a Disaster of a Test Match...
I was watching the highlights the other day for the dismally short 2 day test between South Africa and India in Cape Town. It was incredible yet tough to watch, with wickets falling fast and thick, but also being thrown away.
Luckily, out of that disaster of a test I managed to walk away with a great little story.
During India's batting session, when Shubman Gill was in (one of India's rising superstars), he played a beautiful hook that raced to boundary and one of the commentors mentioned WHY he can play the short ball so well.
He said that the reason he plays the short ball with such ease is because his father spent hours in the back garden since he was 9, throwing him short balls.
So I did some research...
Shubman's father, Lakhwinder Singh, was not a professional cricketer, but was Gill's first coach, like so many of us parents are to our kids.
From the age of 9, Lakhinder made Shubman play 1500 short balls every day.
He also used a charpoy (charpai, manji) to throw the ball over, which according to Lachinder tends to make the ball travel faster after skidding off the charpai.
Plus they spent a lot time practicing on matting pitches, which provides extra bounce and forces you to get in line.
(What a Charpay looks like.)
That of course wasn't the only coaching he did with Shubman.
He also did things like making him practice with a single stump as his bat, which according to Lachinder, helped Shubman in finding the middle of the bat more often than not.
Essentially, Shubman’s father had a massive impact on his cricket and his career.
And the point is … so can you!
You really can make a difference to your child, and it doesn’t have to be making him hit 1,500 short balls a day.
There are an array of things you can be doing, that will be fun and make a big impact on your child’s cricket.
But the KEY is, to get started with doing those things TODAY.
I hope this story inspires you to do that.
To spend more time with your children playing and practicing!
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Here are some of the articles I found on this story:
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