How to Play a Straight Drive ft. Homeground Cricket App

Straight Drive is one of the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing shots in Cricket. Over the years, the likes of Tendulkars, the Pontings and many more legends have grasped our hearts with those stunning drives. However, it takes years of hardwork and practice to master this shot.

The success of anything remains in the strength of your foundations. The basic foundation that you need to have for an ideal straight drive is a well-balanced stance alongwith strong grip. You need to hold the bat in a way that the top hand grips the handle of the bat comfortably, while the bottom hand lends support and control. Ensure you have a perfectly balanced stance with the feet shoulder-width apart and the weight evenly balanced.

The hand eye co-ordination, your head stable and eyes on the ball are the core basics to execute this shot!

Backlift and Body position

Hold your bat in an ideal backlift position and raise it as the bowler runs up to the crease. The timing between your bat release and bowler’s run up should sync in a way that when your bat release comes down for the final contact, the ball connects with the middle of your bat.

The key factor is to ensure the backlift should be straight and heading towards the direction of the gully or slip area. Your front shoulder should be ideally pointing at the bowler, and the body stance should be side on. 

Timing and Balance:

To hit a beautiful drive, you have to make sure your timing at the time of bat downswing is accurate & also maintaining your balance at the time of middling the ball.

You can achieve this by keeping your head stable, eyes on the ball, judging its line, length and pace accurately and for that good focus is equally paramount. 

Another important factor is to shift your front foot towards the line and close to the bounce while maintaining good balance. 

Footwork and Transfer of Weight:

Batting is no less than art, it’s a form of dancing on the pitch which requires amazing footwork! To make it appear elegant, you have to put the right footwork.

Remember that once you have taken the front stride towards the bounce and line of the ball, you need to transfer your weight onto it while keeping your backlift and balance to ready yourself for the shot!

Batswing and Follow Through:

Keeping eye on the ball and head stable, bring your bat down straight without trying to hit it hard! It’s the timing which matters as you push the ball down the ground with effortless ease. You can always watch straight drives of International Batters like Tendulkar and try and imitate that during your practice sessions! When you try to connect the ball in front of the leg pad, it’s assured of a clean strike! Have a smooth follow through in the direction of the shot and yeah, don’t forget striking some picture perfect poses!

Middle the Ball

The more you practice in the nets, the more you will be able to execute that in the match. Middling the ball is the core aspect for any shot to be successful. Middling the ball from the middle of your bat gives the shot an explosive power which makes it glide effortlessly towards the boundary rope!

How to Practice Straight Drive:

• Watch Straight Drives of International Cricketers on Youtube! (Slowmo it to observe batsman's technical aspects)
• Imitate the Shots in Nets & Shoot your own batting videos using Homeground Cricket App and observe your own batting to make improvements.
• Shadow Practice.
• Batting Drills using Tee Cone.
• DIY Drop Ball Technique.