Posted on February 11, 2019 at 07:04 AM
I'm the first to admit - that my passion for the game of cricket doesn't match my ability in being able to play the game of Cricket. I'm one of those players who honestly loves playing any form of cricket, at any time of the year - but I do find the belief in my ability to play cricket generally rises during a couple of weeks break over the Christmas and New Year period - where I give the Pads and Gloves a break whilst I find my almost permanent sport on the couch watching a combination of Test Cricket, Big Bash Cricket and any other cricket related shows that now appeal to me on the new Fox Cricket Channel 501.
The usual pattern of my park cricketing journey would normally play out as follows - before Christmas, average 30 or so with the bat - However, after Christmas break with a somehow a higher level of acquired ability from sitting on the couch and thinking I can back away from each ball and belt it over cover for 6 - average 5-6 with the bat.
I've always put it down to my unique ability to get swept up in the emotion of watching cricket and my head not matching my ability set - vowing that next season I won't do the same again. But the strangest thing this time - this hasn't happened - if anything my average has gone up. I was lucky enough to be given a StanceBeam Striker to review by the team at Kookaburra Cricket.
The StanceBeam Striker is designed to fit on top of any cricket bat and becomes the brain of your smart bat. The 3D sensor then connects to our APP ecosystem across iOS and Android. Smart motion sensors built into the device provide a validated set of data which provides the 3D swing analysis, Bat Speed generated, Power index, and shot efficiency.
Did this little piece of technology make my batting better? The short answer is no - I'm still the same average park cricketer. But what it has allowed me to do is look at my game from another angle. I've been a user of many different forms of wearable technology over the past few years - believe me I've tried them all. Do they make me a better walker or runner - not at all - but they do allow me to monitor my daily habits and routines over time and make small changes to affect the outcomes. The StanceBeam Striker is no different. Using the Striker during my training sessions I noticed that I was training differently than before Christmas - I was actually being more defensive in my training sessions, looking to defend and time the ball - rather than looking to hit the bad balls and increase my bat speed. The StanceBeam App has a great feature where you can compare your speed over time - including against a different session.
I quickly went back to how I was training before Christmas - where we played a lot more 1 day games as opposed to the 2-day games post-Christmas and the average has continued to climb this year - something that hasn't happened for a few seasons. I was simply trying to be different in my mental approach to training, which lead me to approach the game day similarly.
I'm still the same average cricketer I've always been - but thanks to this little piece of data from StanceBeam which has allowed me to fix a relatively minor issue in how I approach Red Ball Cricket as opposed to White Ball Cricket - I'm feeling much happier about my time on the couch.
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