How to get more agile and low to the ground for cricket fielding

Become more agile in 5 days.

When fielding in cricket, you are putting your body under a lot of stress and strain due to the stretching/reaching and diving to catch the ball.

If the underlying strength and mobility behind these movements is poor then an injury is more likely.

To do these movements successfully you will need to have good hip and knee control, and good flexibility too.

I will be talking about how to improve agility and flexibility in order to get closer to the ground and show you a 5 day routine to help.

Learning to co-ordinate and control your body when you are off centre or unbalanced will help. Exercises on one leg or one arm that challenge your body to balance and control are particularly useful Some of these are included in our regular 5x5x5 work that all Excelsior athletes do.

Example exercises

Pigeon walks will get you to the ground in a low and long position where you are stretching and also working on moving through the stretch and keeping the joints strong and stable.

Arm reaches and lawnmowers will incorporate rotation which may be necessary to catch the ball. You could do the lawnmowers in a lunge position rather than a front support to feel a stretch and learn to control that low movement/position.

The important areas to stretch

Muscles that should be stretched are the hip flexors, hamstrings adductors, iliopsoas and glutes. All these muscles will be under pressure if you are lunging forwards to catch the ball.

 Static stretches

 Hip Flexor stretches –

This picture shows a hip flexor twist stretch. It is the more advanced version and will also stretch your quads when you pick up the foot at the back.

Adductor stretch 

Hamstring stretch –

Glute stretch –

Iliopsoas and hamstring stretch –

 Example session plans for 5 days

 Aim – to work on control of own body and start to improve stability of hips, knees, ankles (very important for braking, turning and moving efficiently in game play).

Some shoulder stability too. The first few days will include basic movements that concentrate on control and stability. Later on, more complex drills will be included.

 Day 1

Warm up – 10x lateral squats, 100x skips – repeat x5

Main activity – Hip series 1 (repeat x2-3)  Mini band walks (forwards, backwards and sideways)

Circuit

10 x scorpions 2 x rows of bear crawls 10 x overhead squats 2 x rows of crab walks

10 x lunge and lean  Repeat x 5

Stretches – include the above stretches. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

Day 2

Warm up – 10 x sit through, 10 x overhead squats – repeat x5

Main activity – Hip series 1 and 2 (repeat x2 each)

2x 10 single leg squats  1x row of pigeon walks, 10x overhead squats at the end 1x row of bear crawls, 10x lawnmowers at the end 1x row of side rolls, 10x lateral squats at the end  Repeat x 3-5

Stretches – include the above stretches. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

 Day 3

Warm up – Multi-directional lunges, 100 x skips – repeat x5

Main activity – Mini band work (forwards, backwards, sideways)

Agility drill – set up 4 cones into a square roughly 10metres space between each.

From cone 1 to 2, sideways bear crawl with 5x lawnmowers at 2.

From cone 2 to 3, pigeon walks with 5xlateral squats at 3.

From cone 3 to 4, sideways rolls with 5x back twists each side at 4.

From cone 4 to 1, bear crawl with 5x lateral hop and holds at 1.

Go through once slowly and controlled for practice, then repeat x2 timing yourself.

 Stretches – include the above stretches. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

Day 4

Warm up – 10x walk out press ups, 10x 6-way lunge – repeat x5

Main activity –  Hip series 2 and 3

Overhead squat and single leg squat work (re-enforcing lower body control and stability)

Rolls – forwards, backwards, sideways. Running / crawling into and out of rolls. Circuit

10x scorpions 2x rows of bear crawls 10x overhead squats 2x rows of crab walks

10x lunge and lean  Repeat x 3-5

 Stretches – include the above stretches. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

 Day 5

Warm up – 100x skips, 10 x alternate v sits x5

Main activity – Mini band work (crossovers, single leg push back and single leg push back with reach)

Agility drill (partners) – for this drill we will be adding the ball in to work on reactions.

Set up 2 cones, 10-20 metres apart. Person A will stand in the middle of the cones, Person B will stand in the middle, 10metres away from Person A.

Person B will roll the ball (slowly at first) to one of the cones and Person A will get there by any of the drills practiced, throw the ball back to Person B and run back to the centre.

Bear crawls Sideways bear crawls Rolls (forwards, sideways)

Repeat 3-5 times and swap over

Stretches – include the above stretches. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

This is just an example of training. Try it and see how it works for you.