Practice › Cricket › Forward defence
Cricket forward defence: check your form with your phone
The forward defence is the shot every batter builds the rest of their game on. The aim is plain: get your front foot to the pitch of the ball, put your head over it, and let the bat meet the ball and stop in front of your front pad. Because there is no power in it, every fault in the body is easy to see, and each of them can be trained without a ball.
No equipment needed. Practise at home. Just do the movement properly in front of your phone: a shadow swing for racquet sports, a rep for lifting. No court, ball, shuttle or weights needed, and a racket or a bar is optional.
What good looks like
- Start from a still stance with your hands low and your head steady, then lift the bat back as the bowler releases.
- Stride toward the pitch of the ball, bending the front knee so your weight goes onto it.
- Put your head over, or just ahead of, your front knee, with your eyes level and still.
- Let the bat meet the ball and stop in front of you with soft hands, and hold your shape for a second.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Head falling away
If your head stays behind your front knee your weight is going backwards and the bat arrives late and across the line. Lead with your head and front shoulder.
Stiff front leg
A straight front leg means you reached for the ball instead of getting to it. Bend the knee and let your weight go onto it.
Pushing at it with hard hands
Hands that carry on after contact send the ball in the air. In defence the bat stops, and the hands stay soft.
What Formanti checks on your forward defence
Judged once the shot is over, with the hold of your finish timed.
- Finish: hands stop in front of you, no rise after impact. soft hands: the bat stops in front of you, no follow-through
- Finish: at least 0.6 s. hold your finish for a second
Your stance, stride and impact
Where the shot is played: is your head over your front knee, your front leg bent, your foot out to the ball.
- Impact: head over, or a little ahead of, your front knee. head over, or just ahead of, your front knee
- Impact: front knee bent at least 10° from how it stood in your stance. front knee bent, with your weight going onto it
- Impact: front foot out toward the ball, about half a leg or more. front foot out toward the ball
- Impact: chest leaning toward the bowler, not back. lean into the shot, not back
- Footwork (a tip, never a fault): yes. front foot lands before the bat comes down
What you hear and see when you are off
Get your head over your front knee
The coach says: “Head over the front knee”
On screen: Get your head over your front knee.
Drill: Shadow 10 shots freezing at impact: look down and check your eyes are over your front knee.
Bend your front knee into the shot
The coach says: “Bend the front knee”
On screen: Bend your front knee into the shot.
Drill: Step-and-hold: stride onto a mark, bend the front knee, hold 2 seconds, 10 times.
Get your front foot to the ball
The coach says: “Get forward”
On screen: Get your front foot to the ball.
Drill: Place a marker a stride away; shadow 10 shots landing your front foot beside it.
Lean into the shot, don't fall back
The coach says: “Lean into it”
On screen: Lean into the shot, don't fall back.
Drill: Shadow shots with a pause at impact, checking your shoulders are ahead of your hips.
Soft hands: stop the bat in front of you
The coach says: “Soft hands”
On screen: Soft hands: stop the bat in front of you.
Drill: Shadow 10 forward defences, letting the bat stop at the pad and holding it there for a count of two.
Hold your shape at the finish
The coach says: “Hold your shape”
On screen: Hold your shape at the finish.
Drill: Freeze-the-finish: every shot, hold the end position for a slow count of two.
Get the front foot down first
The coach says: “Foot down first”
On screen: Get the front foot down first.
Drill: Step, plant, then swing: say 'foot' as it lands and 'bat' as the hands come down, 10 times.
Drills you can do alone
- Step-and-hold: stride onto a mark a stride away, bend the front knee, put your head over it and hold for two seconds, ten times, then add the bat.
- Freeze-at-impact: play ten slow forward defences, stopping at the moment of contact to look down and check your eyes are over your front knee.
How to set up your phone
Phone square of you on the off side (where point fields), 3 to 4 metres away at hip height, so your chest faces it in your stance. No ball needed: shadow-bat. It reads you best without pads. It all runs on your phone and nothing is uploaded. Filmed from the front or from behind the phone can count your shots but not judge your feet or your head position.
Guide values, new and not yet checked against real players. It doesn't see the bat or a ball: it checks your body, with your hands standing in for the bat. It can't tell which shot you played. You pick it, and it checks that shot's basics. Impact is an estimate, taken from the lowest point of your hands. The cut, the pull, the sweep and leg-side shots aren't covered yet, and neither is bowling.
Frequently asked questions
How do I practise forward defence without a bowler?
Shadow-bat in front of a mirror or with your phone propped up. The footwork, the head position and the soft finish are all in your body, so you can train them without a ball.
What does soft hands mean?
It means the bat meets the ball and stops, instead of pushing through it. The coach checks that your hands do not carry on up after contact on a defensive shot.