Practice › Cricket › Front-foot drive
Cricket front-foot drive: check your form with your phone
A front-foot drive looks like a swing of the arms but is built from the feet up: a stride to the pitch of the ball, a head that stays over it, and a finish that carries the bat up over the front shoulder. Cover, straight, off and on drives all share that same base, and the base is what the phone can check.
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
- Settle in a still stance, then lift the bat back as you get ready to move.
- Take a full stride to the pitch of the ball and plant the front foot before the bat comes down.
- Bend the front knee and keep your head over it as the bat comes through, with your weight going into the shot.
- Follow through high, with your hands finishing above your front shoulder, and hold the finish in balance.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Falling over the off side
A head that drifts away from the line of the ball pulls the shot across. Keep your head still and over the front knee.
Not getting to the ball
If the front foot barely moves, the bat reaches the ball instead of meeting it. Stride, then play.
Stopping the bat low
A drive that finishes at your hips has lost its follow-through. Let the hands carry up over the front shoulder.
What Formanti checks on your front-foot drive
Judged once the shot is over, with the hold of your finish timed.
- Finish: hands finish above your front shoulder. follow through high, hands above your front shoulder
- 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.
Follow through high
The coach says: “Follow through high”
On screen: Follow through high.
Drill: 10 slow drives finishing with your hands above your front shoulder, held 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
- Stride-and-plant: shadow ten drives saying 'foot' as the front foot lands and 'bat' as the hands come down, so the order becomes a habit.
- Freeze-the-finish: after each drive hold the end position for a slow count of two, with your hands above your front shoulder and your head still.
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. Cover, straight, off and on drives are all checked the same way: the direction of the shot can't be seen.
Frequently asked questions
Does the coach know whether I played a cover or a straight drive?
No. It checks the base every front-foot drive shares: the stride, the head over the knee, the lean and the finish. The direction of the shot is not judged.
Can I practise this in a small space?
Yes. You need room to stride and to swing the bat through to your finish, and the phone square of you on the off side. A garden or a hall is enough.