Practice › Cricket › Pull shot
Cricket pull shot: check your form with your phone
The pull is played to a short ball, off the back foot, with the bat swung across the line. It is a power shot, and the power comes from the body: the back foot goes back and across, the shoulders turn through the shot and the hands move briskly. The phone checks what your body does, not where the ball would go.
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 go back and across with your back foot as you read the short ball.
- Stay balanced over your feet with your head still and your eyes level.
- Turn your shoulders through the shot and swing through at match pace, not slowly.
- Finish balanced and hold your shape for a second.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Playing it with the arms only
A pull with little shoulder turn loses power and control. Let the shoulders turn through the shot.
Falling away
Leaning back or away from the shot takes your head off the line. Stay balanced over your feet.
Staying on the front foot
Playing a short ball from the front foot cramps you. Take the back foot back and across.
What Formanti checks on your pull shot
Judged once the shot is over, with the hold of your finish timed.
- 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 (a tip, never a fault): your hands moving at about 1.6 m/s or faster at the fastest point. swing through at match pace: a power shot is played briskly
- Impact (a tip, never a fault): shoulders turned at least 35° from your stance (needs the phone square on to your side). turn your shoulders through the shot: the power comes from the turn
- Impact (a tip, never a fault): back foot goes back toward the stumps (needs the phone square on to your side). back and across: the back foot goes back toward the stumps
- Impact (a tip, never a fault): torso within about 25° of upright (needs the phone square on to your side). stay balanced: no falling away and no folding over
- Footwork (a tip, never a fault): up to 0.45× your torso. a still head: it moved less than half a torso length
What you hear and see when you are off
Swing through at match pace
The coach says: “Swing through”
On screen: Swing through at match pace.
Drill: Shadow 10 shots at three-quarter pace, then at full pace, holding your finish after each.
Turn your shoulders through it
The coach says: “Turn through”
On screen: Turn your shoulders through it.
Drill: Shadow shots with your hands on your chest: turn your shoulders to face the direction you want to hit, and hold that for a count of two.
Go back and across
The coach says: “Back and across”
On screen: Go back and across.
Drill: Back-and-across steps from your stance, ten times, then add the shot.
Don't fall away
The coach says: “Stay balanced”
On screen: Don't fall away.
Drill: Shadow shots finishing on balance and holding it for two seconds.
Don't fold over
The coach says: “Stand tall”
On screen: Don't fold over.
Drill: Shadow shots finishing on balance and holding it for two seconds.
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.
Keep your head still
The coach says: “Keep your head still”
On screen: Keep your head still.
Drill: Shadow shots in front of a mirror, keeping your eyes on one spot at eye level.
Drills you can do alone
- Back-and-across steps: from your stance, take the back foot back toward the stumps and hold, ten times, then add the shot.
- Turn-and-hold: shadow ten pulls, turning your shoulders fully and holding the finish for a count of two.
How to set up your phone
Phone 2.5 to 4 metres away at hip to chest height, your whole body in view. Square of you on the off side (where point fields) judges the most; in front of you, like the bowler's end, also works. 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. How hard you hit it and which way it goes cannot be seen. It reads your hands' speed, your shoulders' turn and your balance.
Frequently asked questions
Can the phone judge how hard I hit the pull?
It reads how fast your hands move and how far your shoulders turn, which relate to power, but it cannot see the bat or the ball. Treat the speed as a guide.
Does it check which way the ball would go?
No. It cannot see the ball or the bat, so the direction of the shot is not judged.
More cricket practice
Forward defence · Front-foot drive · Back-foot defence · Cut shot · Sweep shot · Batting stance