Batting Visual Preferences

As a batter we try and track the ball from the release of the hand, many a coach tells a batter “watch the ball” or “watch the ball all the way onto the bat”.

We work very differently as people, if we have a batter, they are usually told “keep your eyes level”. Level to what exactly?

I have been working with about 12 batters so far testing how they track the ball and what might help them as a general rule of thumb. Some people track the ball better when it starts level with the eyes or above then comes downwards. When you watch them bat they might not necessarily tilt their head down to track the ball (so they will not always point their nose to where the ball is as it moves). This is how I tend to bat personally and I always found the grill on the helmet a pain, so wearing no helmet makes batting easier for me personally.

Some people track the ball better when the ball is level with their eyes or below, then goes upwards (not so useful for batting you might assume). They would track the ball and tilt their head down watching the ball for as long as possible onto contact (we do not in reality watch a 90mph ball exactly onto the bat, but you will notice their chin nears their chest as the ball comes down).

How we view the ball can change based on where you are in your mind too.

The easiest work around is start with the eyes level to the “bowlers point of release”, bowlers like Kedar Jadhav make it interesting that they can come in under the radar and make batting tough for people like myself, as he would release the ball under eye level if I had a normal stance. To face him I might need to bring my chin downwards a fraction towards my chest so my eyes are level with his release point.

If you have issues facing spin where the ball can be above the eyeline then dip quickly, why not try getting the eyes level with the release point and see how you fair, you would tilt the chin upwards a fraction (see image of Ranagana Herath bowling right handed). If they bowl under the radar like Jadhav you might tilt the chin fractionally downwards.