How To Play The Perfect Shot – Arif Patel Dubai
In this section I’ll break down all of the technical details of the cover drive, focusing on each little aspect of your body position individually. Let’s start with arguably the most important one…the feet!
Foot & Leg Position
If you’re going to play the cover drive successfully, then you’re going to need to get your feet in a position that will help you.
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Your main aim should always be to get your front foot just slightly inside of the line of the ball. This is true whether you’re playing the shot off the front foot or the back foot. When I say ‘inside the line of the ball’ I mean that your front foot should always be slightly closer to the line of the stumps than the ball is. This gives you enough room to swing the bat and make contact with the ball. You should never get your front foot fully into the line of the ball if you want to play the cover drive! If you do this, you will be blocking the path between the bat and the ball with your leg!
If you’re playing the shot on the front foot, then you should take a stride down the pitch and get your foot inside the line of the ball. The length of the stride should always be a comfortable one. You don’t want to stride down the pitch too far that it makes you unbalanced! Once you have moved forwards, plant your foot and bend your front knee slightly. Focus on getting your body weight over the top of that front knee. This helps you to keep the ball grounded once you strike it! If your weight is back over your back leg, you are much more likely to hit the ball in the air.