Pirate Galaxy » ban and was caught up with Trevor Graham, M

I play for my local team. I enjoy watching people play the sweep shot. I try to do it, but I never do it well. Could you please give me some tips to develop the shot?First things first, work out the right length for sweeping. The line is not as important as the length. If the ball is pitched full youll be cramped and there is a high chance youll miss the ball and be out lbw. Too short and youll have a greater risk of a top edge. The right length allows you to lean towards the ball with an extended front leg and sweep with semi-extended arms - essentially this is a good length. This is why it is such a useful shot for the spinners because it gives you run-scoring options when you cannot drive or cut/pull. The next important factor is making sure your head is over the ball with your pad in line as a second line of defense. This gives you balance and ensures you are in control of the stroke. Finally, swing from up to down and aim to hit the ball just after it pitches. As with all strokes, practice really hard in the nets. This is a useful stroke but not an easy one to play. Take care when sweeping out of the rough or on pitches of variable bounce.How do I learn to play the correct shot for the correct ball before going to bat?You cant learn that before you go in to bat. You have to step out to the crease and play each ball on its merits. Let your natural instinct guide you. Its all about reactions.Right-handed players are not so attractive when playing shots. Left-anders play drives and flicks so easily and beautifully. The only right-handed players I have seen playing those shots beautifully are you and Ponting. How do you play so much better than other right-handers?Well theres no real secret. I just practice my shots till I get it right. Left-handers generally are more elegant in their strokeplay but also different people see it in different ways. Just remember that the main thing is to score runs, whichever way you get them.I tend to have a very strong grip with my bottom hand when I bat, any suggestions to correct this? The easiest way is to make sure your bottom hand grips the bat very loosely between your thumb and first two fingers. Then practice with a friend in the nets. You can even practice with just the one hand driving underarm throws from a friend. Gilchrist, of course, famously used a squash ball in his bottom hand glove for exactly the same reason. You can try this too. But the key is practicing a lot and getting used to the new grip - firm top hand, loose bottom hand.How do you know when to come down the wicket to a spinner?This can be premeditated, but dont come down the track and play it too early. Wait until the ball is released and then judge the line and flight of the ball and get to the pitch of it. Make sure that your first step is longer than the second one because if your second step is longer you may tend to lose balance. Make sure your head is well balanced during the shot.When I bowl an inswinger it never swings.Swing bowling is not an easy art form to perfect. Dont expect to just be able to bowl it. You will need to practice hard and work with your friends and coaches. The general rule is that outswing requires your wrist to be cocked right behind the ball, the seam pointing toward the slips. At the point of release your wrist pushes out the ball with the fingers always behind the ball - think of throwing a dart. A strong wrist position is essential for outswing. Inswing, on the other hand, requires a looser wrist with a seam position pointing towards leg slip. If you are a natural outswing bowler with a strong wrist and sideways on action, it may be difficult to swing the ball in. But keep working on the seam position and be patient.Mahela, what worries you most - quick genuine pace or accuracy?Good question. Both are a challenge. Facing a really quick bowler gets the adrenaline going and it can be fun. I have always enjoyed facing fast bowlers and I like playing the pull and hook stroke so that helps. Facing a really accurate bowler is a different challenge that requires patience and good shot selection. In the past, perhaps, I was vulnerable if I was not scoring as I like to see the runs ticking along. But now I am more patient so it is not such a weakness. One thing I would say is that from a bowlers perspective, being quick is rarely enough. If you are not consistent in your line and length you will get punished by good players on good pitches.Vans Scontate . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Outlet Nike Online . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. http://www.scontatescarpenikeoutlet.it/italia-air-max-90-offerte.html . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Saucony False . PETERSBURG, Fla. Air Max 97 Saldi . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday.PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- The smartest minds in American sprinting have spent years trying to solve the riddle of why, as often as not, U.S. relay teams have struggled so mightily to get the baton around the track when the stakes are highest.Leave it to the Jamaican, Usain Bolt, to come up with what might be the most plausible answer: They tend to panic.The American sprinters are gathered this week at an Olympic training camp outside of Houston, once again trying to create chemistry and find answers to a problem that never really goes away.Eight times since 1995, the American men have either been disqualified or failed to get the baton around the track at the Olympics or world championships. The women, who set the world record in the 4x100 at the London Games, arent immune to the butterfingers, either. Theyve mishandled the exchange in two of the last three Olympics. And at last years world championships, in the 4x400, where the pass shouldnt be a big deal, a bobble cost them the gold.The key to changing that dynamic: I think just being relaxed, said Tyson Gay, who helped the Americans get the baton around four years ago, only to cost them the silver medal because of a doping violation. No pressure, just relax. Thats all I think.If only it were that simple.In a sport built on individual accomplishments, the relay is that singular opportunity for the country that routinely wins the most medals in track to show that it can, in fact, function like a team.Since 2008, that pressure has been coupled with the fact that Jamaica -- while not as deep across the entire scope of track and field -- has the fastest man on Earth.When youve got Michael Rodgers standing in the third relay zone and Jamaica and us are shoulder to shoulder and hes looking at Usain Bolt on the anchor leg, thats going to impact your athletic performance, said Duffy Mahoney, chief of sport performance for USA Track and Field.Last year at world championships, Gay and Rodgers mishandled the final handoff and the exchange came outside the legal passing zone. It disqualified the Americans and sent Bolt on what couldve been a jog to the finish line for the gold.Asked to explain Jamaicas baton strategy, Bolt said there was no magic to it.We know the key thing is just to get the baton around, he said. Because with the U.S., we know we always have the best team, and they tend to panic. Pressure gets to them somettimes.ddddddddddddBolt doesnt have to be on the track for things to go bad.In 2004, then again in 2008, the U.S. women mishandled the baton in the 4x100. The 2008 miss, combined with a botched exchange between Gay and Darvis Patton in the mens race, contributed to the United States being shut out of gold medals in all six sprint races for the first time in Olympic history. That led to a top-to-bottom overhaul of the way the U.S. handles relay training, which now requires sprinters to attend training camps and participate in a number of relays before the Olympics.Carl Lewis, who won relay gold in 1984 and 1992 (he wasnt on the team that got DQd for passing outside the zone in the 1988 qualifying heats), has been one of the most outspoken critics of the U.S. team. He says theres too much politics involved in who gets coaching assignments and who gets to run in the relays, and not enough time devoted to perfecting the art of the baton pass.Ive been to (junior) nationals, Ive been to (junior) Hersheys meets, Ive never seen a baton hit the ground, Lewis said in March. What they need to do is get a retired college coach whos going to tell the agents to kiss off, and tell the athletes to get in line and know how to put together a relay.In charge of the relay operation this year is Dennis Mitchell, who has relay gold and silver from 1992 and 1996, but whose appointment to that role was controversial. Mitchell served a two-year doping ban and was caught up with Trevor Graham, Marion Jones and the BALCO doping scandal.What, in Mitchells mind, does it take for a perfect relay exchange?What doesnt it take? he said. The girls are running at anywhere from 10 to 13 miles an hour, the guys are somewhere around 20. So theres a lot of moving parts that happen when youre going through a zone.When things hit on all cylinders, the results can be incredible. In London four years ago, the team of Allyson Felix, Tianna Madison (now Bartoletta), Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter ran the oval in 40.82 seconds to break a 27-year-old world record.And when they dont, the second-guessing begins.The closer the race, the more pressure it puts on the athlete, Mahoney said. Sometimes, no matter how well-prepared they are and how good they are, things happen. Its sports. ' ' '