Deja moo said:
^ SJS, what I meant to say was that despite him being a left hand dominant player , he is a bottom hand ( ie right hand ) player predominantly .
It just goes to show that in some cases one can be a bottom hand player even if the bottom hand is not really your dominant hand.
Really raises questions about the labels "right handed batsman " and "left ahnded batsman ". A right handed batsman might feel more natural playing "left handed" , and he would say that he is batting right handed. We might just have had the terminology wrong all along.
I presume that by a left hand dominant player you mean he(Sachin) is a left hander. If I think right, he prefers to throw in from the deep field with his right hand , doesnt he ?
Generally it is normal, for everyone, to use the bottom hand. When you take a child for his first coaching lesson, this is the first thing that gets noticed. He will hold the bat with the right hand low near the blade (assuming he is a right handed person) as if it were a stick to beat someone with and then adjust the position of the left hand on the handle, ususally turned around way towards point(back of the hand that is). THe orthodox grip and the teaching of the dominant top hand is difficult initially and some children never imbibe it.
So I would say, that the dominant hand being the bottom hand (and vice versa) is the natural way for all people.
If you catch a child (right handed) early enough and pursuade him to bat as what we term a left hander, with his right hand becoming the top hand, you may find that imparting the other orthodox technical aspects of the grip and swing become easier. I have seen at least two such cases in Delhi where cricketer fathers made their sons bat with their dominant hand as the top hand. But this is very rare.
Most kids go to the coach having played some cricket, even if it is around the block, and the coach , seeing how they stand at the wicket (as right handed or left handed batsmen), dosen"t try to change that bit.
It is much more prominent in golf where all driving is left hand dominated and its the top hand and the players are (and called ) right handers
In cricket at least there are many strokes cuts, pulls etc which are bottom hand dominated.
I remember, my coach telling me to grip the bat as if it was an axe (with the inner edge of the bat being the blade) and this brought the grip very close to the orthodox grip. I just recalled this on reading your post. It is strange that when we hold a stick, a sword etc in one hand, we hold it in our dominant hand and grip it from the top. But the moment we hold it in both hands, the dominant hand goes lower.
I can think of only one reason. When you want to swing the stick, the bat, the axe with power and hit an object in a fixed spot, you need both power and precision. Man must have discovered early that while he could get adequate power with his non-dominant hand on top combined with speed of the swing, the precisiona nd accuracy of the plane through which to swing was better achieved by the dominant hand being the one to provide that. You get much more precision with the hand closer to the 'sweet spot" than otherwise. Try swinging a stick to hit a ball placed away from you. The shorter the stick (distance between the hand and the part of the stick that hits the ball) the more accurate will be your aim.
I think the bottom hand, in an orthodox drive , provides the direction and also helps in keeping the bat face straight. You cant trust your top hand to do that
If you are a right hander, you can try this small excercise. Try batting as a left hander. What is it that you see your problem as. Firstly, of course, is the feet movement. This is fundamental since you are not used to it. But try swinging with feet a bit wide apart in the stance and no forward or backward movement as you play.
You will find that while you are able to swing the bat alright. In fact you will be able to do it very well if you used only your top/dominant/right hand. BUT, you are not able to direct the bat in the right direction when you are using both hands. I suspect it is because your non-dominant hand, the left hand in this case, is not able to guide the bat in an accurate enough direction.
So maybe there is some thing more important than the speed of the swing and the power in batting , the accuracy of the dirsction of the swing and the control over the plane in which the bat moves. A big lesson in this maybe
)
