00;00;00;00 - 00;00;18;14
Josh Kennedy
This is the Cricket matters podcast and today's topic is cricket batting mindset, the six step mental routine that works. However, before we do that, I'm going to put you on the spot. Do you remember what you were doing, eight years ago on this very day? What were you doing? 19th of May, eight years ago.

00;00;18;16 - 00;00;19;21
James Breese
I have no idea.

00;00;19;24 - 00;00;22;12
Josh Kennedy
You'd come back from Australia specially.

00;00;22;17 - 00;00;23;01
James Breese
Oh.

00;00;23;07 - 00;00;28;08
Josh Kennedy
What anniversary? Hey, there you go. Oh, happy wedding anniversary.

00;00;28;09 - 00;00;28;17
James Breese
Thank you.

00;00;28;17 - 00;00;42;12
Josh Kennedy
Very much. It's not. I'd, state that in there anyway. Yeah, let's move on. We are talking about the six step, mental routine for batting mindset. Let's start. Why does the mental side of batting matter in the first place?

00;00;42;14 - 00;01;07;26
James Breese
Well, I see time and time again from personal stories of me coming back into playing cricket, overthink, I overanalyzing it, I think, and speaking to the very best players I've known to have played for England. They all say that one thing is the thing that separates the very best players from the. The good players is what goes on between ears.

00;01;07;29 - 00;01;33;03
James Breese
If you can't control what goes on between years, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, then no matter what you do. Not just in cricket, but any sport. It's what goes on, how you control it. Just think of for Michael Jordan in basketball LeBron James. Think of Roger Federer. The pressure they have and they the it's the it's how they cope with the mental side of the games.

00;01;33;05 - 00;01;39;11
James Breese
That's more important than anything. Yes. Technique 100%. You need you need great technique of course.

00;01;39;11 - 00;01;45;07
Josh Kennedy
But you've got to have that for the incredible focus. You because you lose focus for a split second. You don't.

00;01;45;09 - 00;02;02;00
James Breese
That's exactly right. Yeah. You know, very simply, I reckon, I reckon I lost focus for one ball Saturday, which meant I got to a good ball, whereas I know I lost sight of the ball. I didn't have that same focus for that one ball. And it's only takes one ball to make a massive difference. And the same with anybody.

00;02;02;06 - 00;02;13;21
James Breese
You've got to have that mental focus and mental clarity and be be able to put yourself in a position to also control your nerves, because a lot of people getting up to bat, the nervous, particularly in the youngsters we work with, it's.

00;02;13;21 - 00;02;18;22
Josh Kennedy
Going to say control your emotions as well because it's like, oh, if you if you're nervous is shaking, you never going to close.

00;02;18;25 - 00;02;38;08
James Breese
Over to technique. So this is why our framework we look at the physical aspects first right. The quick amount is method is just we look at the physical aspects first. We then look at the mental aspects of training mental resilience. And then we look at technical and tactical on top of it. Because if we make physical differences, it can ultimately improve technique.

00;02;38;11 - 00;02;49;04
James Breese
If we improve someone's mental mindset and be more positive and feel less nervous, it's interesting, a carryover to game time and making scoring more runs, because we've.

00;02;49;04 - 00;02;59;22
Josh Kennedy
Had that coming quite a few times about people been feeling really nervous before they go out to bat, which is like you birds feel a bit nervous, don't you? And the adrenaline. But it's how you control that adrenaline. Yeah.

00;02;59;25 - 00;03;22;07
James Breese
And and the one thing you learn from all my work when I was in the police, some of the military units with sports athletes, it comes down to process and routine. And it's really important to have it. So again, people can look like an absolute jet or an absolute gun in the net, but they fall to pieces when it comes into the game time when playing out in the middle.

00;03;22;14 - 00;03;42;29
James Breese
Right. And there's a big difference between two. So if for anybody who's struggling with batting and they feel like they're performing well and that's but can't, can I over game time, I think this might be the podcast for you to think differently about having a process and a routine. When it comes to batting, it's the time between the balls.

00;03;42;29 - 00;03;59;00
James Breese
Now we're talking about not when it comes to facing it. Okay, so this is the six step mental routine, the batting I've put together and developed. Yeah. So it's hopefully going to carry over to everyone's games and they can start to use it to cool.

00;03;59;02 - 00;04;03;01
Josh Kennedy
So you've called the first phase the recover phase. You want to talk us through that.

00;04;03;04 - 00;04;23;29
James Breese
Yeah. So essentially it's big overview. There's two phases to this the recover phase. And you have the refocused stage a phase. So so to recover and refocus right. So you've just played a ball right. It could be good shot. It could be a bad shot. It could be a leave. It could be a forward defensive whatever it is.

00;04;24;01 - 00;04;50;25
James Breese
This is your time now to recover. Right. So the best players in sport, they, they have what we call reset action. But the three steps under the recover phase are reset, reflect, relax, reset, reflect, relax okay. We perform a reset action right now I learned this from baseball. A lot of the top pitchers, they perform a reset action when it comes to their pitching.

00;04;50;25 - 00;05;10;29
James Breese
They've pitch the ball. They then take their hat off. Or when they scratch the ground with a that on the mound, they do it deliberately because it signals the end of that previous ball. So whatever happens now, they're moving on from it. Yeah it's a it's a closure mode okay. So in batting you see a lot of players walk away.

00;05;10;29 - 00;05;32;15
James Breese
They'll turn the square like they'll scratch the ground in front of them. Whatever it is, they perform some form of reset action to say they have. Now that ball is now over, it's time to move on. Okay? It's a physical action. Then you have the reflex stage. The reflex stage is when. Okay, well, how was that ball? Was it a good ball that I play a good shot.

00;05;32;18 - 00;05;50;23
James Breese
How was I feeling? Was I in my best state to be able to perform my best during that ball? Now, I always use the example of when we speak to a lot of people. Shane Watson talks about someone's podcast a lot as well, that people usually have to feel in a good state of mind. How do they feel when they're performing?

00;05;50;25 - 00;06;06;10
James Breese
Now I know I if I'm calm, relaxed and balanced, I feel good. So I walk away and go, hey, it was like calm, relaxed and balanced for that ball. Yes or no? If it was no, will bring myself back to okay, I need to be more calm, me more relaxed and be more balanced. Playing the next ball, you know.

00;06;06;10 - 00;06;34;06
James Breese
Did I rush it the previous ball? Did I throw my hands at it too hard? You know the type of things. And if so, you can make changes. Okay, next ball I'm going to do something different. This is a reflecting stage okay. Of how the previous ball went. And then you have the relaxed stage. The relaxed moment is you've got to switch off completely because cricket and batting is a mentally draining process, particularly if you're a top order batsman and you want to bat the whole day.

00;06;34;08 - 00;06;53;25
James Breese
If you can't learn to switch off, usually fatigued, and you're not going to be able to play your very best. And that's why, again, not just physically draining, it's mentally draining. So that's why a lot of people get out in 20s and 30s and don't take on to score the big runs. Right. So this whole recover phase. Yes, breaking down to slow slow motion terms here now.

00;06;54;01 - 00;07;13;13
James Breese
But the point is this can happen very quickly. So bulls over there I'll talk you through my process for the recover phase pulls over. I will then scratch. I'll then walk to to square leg and ask myself was I complex and balanced? Yes. No. Okay. Call me. Be mindful. This next ball I might switch off some people and switching off things.

00;07;13;13 - 00;07;22;09
James Breese
They sing a song like Glenn McGrath or. But all the time he's to sing song of the day in his head. Andre have a sing his song is every talk more in this podcast in the it's the same way.

00;07;22;09 - 00;07;26;22
Josh Kennedy
What's your current song of choice? Jazz Pink Pony club. It's quite popular, right.

00;07;26;25 - 00;07;47;15
James Breese
Exactly that. No, no, it's it's whatever happens that day it can be different. So sometimes I would have had Sam Smith's like, dancing with a stranger the other day because I was on Tescos. As we were going in, it could be any, anything, but the Fleetwood Mac could be anything, just just from the switch off. Or you watch the boys on the in the pavilion, you watch the boys, the cover, look around you, it's going on.

00;07;47;18 - 00;08;08;06
James Breese
Whatever it is, just relax, switch off mentally. But then this sets us up for the refocus stage, because we then going to go back into dealing with the next stage of facing the next ball. What is the next ball? Right. How do you get ready for this. So again we've got the three hours with the recover reset action reflect relax.

00;08;08;08 - 00;08;35;01
James Breese
When it comes to refocus it's a plan set cue okay plan set cue. So plan is essentially decide a new intent right. What do you do the sport. Are you going to play the ball of merit or have you got a specific plan you want to execute in here? Now I argue that 99% of all club cricketers will play the ball on an on merit, which means they're not going to premeditate or preempt anything that's coming down towards them.

00;08;35;01 - 00;08;53;10
James Breese
Because if I do that, they tend to get into trouble. Okay. So let's just say it's a scene bowler. You say to yourself, right in the plan stage, right? Watch the ball, play the ball of merit. That is your plan of attack. Now, if it's a spin bowler, right. This is where it gets a bit more advanced and a bit more tactical.

00;08;53;12 - 00;09;08;27
James Breese
If you have to feel this up. An inner ring long on, middle mid-off up. And you know, as a spinner, you want to put them set them off the game. Right. You just spin off the game. You want to push long on long off back, which means the game then gives you chance to give and push singles.

00;09;08;29 - 00;09;29;28
James Breese
Right. So therefore my intent and my plan could be right. I am coming down the ball and down the wicket, this ball, this, this ball to hit them over the top to long on to try and push the field back. Right. That's a specific premeditated shot of coming down the wicket to take the ball over the top right.

00;09;30;02 - 00;09;51;21
James Breese
But I'm specific and not just like hit over the top. No where to okay I'm going to put it on here along the floor through mid-off. Whatever it is you could decide what your best shot is with a plan, the statement of intent, that specific which then could change. Yeah because the best players have a plan B if things go wrong, it may not be there to hit over long on right as an example, right?

00;09;51;23 - 00;10;08;04
James Breese
But the point is it's a specific plan. I'm playing the ball on merit. Cool. Let's do that. Or I'm going to hit over the top for long. On if you want to do that, but that's a specific plan. So I'm going into my set phase right, with a plan of intent to make sure there's one clear plan.

00;10;08;04 - 00;10;24;24
James Breese
And then I go into my setup phase, which is well, how do I how do I get my starts? Like how do you set up each each and every ball? There's a research that shows that the top professionals, whether it's cricket, golf, baseball, they have the same routine for setting up ball of the ball off the ball.

00;10;24;27 - 00;10;38;12
James Breese
What does it mean? I tell them about three times. Oh, get my stance shots get set up I got sidearm open up my front foot and I'm looking towards the ball. Tap twice. If he in ready. And then I start. Look here. That's my setup.

00;10;38;14 - 00;10;57;25
Josh Kennedy
Yeah. Just reminds me of, Jonny Wilkinson or Rafael Nadal. He was like. He was like rough. Was it natural? He'd like, sniff and then adjust his shirt and then pull his shorts down. And then he had, like, such a ridiculous routine. Jonny Wilkinson with his, with this thing and you know, had look, look and look, you know, I mean.

00;10;57;27 - 00;11;16;10
James Breese
That's a great that's a great example. Look at other sports. They all have their routine. Again Michael Jordan from the free throw line. Right. They had it there. His own set routine. Every single ball right. Same thing. So it becomes a routine because what we're creating is a process and a routine that takes away nerves and takes away feelings and thoughts, emotion.

00;11;16;10 - 00;11;35;13
James Breese
Because sometimes you just shut everything else out. What am I doing? Just this. Just this. Right. So, you know, if you don't know what your routine is, you need to find it out pretty quickly. Because again, the research has shown and there's an article that is going with this and I'm gonna put this out, in due course, it goes in-depth and shows the research that backs all of this up.

00;11;35;20 - 00;11;57;24
James Breese
Right. So we haven't I haven't just like created this out of like thin. This is based on years of experience and actual research that backs this process up. So that's a setup phase, right, to set up in however where you see fit, whether it's tap the back three times, whether it's and it's open up, whatever you do where you put your hands, it's it's it's unique to you, but you gotta know what it is.

00;11;57;27 - 00;12;17;26
James Breese
And then then it comes in the cue phase, right? The key is, is that how do you shut out the outside noise off. So you have one clear intent when the ball is coming in. So for me I go watch the ball. Watch the ball. And then I look for the area because I, I've go from soft focus to hard focus.

00;12;17;28 - 00;12;35;07
James Breese
I look at the area of the balls coming out and I will go hands, right? Which means I'm taking my hands back, which I know puts me in the best position to play the shot appropriately. Okay, so it's I think hands is the last thing to go through my thing because I want to shut everything else out. I'm just having hands.

00;12;35;09 - 00;12;36;08
James Breese
Now think again.

00;12;36;11 - 00;12;40;09
Josh Kennedy
Remind yourself and say, and sometimes you wouldn't take your hands back potentially.

00;12;40;11 - 00;12;56;04
James Breese
At the moment potentially. Yeah. But I know it's my hands and get me going. It shows intent. So for me that's the key. And I've tried lots of different things. I've tried intent, I've tried focus, I've tried be aggressive. Whatever the word is, it's going to be unique to the person. It's not just a technical thing to do.

00;12;56;06 - 00;13;18;13
James Breese
It's a state of mind which people may prefer. I can't get again. Listen to some of the great Australian podcasters and they talk about they want to be aggressive in their shots, so they would with sometimes aggressive. We don't stop sports psychologists. But this is this is the process. We're going through each and every ball. Because what it does is it gives you a system, it gives you standard operating procedure.

00;13;18;16 - 00;13;36;29
James Breese
And it also helps eliminate nerves. Right? Yeah. And by getting into a routine, getting really good at it, it then allows you to have more mental clarity to think tactically of what you're trying to do with the field. So again, most people can't think tactically because they haven't got a routine and process to follow and they have too many thoughts.

00;13;37;01 - 00;13;55;13
James Breese
I think it comes down to watching the ball with the number one principle is to watch the bloody ball, right? Right. You've got to watch the ball properly, and if you can't watch the ball properly because you haven't got system to do, I have to do it. You can act more often than not. Yeah. And that is the key thing is how can you help yourself get into a system where you can watch the ball with intent?

00;13;55;13 - 00;14;18;25
James Breese
Every single ball. And this is all kind of six. That mentality, the batting that I think is working well with the people using it, is something we've developed to try and take away nerves and inconsistency. Yeah. And it's based on what we've you know, what the pros and the researchers of say works well across multiple sports. Yeah. So there you go.

00;14;18;28 - 00;14;34;06
Josh Kennedy
There we go. It's all about having a process isn't it. That is the six step mental routine that works. And that is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. And if you would like our free training plan then go to Cricket manager.com/train. And remember our goal is to make you a better cricketer.