Updated April 22nd, 2020 at 11:37 IST

Steve Smith hones his hand-eye coordination with little bit of 'isobatting' amid lockdown

For a person who shadow bats even while he is sitting idly, it has to be hard for Steve Smith to pass the isolation period without swinging the willow

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
| Image:self
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Coronavirus or not, Australia's Steve Smith has always taken it upon him as a challenge to constantly improve his game, this time from indoors using a simple technique to improve his coordination. As the cricketing action around the globe as been brought to a halt by the COVID pandemic, players around the world are busy sweating it out at their homes, revealing innovative training techniques to hone their skills. Australia's contemporary Don Bradman is no different either. 

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Steve Smith hones skills with new technique

For a person who shadow bats even while he is sitting idly, it has to be hard for Steve Smith to pass the isolation period without swinging the willow. However,  the former Australian skipper found a perfect way to build on his hand-eye coordination with the help of a simple exercise. Taking to Twitter, Steve Smith demonstrated to his fans his latest drill - smashing a tennis ball with the bat against the wall, with the aim of the drill being to find the same spot on the bat while rallying. Smith called the technique 'isobatting' and said that it not only helped with the coordination but also acted as a good warm-up and exercise indoors, helping him keep in touch. 

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Steve Smith on his unorthodox stance

During a recent chat session with New Zealand spinner as well as Rajasthan Royals' spin consultant Ish Sodhi on the official Facebook page of the 2008 winners, the number three batsman said that sometimes he gets trapped in front of the wicket but he is alright with that at stages, knowing that if it is outside his eyeline then he does not need to to try and play the ball as he can just leave that. In an earlier interview to a daily publication, the former Australian skipper said that it depends on who is bowling, how is the wicket playing, how will he be scoring or how people are trying to get him out which according to him is probably what determines how open or close he is (with regards to the stance). 

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Published April 22nd, 2020 at 11:37 IST