Pull Shot

Professional cricketers know how to deflect an aggressive bowl by ‘pulling’ the ball to the other side of the field. A pull shot involves swinging the bat across your body, pulling it - and hitting the ball - from one side of your body over to the other. The ball is typically hit downwards from where it is bowled at around waist-height.

To execute a pull shot, the batter needs to extend his arms to swing the bat. The moment before the bat strikes the ball he then turns his wrists towards the ball so as to direct the ball downwards and to the far side of the field.

It is a particularly useful shot when the ball is bowled ‘short’, and you have to lean into the shot, or if it is bowled very fast. By practising your pull shot you can minimise the dangers posed by an aggressive bowler, who won’t be able to take advantage of surprising shots against a batter who has mastered the pull shot.

You can maximise your chance of being able to execute the pull shot by keeping a good, well-balanced stance, and by watching the ball all the way from the bowler’s hand to your bat. If you watch professional cricketers’ pull shots, you will see their heads are always directly behind the ball. Use the force from your swing to make a powerful hit.

There is an instruction video illustrated with filmed examples posted on You tube, which gives you tips on how to improve your pull.

You can practice the pull shot with a friend by taking it in turns to bowl, with the batter aiming to execute a ‘pull’ with each shot. As you get more experienced at this, you might want to set out two posts and then aim to pull each shot into the space between the posts.

Pull Shot