The Constraints Collective #88 Round Up 9
11 snips
Apr 5, 2026 They debate whether bowling machines and dog sticks are degrading real ball-facing skills. They explore live feeders, tailored net sessions and warm-ups that match wind and surface. They highlight backyard play, a simple risk-reward game for shot selection, and a push to reframe 'skill acquisition' as ongoing skill adaptation.
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Ditch The Bowling Machine For Rhythm
- Avoid using bowling machines or static feeders for young cricketers when you need perceptual–action coupling to develop.
- Ian Renshaw banned the bowling machine mid-programme and used throw-bowling to restore rhythm with 13-year-olds facing real bowlers.
Situated Normativity Keeps Mediocre Methods
- Cultural habit keeps coaches using familiar but suboptimal tools, a phenomenon Keith labels situated normativity.
- Practices persist because they're 'adequate' not optimal, so change requires awareness not just evidence.
Sinner Warmed Up With Two Human Feeders
- Yannick Sinner used two exhausted human feeders at the Melbourne Open rather than a ball machine for a fast, multi-directional warm-up.
- Keith Davids watched Sinner struggle to track the ball but benefit from realistic perceptual information from both sides.