Watching video archives from Bradman to Ponting made Watson better batsman

MELBOURNE - Australian batsman Shane Watson became a better batsman after watching a video montage of everyone from Sir Donald Bradman to Ricky Ponting with Ashes legend Greg Chappell holding the remote

Then Watson simply copied their body and feet position as the bowler released the ball.

“It was footage of all these great players from the 1900s up until recently. At the release of the ball, all of them were in an almost identical position at the crease,” he said.

“They were all looking to go forward, with their sort of foot off the ground, and their back foot in place,” FOX Sports quoted him, as saying.

Watson went into Chappell’s archive while sidelined with a back injury in the summer of 2009-2010.

He then modified his technique for three weeks and then went out and scored a century for Queensland.

“I played with more freedom than I ever had. I could still see the replays when I was out there batting. Once it’s in your head, it’s not the kind of stuff you forget,” Watson said.

“Greg Chappell showed me the footage and I was like, right, I can do this, too. From then on, the things we did, it got to the point where my batting just really started to blossom. They were amazing bits of footage to watch,” he added.

Before the archive footage, Watson averaged 19.76 in the middle order. Since, watching those movements from Bradman to Ponting, he’s averaged 50.44. (ANI)