Trigger movements and backlifts AKA Why Joe Root is an aesthetically poor batsman

[OverratedSanity]

But I stand by what I said about his batting. It's just ugly as ****. I've said it before its because of his backlift and trigger movement. Just looks so ungainly. Everything after that (ie) the shots themselves, the follow through etc is fine.

Yeah, keep digging that hole.

It's a few pages old but I can't imagine anyone thinking Roots' technique is ugly.

Yeah........way off base here OS, way off. Root has a genuinely gorgeous technique..

I actually would like to keep digging tbh.

A big part of what makes a batsman pretty to watch, for me atleast, is how he looks at the crease before he even plays the ball. How compact his stance is, how much flair his backlift has, how balanced he looks, how he shuffles his feet before beginning his shot, etc. Half the aesthetic value of a batsman comes here... before he even plays the shot.

And this is where, as I said, Joe Root looks ugly as ****. Let's just compare the fab4's backlift and trigger movements here :

Here's Kohli:

Gorgeous. A nice shuffle of his feet, head perfectly still, and he looks compact and balanced. Almost as beautiful as the man himself


On to Kane:

A little awkward with that weird twitchy backlift, but otherwise, he looks fine.. nice and comfortable with not many uncomplicated flourishes.



Smith:

That's hilarious. Looks like a crab, with the massive shuffle across the stumps and backlift from wide third man.



And finally Root...this ugly mother****er. Look at this:

Wtf is he even doing. He begins by standing perfectly straight, bat sticking up like a periscope and then does a weird crouch with his head moving all over the place. This is not aesthetically pleasing. It's terrible. Atleast Smith makes up by being funny looking and keeps his head relatively still. Root's technique (again, before his shot actually begins) has the misfortune of being both hideous and boring. And that's why he sucks.

It's science.

 

[DriveClub]

I wasnt sure what I was getting into in this thread but you've convinced me

 

[ImpatientLime]

urgh

kohli looks robotic and jerky as ****.

absolutely nothing aesthetically appealing about his style.

 

[Gob]

Think Smitteh went bit OTT with his trigger movement in England (which is where this gif is frim) but it looks better now #itsallaboutsmith

 

[OverratedSanity]

Robotic, maybe. Jerky, no. It's a smooth shuffle with zero jerky twitches, unlike Kane (his stupid twitching backlift thing), Smith (everything about him)and Root (his dumb half crouch movement).

I have already proved why Root is ugly though. So this thread may now be used to discuss why this is the case, and not to try and somehow justify the (wrong) opinion that Root is a pretty batsman. I thank everyone in advance.

PS: This is all in no way subjective.

 

[Noah]

I tend to agree. The way he crouches so late almost reminds me of a tail ender batting. The ugliness end there though - I think overall he's quite an enjoyable batter to watch.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Again, I repeat: After the trigger movement itself, Root's actual strokes when he puts bat to ball are nice to watch. However, that isn't the issue.

 

[ImpatientLime]

Robotic, maybe. Jerky, no. It's a smooth shuffle with zero jerky twitches, unlike Kane (his stupid twitching backlift thing), Smith (everything about him)and Root (his dumb half crouch movement).

I have already proved why Root is ugly though. So this thread may now be used to discuss why this is the case, and not to try and somehow justify the (wrong) opinion that Root is a pretty batsman. I thank everyone in advance.

PS: This is all in no way subjective.

i'd rather we discussed how root is overrated like a futhermucker tbh.

 

[TestMatch]

Even Kohli, by far the best looking of the lot, isn't an aesthetic great.

Aesthetic greats are like Hooper and Lara; chocolate swashbuckle meets ***y silk.

Kohli looks aesthetically ***y when he's in his ODI and T20 kit, though. It's the white uniform which doesn't quite suit his style.

 

[TheJediBrah]

"aesthetically pleasing" is 100% a subjective thing

You don't really need to make a thread explaining why something doesn't look good to you. That's just a fact and other people need to accept it.


edit: didn't read the rest of the thread. Just ignore me, if you will.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I mean I thought you were stupid but I didn't think you were quite this stupid.

 

[Gnske]

Smith's strokeplay has the elegance of a Swan, Kohli's strokeplay the crispness of a nice tuxedo, Kane the tightly pleasing (Tendulkeresque) strokes of a nice pair of shoes and Root's has all the beauty of the Black Dahlia after the murder.

 

[Burner]

Elegance of a dead swan you mean hopefully

 

[Compton]

I really like watching Smith bat tbh. I don't mind an unorthodox trigger movement at all.

 

[Zinzan]

I'm assuming OS is taking the piss here. He can't seriously be objectively telling the rest of us what's aesthetically pleasing to everybody.

I happen to love watching Root bat, and find Smith ugly on the eye, but I know some would see it the other way around.

 

[Bijed]

Yeah, I took his analysis of the techniques to be sincere, but his assertions of objectivity to be tongue-in-cheek. Fwiw I'm generally fairly indifferent to all of their aesthetics. I also find attempting to justify something subjective like this to others to be a largely futile exercise, so I won't try.

 

[Pratters]

What about Sehwag?

 

[Burgey]

What about Sehwag?

Retired a few years ago

 

[Burgey]

Boonie had the exaggerated walk across to off as his trigger movement too. Didn't do him any harm

 

[tooextracool]

And finally Root...this ugly mother****er. Look at this:

Wtf is he even doing. He begins by standing perfectly straight, bat sticking up like a periscope and then does a weird crouch with his head moving all over the place. This is not aesthetically pleasing. It's terrible. Atleast Smith makes up by being funny looking and keeps his head relatively still. Root's technique (again, before his shot actually begins) has the misfortune of being both hideous and boring. And that's why he sucks.

It's science.

I agree with your assessment on Root's stance (which is not the same as technique), though it should be noted that this evolved significantly from when he first rose onto the scene (as this clip below confirms)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UceTISW5I8Q

The changes were likely made to alleviate his back problems so that he was crouching less at the crease. The first time I can recall noticing the new stance was around the 2015 50 over world cup and remember thinking that it would make him susceptible to the full ball and consequentially make him an lbw candidate, though it hasn't quite panned out that way.