Donald Bradman's Batting Technique - Evolution

Evolution

Bradman’s game evolved with experience, as these comments from Wisden regarding his play on consecutive tours of England demonstrate:

1930 - … he nearly always stepped back to meet the ball with a vertical bat. And this is where he had his limitations, for the tour proved that when he met a bowler either left-hand or right who could make the ball just go away he never seemed quite such a master as against off-break or straight fast bowling. A glorious driver, he hit the ball very hard, while his placing was almost invariably perfect. He scored most of his runs by driving...only on rare occasions did he lift it.

1934 - It was noticeable that in many innings Bradman lifted the ball to a far greater extent than when he came here first...it was obvious that in the course of four years he had improved his technique almost out of knowledge. He was much more interesting to look at because of the wider range of his scoring strokes. At his best he was probably harder to get out than ever…

Bradman temporarily adapted his technique during the Bodyline series, deliberately moving around the crease in an attempt to hit the short deliveries into the vacant off-side. He had the capacity to switch between a defensive or attacking innings at will during the peak of his career in the mid-1930s. After the war, he again readjusted, batting within the physical limitations set by his ageing body, to become a steady “accumulator” of runs.