Junior batting practice fails in two opposite ways: all games and no habit, or all technique and no joy. The drills below thread it — each one is a game a kid will replay voluntarily, and each secretly installs one habit that matters: watching the ball all the way, a stance they can move from, and a bat that swings straight. Soft balls throughout; a frightened junior learns nothing.
Underarm, on a bounce, at the pace of success. The feed exists so the child succeeds often enough to stay; difficulty rises only when boredom shows.
One habit per session. Pick the drill that matches this week's fault and stop while it's still fun. Ten good minutes beat forty resentful ones.
Praise the watch, not the runs. 'You watched that all the way' builds the habit that survives; 'great shot' rewards an outcome they can't control yet.
Roughly 5–11 with a soft ball, adjusting feed pace rather than the drills themselves. Once a junior faces a hard ball with a real run-up, graduate them to the full front-foot drills and proper net practice — the habits these games built come along.
Soft, until the technique — and the confidence — are obviously ready. Fear is the biggest technique-destroyer in junior cricket: a child flinching from the ball learns to retreat, and unlearning that costs more than any drill teaches.
The child asks to play again — that's the leading indicator. The lagging ones: the colour calls get accurate (watching), the statue stops wobbling (stance), and the river stops being crossed (straight bat). Film a few underarms side-on a month apart and the difference is usually obvious.
Sticks watches your net session through your phone and speaks this exact kind of coaching in your earbuds, one focus per ball — in English or Hindi. Video never leaves your phone, and it's free to start.