As the new season approaches, Lightning Sports breaks down the top fielding training aids to sharpen your skills before the first ball is bowled.
Fielding has never mattered more in cricket. From Test match level down to club cricket on a Saturday afternoon, the teams that win toss-ups and finals are increasingly the ones who catch their catches, save their fours, and back up every throw. Yet for most club players, fielding training remains an afterthought — a few catches in the warm-up, a couple of ground balls, and straight into the nets.
The right training aids change that. Here's a technical breakdown of the best fielding tools available from Lightning Sports this season — and which type of player each one is built for.
1. Crazy Catch x Katchet Combo — The Cornerstone of Any Fielding Session
If you're only investing in one piece of fielding equipment this season, the Crazy Catch and Katchet combination is the one to choose. Between them, they cover more fielding scenarios than almost any other single training tool on the market.
Crazy Catch has long been the gold standard for reflex and reaction catching. Its double-sided rebound net — one side predictable, one side genuinely unpredictable — forces the hands and eyes to work independently of the brain's anticipatory shortcuts. That might sound abstract, but in practice it means the catches you take in training are harder than the ones you'll face in a match, which is exactly where you want to be.
The Katchet board adds a completely different dimension. Designed to replicate the low, skiddy edges and catches that come off the bat at pace, it's an essential tool for slip fielders, wicketkeepers, and any player who fields in close catching positions. The angled board produces sharp, realistic deflections that a conventional rebound net simply can't replicate — the kind of ball that comes at you low and fast off a thick outside edge.
Used together in a single session, this combination develops hands, reactions, concentration, and positional awareness in a way that throwdowns alone never will. Suitable for all levels, but particularly valuable for specialist catchers and close-in fielders.
Best for: Slip cordon, wicketkeepers, gully, short leg — and anyone serious about improving their hands.
2. Reflex Deflector — Training the Instinctive Catch
The Reflex Deflector takes a different approach to reaction training. Rather than a rebound surface, it's a handheld tool worn or held by a feeder that deflects the ball at unpredictable angles at short range — forcing the fielder to react with no time to read, set, or anticipate.
What makes this particularly useful from a technical standpoint is that it trains the instinctive catch rather than the read catch. Most fielding training inadvertently teaches players to read cues — the position of the feeder's arm, the angle of the throw, the rhythm of the drill. The Reflex Deflector removes those cues almost entirely. The ball goes where it goes, and your hands either find it or they don't.
For club players who field regularly in the slips or at short midwicket, this kind of unpredictability training is genuinely difficult to replicate through conventional practice. It also works exceptionally well as a pre-session warm-up tool — a short, sharp burst on the Reflex Deflector raises concentration levels and hand speed before a longer session begins.
Best for: Pre-session activation, slip fielders, short leg, wicketkeepers. Pairs particularly well with the Crazy Catch for a comprehensive reaction-catching session.
3. Swivel Vision Goggles — The Psychological Edge
Swivel Vision works by blocking peripheral vision, forcing the wearer to use intentional head movement and develop genuine tunnel vision on the ball. Rather than allowing the brain to lazily rely on peripheral cues — the bowler's run-up, movement in the outfield, a fielder shifting position — the goggles eliminate that noise entirely and demand that the player tracks the ball with focused, deliberate attention from the moment it leaves the hand.
The practical results for fielders are significant. Without peripheral distraction, players develop locked-in visual focus, more intentional head movement, and a sharper mind-body connection — all of which translate directly to cleaner catching, better judgment under the ball, and more decisive movement to the catch.
For catching drills specifically, wearing the goggles during high ball practice or Crazy Catch sessions forces the fielder to commit their head and eyes fully to the ball's trajectory rather than using body position as a shortcut. The moment the goggles come off, the improvement in focus and ball-tracking is immediately noticeable.
The goggles are used by professional athletes across the NFL, MLB, MLS, and NHL, with coaches reporting improvements in tracking, positional habits, and concentration under pressure. The principle translates directly to cricket — a sport where reading the ball early is everything, whether you're a slip fielder reacting to an edge or an outfielder judging a skier under lights.
One size fits all, and they're suitable for players from junior level right through to senior club cricket.
Best for: Any fielder who struggles to commit their head to the ball, outfielders judging high catches, slip catchers, and wicketkeepers. Pairs exceptionally well with the Crazy Catch x Katchet combo for a complete, focused catching session.
4. Omtex Powerball 600g — Building the Arm You Want
The Omtex Powerball is a weighted training ball — at 600g, sitting comfortably above the weight of a standard cricket ball — designed to develop arm strength, throwing mechanics, and shoulder conditioning over the course of a season.
The principle is straightforward: throwing a heavier ball under controlled conditions recruits more muscle fibres, reinforces correct throwing mechanics, and builds the kind of shoulder strength that translates directly to quicker, flatter, more accurate throws in the field. Crucially, it also builds the resilience to sustain that arm speed across a full season of Saturday and midweek cricket, rather than fading in August when grounds are hard and the distances feel longer.
A few important technical notes for safe and effective use. The Powerball should be used with correct throwing mechanics from the start — it will exaggerate any existing faults as well as any strengths, so it's worth having a coach or experienced teammate check your action before building volume. Start with low rep counts and build gradually over several weeks. It is not a tool for bowling — throwing only.
Used properly across a pre-season programme, most players notice a genuine improvement in throw velocity and accuracy within six to eight weeks. Pair it with a proper arm care routine and you have the foundation of a genuinely strong outfield presence.
Best for: Outfielders, players looking to improve direct-hit accuracy, anyone returning from a shoulder injury looking to rebuild strength progressively.
5. Spikeball Weekender Set — The Recovery and Reaction Tool the Australian Cricket Team Swears By
This one might raise an eyebrow. Spikeball as a cricket training aid? Stay with us.
The Australian cricket team's incorporation of Spikeball into their training and warm-up routines is no accident. From a sports science perspective, Spikeball is an exceptionally efficient tool for developing several of the physical and cognitive qualities that elite fielding demands — and it does so in a format that players actually want to engage with.
The physical demands of Spikeball — rapid lateral movement, explosive short-distance acceleration, constant change of direction — closely mirror the movement patterns of a fielder attacking a ball in the ring or at short midwicket. The reaction element, reading a ball coming off the net at varying angles and speeds, directly trains the same visual-motor pathways that fielding requires.
Beyond the physical, there's a team cohesion dimension that's genuinely difficult to replicate with conventional drills. Spikeball is competitive, social, and generates the kind of high-intensity, low-stakes pressure that loosens a group up before a serious session begins — or serves as a recovery activity between training blocks.
The Spikeball Weekender Set is the model to go for. Its beefier frame handles the rigours of training ground use, the Rally Ball™ provides consistent bounce across different surfaces, and the lifetime guarantee means it's a long-term investment rather than a one-season purchase.
Best for: Pre-session warm-up, active recovery days, team cohesion training. Genuinely useful for any squad looking to develop fielding athleticism in a format that doesn't feel like fielding training.
How to Build These Into Your Cricket Programme
Used in isolation, each of these tools has value. Used together as part of a structured pre-season programme, they cover almost every dimension of modern fielding development:
- Arm strength and conditioning → Omtex Powerball 600g (3x per week, progressive loading)
- Reaction catching and hands → Crazy Catch x Katchet Combo (every session)
- Instinctive catching and pre-session activation → Reflex Deflector (10–15 minutes before each session)
- Visual processing and early ball-tracking → Swivl Vision Goggles (2x per week, mixed into catching drills)
- Athleticism, lateral movement, and team warm-up → Spikeball Weekender Set (warm-up and recovery)
The best fielding sides at club level aren't the ones with the most talented individuals — they're the ones who've trained the most deliberately. This kit gives you the tools to do exactly that.
All of the above are available now from Lightning Sports, the UK's leading specialist sports equipment retailer. Fast UK delivery, genuine products, and expert advice on building the right training setup for your squad.