The Lap Shot in Cricket: Technique, Risk & When to Use It
What the lap shot (or fine glance) is, how to play it, when it is most effective, and the dismissal risk it carries against pace and spin.
The lap shot — sometimes called the fine glance or the paddle — is a batting stroke played to a full delivery on the stumps or wide of leg, deflected finely down the leg side behind square. Unlike the conventional glance, the batter often gets into a low position, almost kneeling, and uses the bat face at an angle to guide the ball towards fine leg or backward square leg. It is primarily a white-ball shot but has been used in Test cricket.
Difference Between Lap Shot, Sweep and Glance
| Shot | Ball Length | Direction | Primary Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lap shot | Full, on/outside stumps | Fine leg / backward square | White-ball, T20 slog phase |
| Sweep shot | Pitched on good length | Square leg / mid-wicket | Against spin bowling |
| Fine glance | Short of length, on leg | Fine leg | Conventional deflection |
How to Play the Lap Shot
- Identify the delivery: full ball on or outside leg stump — either from a seamer setting a leg-side field or a spinner.
- Pre-meditate (T20): many batters pre-position early for the lap when the field is deep on the off side.
- Position: get low — bend the front knee deeply, almost kneeling on the back knee.
- Open the bat face: angle the face of the bat behind the line of the ball, pointing towards fine leg.
- Contact: take the ball off the full face or the toe of the bat — do not attempt to hit hard, just deflect.
- Guide, do not hit: the pace of the delivery does the work — the batter simply redirects.
Tactical Uses
- Countering a packed off-side field: when four or five fielders are on the off side, the lap sends the ball into unoccupied leg-side space.
- Death-over improvisation: forces bowlers to adjust their line, breaking their rhythm.
- Against leg-stump yorker bowlers: a planned lap turns the most dangerous T20 delivery into a scoring opportunity.
- Against spin with short fine leg: pick the gap between fine leg and backward square leg.
Famous Lap Shot Players
- Jos Buttler: one of the most frequent and effective lap-shot batters — often targets the yorker deliberately.
- MS Dhoni: pioneered the helicopter shot variant that shares DNA with the lap, deflecting pace behind square.
- Tillakaratne Dilshan: the Dilscoop grew from the same instinct as the lap — deflecting over the keeper's head.
Lap shot against a yorker
Scenario: A fast bowler bowls a leg-stump yorker in the 19th over of a T20. The batter, seeing the fine leg is up inside the circle, drops into a kneeling position, opens the bat face, and deflects the full ball finely past the keeper to the fine-leg boundary. The bowler's best ball in that phase has just gone for four.
Frequently asked questions
Is the lap shot legal in cricket?
Yes — any stroke that does not obstruct the field or violate other laws is legal. The lap shot is a legitimate batting technique.
Can the lap shot be played against pace bowling?
Yes — it is actually most effective against fast bowling because the pace of the delivery does the deflection work. The batter simply angles the bat.
What is the difference between a lap shot and a Dilscoop?
The lap shot deflects behind square on the leg side at ground level. The Dilscoop redirects the ball over the wicketkeeper's head — a riskier, more aggressive variant.