Calling Plays via Numbers

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

May 1, 2018
659
63
There are a ton of different ways to call plays. Having each girl with a wrist bands, I'm not really a fan of...but I understand it. Yelling out your numbers is not the best idea. If you are going to us a number system signal in your numbers. It took me three batters last night to know what the other team was calling and one inning of pitching to know what the pitcher would be throwing.
Mix it up guys.
I'm old school and use signals for everything.
Anybody else notice this?
 
Apr 26, 2015
704
43
DD's TB coach still uses hand signals. But he changes them up mid game and sometimes the girls get confused. Her HS coach uses armbands but switches the cards every 2 innings. DD doesn't really care one way or the other.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
There are a ton of different ways to call plays. Having each girl with a wrist bands, I'm not really a fan of...but I understand it. Yelling out your numbers is not the best idea. If you are going to us a number system signal in your numbers. It took me three batters last night to know what the other team was calling and one inning of pitching to know what the pitcher would be throwing.
Mix it up guys.
I'm old school and use signals for everything.
Anybody else notice this?

Only with idiots. But then it was easy to interpret their signs when they were using the macarena signalling method as well.

A decent grid-based numbering system is basically impossible to decipher in game. Our coaches never call the same number out within a single game and since they are randomly generated, no way you can tell what they mean.
 
May 1, 2018
659
63
I grew up with a touch signal with an indicator. That's what I use....so I'm doing the macarena lol.
realistically all the other coach had to do was signal his numbers in and he would have been good. But yelling them out and not changing them makes it very easy.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
A decent grid-based numbering system is basically impossible to decipher in game. Our coaches never call the same number out within a single game and since they are randomly generated, no way you can tell what they mean.

DDs old team did this as well, had about 10 different numbers for each defensive play, so I cannot see how anyone could deciper. each number corresponded to a square on grid on wristband (3 sided, front and back of flap and the part that stayed on arm), and each square had a two letter code for the play (ie C2 for 2B to cut throw on a 1&3 situation), plenty of blank spaces as well, so you could call out a number at any time just to make offense think something was on. used signals for hitting and baserunning though, since there were fewer option (bunt, fake bunt, take, swing away, steal)
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
It took me three batters last night to know what the other team was calling and one inning of pitching to know what the pitcher would be throwing.
Mix it up guys.

I don't care if you know what my signals are. It has no impact on the outcome of the game.

If you are playing upper D1 college softball it would matter but other than that....
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
I grew up with a touch signal with an indicator. That's what I use....so I'm doing the macarena lol.
realistically all the other coach had to do was signal his numbers in and he would have been good. But yelling them out and not changing them makes it very easy.

We shifted to the number system just because it seems that's what all the 'cool kids' use... Honestly, many of my players are on college teams, so we use the number system just to keep them in practice. But I had no issue with the signals and indicators either. I always used a verbal cue with it as well. While I am providing the signals I may say something like "Here we go 1-1". That would signify the signal is on. But if I stated "Here we go Abby", it was off. Saying the players name was our shake off signal.
 
Feb 15, 2017
391
43
DDs old team did this as well, had about 10 different numbers for each defensive play, so I cannot see how anyone could deciper. each number corresponded to a square on grid on wristband (3 sided, front and back of flap and the part that stayed on arm), and each square had a two letter code for the play (ie C2 for 2B to cut throw on a 1&3 situation), plenty of blank spaces as well, so you could call out a number at any time just to make offense think something was on. used signals for hitting and baserunning though, since there were fewer option (bunt, fake bunt, take, swing away, steal)

Agreed, we are using arm bands for the first time at Jr High ball this year....because our catcher was blind last year. This year she is deaf evidently. We have over 100 different possibilities in our little grid and nobody is able to guess it yet. Must be complicated, right? Nope - girls had it in 5 minutes and it’s actually sped our games up. Catcher doesn’t have to get setup and look for my hand signals. Soon as she fires it back I am yelling the next number. It’s not old school- but I think it works great personally!
 

999

May 13, 2015
112
0
Agreed, we are using arm bands for the first time at Jr High ball this year....because our catcher was blind last year. This year she is deaf evidently. We have over 100 different possibilities in our little grid and nobody is able to guess it yet. Must be complicated, right? Nope - girls had it in 5 minutes and it’s actually sped our games up. Catcher doesn’t have to get setup and look for my hand signals. Soon as she fires it back I am yelling the next number. It’s not old school- but I think it works great personally!

Would you be willing to give more detail of the layout of these? My daughter just moved up to 14u and I think it’s time to move away from the basic hand signals we’ve been using. Need to be able to call more locations (high and inside or low and outside), as well as different pitches.
 

999

May 13, 2015
112
0
Agreed, we are using arm bands for the first time at Jr High ball this year....because our catcher was blind last year. This year she is deaf evidently. We have over 100 different possibilities in our little grid and nobody is able to guess it yet. Must be complicated, right? Nope - girls had it in 5 minutes and it’s actually sped our games up. Catcher doesn’t have to get setup and look for my hand signals. Soon as she fires it back I am yelling the next number. It’s not old school- but I think it works great personally!

Would you be willing to give more detail of the layout of these? My daughter just moved up to 14u and I think it’s time to move away from the basic hand signals we’ve been using. Need to be able to call more locations (high and inside or low and outside), as well as different pitches.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top