wrist bands

We used a touch system for offensive calls for example if I touched my hat twice in any sequence without wiping it was the steal sign. We also had verbals like 20 through 29 which stood for two touches. I liked it better in baseball because I could slow or speed up the game and always made them think.

My catchers were also very good and I gave dummy signals most of the game and he called the pitch. The other team would spend the entire game trying to get my signals and I didn't give one. Of course I could always make a call. Sometimes pat in move out or pat in and stay in.

Started the school ball season without a card. Forgot to print it. DD ran with it. Called a great first 5 innings. Then the other team started crushing the ball. I asked what was going on. She shrugged her shoulders, said “I’m calling a great game, she’s not throwing what I’m calling.” I asked the pitcher she said “I’m tired, I’m just throwing to get it over the plate.”

Catchers are smart cats, give’em a chance to run with it.


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I have a 12U team this year. I have the wristbands. Why? Because my players either refuse to catch the signs or are simply confused. Personally, I think it's because several of them refuse to bunt when needed because they don't see the big picture and have the ability to smash the ball. Now, they don't have the choice because I will sit them immediately if they don't do what I called. As far as pitching goes, I let my catcher's call the game unless I feel the need for a particular pitch. Thanks to you Bill, I now know it much better than I did before I met you. Also, Emily is calling the pitches in her college games thanks to you. That said, wristbands are much easier to use IMO to get away from the misunderstandings of play calling in general.

mmeece said:

I was of the same opinion as Hillhouse until we used them. I'll never go back; it's just too simple to use and too hard to steal. I'm generally an "old-school" guy but when the new stuff works I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot by not using it.

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I am in this camp. We never used them before and now use them for offense. We tinkered with using them for pitchers but decided against it. We do let our catchers call some games that we are a heavy favorite to win. We are very efficient with them and take less time to get the sign than if coaches was doing the macarena at 3rd base. We play teams that are absolutely obnoxious with them every pitch. They take forever and it is ridiculous. We have a pretty good combo on the card and our girls know many of them without even looking.

DD's new HS uses them so this was new to us this year after we moved. She seems to like them on the mound but it drives me crazy in the stands because I can't figure out the pitch call ahead of time. I thought I had it one game a few weeks ago for a couple innings and then realized I was completely wrong. Kept telling DW the next pitch would be a riseball based on the 3 numbers I had thought I had figured out. I was wrong.

Told DD I was trying to figure out the numbers when she got home that night and she just laughed at me and told me I never would. I then asked her to take a picture before the game and text it to me so I could "follow" along. She laughed again and told me that would never happen. She seems to enjoy the fact that I don't know.....

Thinking about hiding a wrist band in her bag and texting her that her coach told me to tell her to use it to warm up before an upcoming game. Not going to put any numbers or anything on it and will just keep it simple with a quote: Try not to suck tonight!

One other benefit is that the defense also has the wrist bands and knows what pitch will be called next. On D's high school team, they give the 3 digit sign to the catcher and then to the defense so they anticipate where the ball may be hit, get a pick off sign, etc.

One a separate note, we played a team that moved their outfielders on almost every pitch, for example if they knew the pitch was going to be outside to a right handed batter, the left and center fielders would rotate to the right side of the outfield about 20 feet. If the pitch was suppose to be inside, they would rotate to the left side. Seemed pretty dumb to me as an observant batter could recognize the outfield shift and know what location the ball was supposed to be pitched. Sometimes you can outsmart yourself on defense....

I’m with Bill. Teach your catchers, along with pitchers, how to call the game. They will surprise you.

Older kids don't bother me but the younger ones with 5 pitches that all look exactly the same and only hit their spots 50% of the time sometimes you just want to ask is there a number on there for a strike...lol

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DD's team uses wristbands for both offense and defense. Also have some hand signals on offense to mix things up a bit. Also, we have four coaches, but normally 2 or 3 coaches at a tourney depending on work schedule. So it's a bit easier for the coaches to work off the wristbands while coaching a base if our HC is talking to college coaches. Team has been using them for about 4 years now so everybody is on same page and doesn't seem to slow down the game.