Watching the Texas 12u LL southwest champ game and the batters are taking 1-2 seconds to read the wrist band then get in the box. Hope that didn't delay the game to long for them. 
Again, the number system???
- Thread starter Cannonball
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Wristbands suck and should be made illeagal.
Game is getting more like baseball everyday. I have coached for 15 years now at most levels and currently run a High level showcase organization. Great, recruitable, D1 prospects are calling their own games. They are there in the box with the batter. If they are great prospects, and true catchers, not just kids who can catch they should have countless hours with their pitchers and they know what is working at that moment in time for that particular pitcher. They also as Great prospects should be Great hitters. Good organizations teach mechanics of the swing to catchers. Great catchers should be able to find holes and flaws to try to exploit in every swing. Pitch to these weaknesses. Our organization has had more sucess with catchers than any I know of. 7 D1, 5 D2, 3 other scholarships for cartcher signed in our 6 years at a high level.
Bottom Line: We may have called 20 pitches over the years for these kids. Catchers call the games, and debreif with pitchers and coaches between innings if needed. Speeds up the game especially in 1:20 minute showcase games. College Coaches are impressed with kids that show this kind of leadership, and maturity. College coaches come to us every year to see our next prospect, and kids are lined up to catch in our organization.
It is a Win, Win. Teach the kids how to do this and you will find much more sucess on the field, and in the recruiting arena. Most of the time Cachers are the least coached position Great organizations teach higher level concepts for the elite player to grasp and accelerate their understanding of the game.
Game is getting more like baseball everyday. I have coached for 15 years now at most levels and currently run a High level showcase organization. Great, recruitable, D1 prospects are calling their own games. They are there in the box with the batter. If they are great prospects, and true catchers, not just kids who can catch they should have countless hours with their pitchers and they know what is working at that moment in time for that particular pitcher. They also as Great prospects should be Great hitters. Good organizations teach mechanics of the swing to catchers. Great catchers should be able to find holes and flaws to try to exploit in every swing. Pitch to these weaknesses. Our organization has had more sucess with catchers than any I know of. 7 D1, 5 D2, 3 other scholarships for cartcher signed in our 6 years at a high level.
Bottom Line: We may have called 20 pitches over the years for these kids. Catchers call the games, and debreif with pitchers and coaches between innings if needed. Speeds up the game especially in 1:20 minute showcase games. College Coaches are impressed with kids that show this kind of leadership, and maturity. College coaches come to us every year to see our next prospect, and kids are lined up to catch in our organization.
It is a Win, Win. Teach the kids how to do this and you will find much more sucess on the field, and in the recruiting arena. Most of the time Cachers are the least coached position Great organizations teach higher level concepts for the elite player to grasp and accelerate their understanding of the game.
I forget there are a lot of rec coaches and TB coaches posting here. At the level we are playing we are not playing to win, but to showcase talent. We have no Coaches egos to stroke, and we are not chasing trophies. We are earning scholarships.
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coachjwb
Love this game!
Bartow ... sounds to me like your beef isn't with wristbands, but with coaches calling pitches ... wristbands are just one way to communicate them ... I agree that an invaluable skill for a catcher is the ability to call a game. My DD pitched 4 years in college ... some of her catchers were good at calling her pitches, and some not so good (but they hit well). I don't know if the ones who were poor at it were so because their previous coaches didn't let them, or they just weren't good at it. I do know that they all were allowed to call their own game in college, and that was absolutely a factor in the wins and losses of the team. If I had been the coach, I would have wanted to call them for the ones who weren't so good at it. I may or may not have used wristbands to do so.
