Player not getting signs

[mad hornet]

I have an 11 year old player who is giving me fits. When I quiz her on our signs she gets them right. During a game she is totally clueless. I truly don't think she is disregarding the signs either. If I give her a slash bunt, she'll try to drag bunt instead. After the inning I will show her the same sign and ask her what it means and she'll say "oh yeah, I was supposed to slash!". I've only had her since this fall and have politely asked her dad to work with her on signs but if anything she's getting worse.

I don't know if this is related to some sort of learning disability or what. None of the other players are having a problem (as a rule) but with her I may as well be spinning a roulette wheel as give her a sign. I guess the good thing is that it makes it tough for opposing teams who are trying to steal my signs because even I don't know what she's going to do.

At any rate I would like to hear from others who've been through this and how was the problem resolved?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

It could very well be a learning disability. See if she can do word association. "Dig right in there!" (drag bunt) "Sit on one!" (slap)

 

[starsnuffer]

Is her parent, or any other parent trying to "coach" her from behind the backstop? Is your dugout coach, or your third base coach trying to coach her to do anything more then "read sign, see ball, hit ball" when she's on deck and walking into the box?

So many times I see and hear teams who let their parents get away with this nonsense, and all it does is stress out and confuse the girl trying to bat, which may lead to her freezing up and screwing up the sign.

Amy may be right, but before you dig into learning disabilities, do what you can as a coach to correct the environment, as this is something you have immediate control over.

-W

 

[mad hornet]

I know what you mean about some parents, but hers aren't like that. Very supportive of their kid but more the quiet reserved type.

Our current situation is indoor ball 6 on 6. I split my team into two squads, so there are no dugout coaches, just me and the 1b coach. My other assistants are usually busy warming up the other squad while we're on the field.

She looks right at me and nods when I give the sign then does something completely different almost every time.

 

[quincy]

I have never had this Issue but I think I would let her pick the signs. Ask her what sign would you like for a slash bunt?, etc. There are not that many that you cannot keep track of 2 sets of signs, 1 set for her, 1 set for the rest of the Team. Slowly move her to the Team signs.

 

[PAcoach]

Could she be over thinking/analyzing or anticipating? We had a player that went 500 mile an hour all the time. Though she knew and would acknowledge the given sign, it wouldn't quite register in her brain. Once we slowed her down all has been good.

 

[SBFAMILY]

We have found many kids have this issue. Bustos played for years and Candrea knew he could not give her signs. Many are Embarrassed to bring this to your attention. Take her to the side away from everyone else. Go thru the signs like you are giving them to her in a game and test her. My own DD has this issue. Many very good softball players cannot read signs by coaches so you have to adjust. Our head coach signs, since he is deaf.

 

[mad hornet]

We have found many kids have this issue. Bustos played for years and Candrea knew he could not give her signs. Many are Embarrassed to bring this to your attention. Take her to the side away from everyone else. Go thru the signs like you are giving them to her in a game and test her. My own DD has this issue. Many very good softball players cannot read signs by coaches so you have to adjust. Our head coach signs, since he is deaf.

I have done that. When I quiz her one on one she gets them all right. Not sure if it has to do with having the crowd, or being 60' distance away or what. Thanks.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

LOL - How many signs would you need to give Bustos? It isn't like she is going to bunt.

 

[chinamigarden]

LOL - How many signs would you need to give Bustos? It isn't like she is going to bunt.

Every sign is hit away.