As per usual, excellent advice from CoachB25 & Coach May. I luv B25's advice on creating the arc and exploding back to your position in the shortest distance. And Coach Ric's lesson regarding the tendency of the particular baserunner is very useful.
Here is my $.02. Add into the equation the game situation. Are you up by several runs, down by several runs, early in the game, late in the game, in a close game where the potential run on second can beat you? Do you have a set pickoff play for the pitcher to throw to the base; for the catcher to throw to the base?
At the risk of being accussed of "going overboard" I must admit that I am one of those coaches that practices both types of pickoff plays. The reason they are executed a lot in practice is because they are not often used in game situations. But when they are used, they are often successful in getting the runner out or, at least, in making the runner concerned about his lead. If these plays can be consistently accomplished sucessfully without throwing the ball away in practice, they should be of value to you in tight situations more than once during the season.
The short version of both 2B pickoff plays begins with a signal given by the catcher for both the pitcher's pickoff or the catcher's pickoff[each signal is different of course]. The pitcher and the middle infielders have a return signal to the catcher. This is designed to make certain that everyone is in on the play before it is atempted. After all, we are dealing with 15-18 year olds here.
From that point on, the way the pitcher's pickoff play is executed depends on what you want to use as your "trigger". Usually the shortstop feints coverage and then goes back to his fielding position [not his coverage position that CoachB25 talks about]. He will then slap his glove once or twice [whichever he does not do in the normal situation] and the pitcher counts three seconds and the second baseman runs to the bag at the appropriate time so that he will be on the bag the instant the ball arives [it might be that he starts running to the base at 1 second or 2 seconds; it depends on where he positions himself and how quickly he can arrive at the base. That is why it has to be practiced in order to get it right]]. But once it is perfected, I would still not use it unless the particular runner consistently takes a very big lead.
The play for the catcher's pickoff [again, only after the play is set in motion by the catcher and return signals] is to call for a pitchout and immediately throw the ball to second with middle infield coverage pre-planned. This play seemed to work for us about 50% of the time. [but we had a catcher with a gun for an arm]. Keep in mind it only works against an aggressive runner that does not hustle back to the base when the catcher catches the ball.
TW344