Cathcher/Coach wristbands for pitch calling

If you go to leaguelineup.com/baseballtheories and become part of our community there is one posted there.

Why not teach your catcher(s) how to call their own game ???

TRHIT,

Yeah you're right. Wish everybody thought that way.

Problem for most coaches is 2nd guessing when a pitch is called he diagrees with results in a base hit. They always forget the times when they disagree with the pitch and a strikeout occurs.

2nd guessing is the #1 malady that gets most HS coaches. If the coach is willing to stand behind his teaching and his decision about which catcher to play, then 2nd guessing shouldn't be a problem....

...but this is baseball and 2nd guessing by coaches is as much a part of the game as anything. Been around 150 years and there still isn't a cure except for total coach control and it hits every level of baseball. Just another reason why catchers have to be mentally tough.

we call pitches from dugout at times. but they are suggestions. the pitcher has final say. if he isnt comfortable with what we call he steps off the rubber and its him with the catcher for that pitch. last year we didnt call pitches very many times. had a catcher that understood what was going on and had a good feel. this year will probably be different. have a young catcher. we will call them until we feel he is ready. but the pitcher has the right to shake us off. this is something fred corral talked about at tbca clinic. the pitcher having the right to shake off the dugout when he wasnt comfortable with a certain pitch in a certain situation. by the way we are going to use the wrist bands this year.

raiderbb, when I was in high school our coaches were like that. I called most games behind the plate. Coach would send in the occasional pitch, but our pitcher was able to shake it off. If the coach sent one in, I would give that sign to the pitcher. If he shook it off, I'd give it to him again hoping he'd realize the coach had called it. If he shook it off again, I'd move on and see what he wanted and we'd go with that. We had one pitcher (now at Creighton, threw a no-hitter last year as a freshman) who could shake it off at anytime. He only got scolded once for shaking off a pitch. It landed 350 feet down the left field line.

While I obviously favor the catchers calling the game, the wristbands are an excellent method to allow a coach to make a suggestion on either the pitch or defense. Can slow the game down a bit but is an excellent way to communicate. Our HS doesn't use them but probably should with the new Fr. catchers as they learn the system. Bulldog and raider are 100% correct that the battery should be allowed to shake off signs if the pitcher is uncomfortable with it...hard to pitch if you don't or can't commit to the pitch.

TRhit,
I'd love my catcher to call the game, however, he is a sophomore playing up on the varsity so early in the season I'd like to suggest pitches. The pitcher can always shake me off if he is more confident in a pitch. I'm making it easier for our young catcher to focus on defense and hitting and let me and the pitcher call the games at least early on until he learns our system.

I was just looking if anybody knew of good places to download these forms/cards. Not looking for somebody to start a conversation on how to call a game.

Thanks

Sparty26, you have a pm...

quote:

Why not teach your catcher(s) how to call their own game ???

Overcoahing!!!!

I had a friend who was coaching a high school team. I went to see the game. He is sitting on the bench going through all these signs with the catcher. I asked him to explain. One set was for the pitch and the other set was for location. give me a break. If a 16 year old kid can throw a curve ball on the outside part of the plate when you call it and a fastball on the inside when you call it. Let me know. I will be his agent.

if the average high school pitcher is not hitting his spots he's not average. i hope my pitcher is throwing his curveball where either us or our catcher call it and his fastball where we call it or its going to be a long night. thats not overcoaching - thats pitching. we work on it everyday. you'd be surprised how well high school pitchers hit their spots.

http://www.insidepitching.com/...iew&id=727&Itemid=50

good article with college coaches discussing whether to call pitches or not.

Our H.S. uses the wrist bands, Pitching coach calls all pitches. Pitcher can over rule, but it better not become routine! He's used the system the four years he's been here and starts it at the Freshman team level. So, by Varsity the flow is seamless. Even at the H.S. level, careers are at stake so not near as many Coaches willing to let "youngsters" learn and develop a skill that won't, for the most part, be used at the next level and could adversely affect their (H.C.)job security.

We use it as a teaching tool when the catchers call the game--between innings we will discuss how and why--this is how these young pups learn--we do have special signals for situations where we want a certain pitch or a certain pitch location


As coaches are we not teaching them the game ??

Will,
You might want to get you paperwork in order to become a agent because I have 3 16 year old kids who can throw a curve ball to the outside and a fastball to the inside. Not sure where you are from but this is kind of the norm for So Cal baseball.


PS....my catcher does call his own game and we do use the wristband because it is quicker when I want to throw my opinion out twice a game.

www.thegamekey.com