Fly Ball Communication

Welcome to the site!

Wow, you must coach at Harvard or Yale   The Number Priority system would not work for us... too much to think about, particularly when you move guys around a bit positionally.

We keep things much simpler and consistent.  Our language is "ball, ball, ball" and "take it, take it take it".  We like this because the sound has enough differentiation.  For fence help, it is "room, room" or "fence, fence".  Of course OF's have priority over IF's and we don't feel a need for different language because the voice of OF is coming from behind.  CF's have OF priority but with awareness of sun factor where another may have better angle.  Also, throwing arm strength and throwing hand may factor in.  Similarly, SS has priority over 3b and 2b has priority over 1b on balls hit just beyond the IF. 

Regarding this statement that you made... "There are many coaches out there that don’t allow their pitchers to catch pop-ups in the infield. The reason for this thinking is that the other infielders are better at catching popups." 

Don't forget that another key reason is it is easier for another fielder to come in and navigate the mound instead of the P having to stumble around it.  That said, I agree that the typical HS P is one of the better players/fielders in general and we do allow for the P to field pop-ups more than what "the book" would dictate.

Sometimes, I'll use a tennis racquet and tennis balls to hit high flies that split the defenders just where I want to practice IF/OF communication on pop-ups.  I can hit OF fungoes accurately at distance but I'm more accurate with tennis racquet for the shorter tweeners.

Good to have you join us with some info.

I should have done a better job of clarifying..

1) The # system is more of a guideline than a rule. Helps some coaches/players. 

2) The point of the system is for "tweener" fly balls between infielders and outfielders. Infielder hears "mine" he knows that its an OF not an IF and OF have the priority.

3) Regarding the Pitchers catching fly balls, I meant in the situation where its right in front of home plate and no one else has called it. Not when the P would go backwards onto the mound. 

  When our infielders go into the outfield, we tell them to go hard don't talk, just listen for the of to call them off. As soon as they hear the of they will peel off the ball. Less talking seems to work for us.

I hear ya.  You caught me before I fine-tuned my post a bit.  We do still give our P's more green light to attack pop-ups than most programs.

I also want to clarify that NO ONE is allowed to say "take it" until someone says "ball or mine". Nothing worse than 3 people saying "take it" and the ball drops. 

Our system is simple.

1. If you can catch the ball, call it.  Doesn't matter what you say (ball, got it, mine), but just yell loudly and often enough so others know you're going after the ball.

2. If you can't get there, don't say anything.  Depending on the conditions (wind, crowd noise, etc.), yelling "yours" or "take it" can sometimes be confused for calling for the ball.

3. Go for the ball until you hear a teammate with higher priority call for the ball.

These are situations where the fielder with the best throwing angle or best arm should make the catch. If the throw is to third I would rather have my RF with the cannon take the ball with his momentum going towards third than the CF with an average arm with his momentum going away from third. I'd rather have the SS with the big arm make the catch over the LF with the popgun arm if there's a potential play at home.

Our priority is as follows.

1. MIF over Corner

2.  Corner over Catcher and Pitcher (We do expect our pitchers to go get the baseball)

3.  OF over Infielders

4.  CF over other OF

We ask that someone calls the ball at high point and then priority takes over.  We use "Ball, Ball, Ball"  "Take, Take, Take". I do like "Ball, Ball, Ball" for the INF and "Mine, Mine, Mine"

All due respect, IEBSBL, this is why I prefer RJM's take on this over yours:

With all do respect JCG, I agree with RJM's post as well and in our program we utilize this as well.  However, everyone has to have a common language they speak and this is the common language that is spoken.  Once we understand that then we can deviate from it for the benefit of our program.