Giving Signs: nail polish, stickers, chalk?

white athletic tape around fingers

When I pitched I had the hardest time during night games seeing my catcher's signals.  We tried athletic tape but it bugged him so he resorted to white nail polish.

I heard that the Astros catchers use white pine tar 😉

Son uses White out, line from second knuckle to fingertip.

you could have them bang the trash can in code.

@old_school posted:

you could have them bang the trash can in code.

I literally laughed and spit my milk out on this one

Usually if our pitcher starts really struggling to see signs, we have our catcher go to touch signs but keep mixing those up to make it difficult to steal.

My son goes to touch signs but some of the pitchers aren't the brightest bunch. He's learned to ask them what they want the signs to be so they don't get confused. I guess face=fastball, chest=change, knee=curve is too hard to remember

Yeah, I am surprised some of these pitchers are going to college with their memory lapses

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

My son goes to touch signs but some of the pitchers aren't the brightest bunch. He's learned to ask them what they want the signs to be so they don't get confused. I guess face=fastball, chest=change, knee=curve is too hard to remember

Only a catcher’s parent would utter that kind of nonsense. Pitchers not being smart enough to remember signs? Gimme a break!  I have seen very few HS catchers that are really good at playing their own position and even fewer that have any idea how to call a game. IMO their are fewer elite players in HS at catcher than any other position. Unlike other positions, every college team has to play at least 2 catchers - and it’s a very critical position. If your kid has potential as a catcher, and he likes doing it, you should try and develop those skills as it will greatly increase the odds of getting to play for more years.

@adbono posted:

Only a catcher’s parent would utter that kind of nonsense. Pitchers not being smart enough to remember signs? Gimme a break!  I have seen very few HS catchers that are really good at playing their own position and even fewer that have any idea how to call a game. IMO their are fewer elite players in HS at catcher than any other position. Unlike other positions, every college team has to play at least 2 catchers - and it’s a very critical position. If your kid has potential as a catcher, and he likes doing it, you should try and develop those skills as it will greatly increase the odds of getting to play for more years.

I was only joking.... sorta. A few of the pitchers on the team get crossed up quite a bit. Mostly happens with a runner on second and they change signs. That's when I told him to ask the pitchers what they want the signs to be.

So far this season in 4 games I've seen one catcher that I (and my son) rated as outstanding. 2 were terrible and 1 was raw. We'll see a few more, but 1 out of 4 isn't great. Some of the higher rated PG C's I see have a canon and crush at the plate, but their receiving and game management aren't great.

@adbono posted:

Only a catcher’s parent would utter that kind of nonsense. Pitchers not being smart enough to remember signs? Gimme a break!  I have seen very few HS catchers that are really good at playing their own position and even fewer that have any idea how to call a game. IMO their are fewer elite players in HS at catcher than any other position. Unlike other positions, every college team has to play at least 2 catchers - and it’s a very critical position. If your kid has potential as a catcher, and he likes doing it, you should try and develop those skills as it will greatly increase the odds of getting to play for more years.

Yes that is true, HS catchers are also very hard to project for pro ball, not a great track record of HS catchers in the draft.

But it is also not an easy thing to do.

white fingernail polish. if you want to see some truly bad*ss HS catchers come to the Panhandle.

@2021VarsityDad posted:

white fingernail polish. if you want to see some truly bad*ss HS catchers come to the Panhandle.

I’ve seen a few good ones up there for 2023. I even joked with my wife about 2 were from the same town.

There are actually quite a few HS catchers who are doing quite well as true-freshmen (HS 2020's) this season.  Of course the season is just starting so only time will tell. But for ACC and SEC coaches to trust a true-freshman this early in the season says something.

Most of these kids would have been drafted in a normal year so they would never have made it to campus. Doesn't mean they will succeed in pro ball but that's true for any player!

My son has been using the tape and nail stickers combo. Works well so far. Still one kid who can’t remember signs with runners on, but he isn’t very bright anyway