What is the best system you have ever seen for giving signs to your batters and runners?
Anything unusual or innovative out there? We spent WAY too much time last year learning signs, so I'm looking for something easy to remember.
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I stick with the old reliable methods of assigning a body part a particular play after touching an indicator and touch the indicator and then count number of touches for a play.
Anything more complicated you run the risk of going over your players heads.
Anything more complicated you run the risk of going over your players heads.
tarheel: What level of baseball are you coaching?
If is LL make it easy for the kids to understand. At low baseball levels the must important thingh is for the kids to learn how to execute the plays that you call.
If is LL make it easy for the kids to understand. At low baseball levels the must important thingh is for the kids to learn how to execute the plays that you call.
It's middle school ball, so we need something mildly complicated to keep other teams from picking up on it. (My manager last year could figure out just about every team's signs). It's the conundrum of baseball at that level - if you make them too complicated, the kids can't remember them, if you make them too easy, the other team steals them easily.
At middle school baseball kids performance is probably 50%. You can tell them in advance what you going to do and most of the time, or you or the defense do it wrong.
I keep it simple also with an indicator and a body part. If they are having trouble at that point I just tell them to STEAL or BUNT 
you may have heard this story but i'll tell it again.
manny rameriz is at bat,starts arguing with the catcher quite heatedly. francona looks out from the dugout see's this exchange and runs out to the plate. asks the ump whats going on ? he says he has no clue as they are both speacking spanish,(must be the only ump in the majors who doesn't speak it)francona ask's manny what's going on? manny say's the catcher is accusing him of stealing their signs. francona say's to the catcher ,that's impossable for manny to steal your signs. he doesn't even know OUR signs.
kiss usually works best.
manny rameriz is at bat,starts arguing with the catcher quite heatedly. francona looks out from the dugout see's this exchange and runs out to the plate. asks the ump whats going on ? he says he has no clue as they are both speacking spanish,(must be the only ump in the majors who doesn't speak it)francona ask's manny what's going on? manny say's the catcher is accusing him of stealing their signs. francona say's to the catcher ,that's impossable for manny to steal your signs. he doesn't even know OUR signs.
kiss usually works best.
Back in my days as a playing manager I used various colored towels to signal from the dugout. If I was on base I would signal the designated towel man.
I hope the next guy don't tell us that use "smoke signs"
I find the touch system works best, especially for middle school. What I mean is not a body part, but number of touches after the indicator (all you do is count). Than you can vary it up so others cant pick up on your signs. I also have players acknowledge with a touch
I like going simple and only have a couple at the middle school level
bunt
steal
squeeze
I like going simple and only have a couple at the middle school level
bunt
steal
squeeze
