Ideas for defensive positioning cards/wristbands

[CoachJD]

Anybody have a system for exactly what to put on cards for defensive positioning? I'm sure you've seen major leaguers pull an index card out of their hat or back pocket, look at it, and adjust their positioning.

This is primarily for adjusting outfielders, as I am not so interested in screaming "HEY, SALLY, MOVE THAT WAY... A LITTLE MORE... NO NOT THAT MUCH... NOW COME IN. NO. 'IN!'" There's also just not time to move two or three players all at once before a pitch. I can't tell you how many times I look at my AC, say "We need to move her ov-" and then the pitch is thrown and the ball is hit exactly where I wanted to move the fielder.

What I want to do would be a lot of work for me, but should be simple for the players. Come up with how I want players to play in various situations: base-out situations, score, and hitter type (slapper, huge righty who pulls, etc.). Each position would have their own card with position instructions. All players will learn the default spot, and everything starts there. Each situation/hitter type has a number. The job is on the coach to call out the number. Number corresponds to very simple instructions: 3 steps in, 5 steps right. The best part is that I could move any fielders who needed to be moved by calling out a single number.

But maybe there's a different, better way. This is just for positioning, not for specific plays. At the level we play at, the girls tend to not move around much unless told to do it, and I need a quick, simple way to communicate with all of them at once.

 

[bmakj]

not certain about cards and signs, but I have often thought, one coach should position OF, and another worry about IF. this way, each concentrates on portion, and all the girls know who to look to. generally, IF is not moved much based on situation other than in or back, and your OF you will generally shade all in same direction.

 

[quincy]

Never used cards so no direct answer to question. Did not know most the opposing players well enough to adjust to much.

If I did want something changed I yelled out to C. It was her job to get defene close to what I liked.

Unless you are trying to keep it secret I think going through C is the best way.

 

[Cougars]

MLB has 1000's of at bats and stats guys tweaking the data to make the cards worth having. Given lack of data, and small (really no) sample size, a card type system isn't going to accomplish much.

 

[bmakj]

Never used cards so no direct answer to question. Did not know most the opposing players well enough to adjust to much.

If I did want something changed I yelled out to C. It was her job to get defene close to what I liked.

Unless you are trying to keep it secret I think going through C is the best way.

how do you keep the fielders positioning secret?

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

how do you keep the fielders positioning secret?

Camouflage unis. We have turf green, dirt brown, and special grey clay for those weird New England field tournaments.

 

[Northball]

We simply called out a 2 digit number. Fielders had their default locations, then the numbers indicated how far away and what direction to move from that location. One digit was relative to how hard the ball was anticipated to be hit (1: bunt, 2: slap/weak hitter, 3: average hitter 4: decent power, 5: routine home run hitter). The other digit was the anticipated gap it could go through, so we wanted that covered and the other fielders shade over toward that location.(six gaps, number 0 called out to play straight up). We had cheat sheets for the wrist bands to start, add in a couple of brief conversations between innings to fine tune, and the girls had the system down pretty quickly. If you really want to be secretive, a variation adds a third dummy number to keep the other team guessing.

 

[CoachJD]

MLB has 1000's of at bats and stats guys tweaking the data to make the cards worth having. Given lack of data, and small (really no) sample size, a card type system isn't going to accomplish much.

That's why it would be tailored to hitter type and not specific individuals. It usually doesn't take very long to get an idea of what a hitter might do just based on handedness and seeing a couple swings. It won't be perfect, but we're also talking about shading a handful of steps and not full on shifts.

 

[CoachJD]

We simply called out a 2 digit number. Fielders had their default locations, then the numbers indicated how far away and what direction to move from that location. One digit was relative to how hard the ball was anticipated to be hit (1: bunt, 2: slap/weak hitter, 3: average hitter 4: decent power, 5: routine home run hitter). The other digit was the anticipated gap it could go through, so we wanted that covered and the other fielders shade over toward that location.(six gaps, number 0 called out to play straight up). We had cheat sheets for the wrist bands to start, add in a couple of brief conversations between innings to fine tune, and the girls had the system down pretty quickly. If you really want to be secretive, a variation adds a third dummy number to keep the other team guessing.

For this, I'm not concerned about secrecy since this is for positioning only. If I move all the outfielders 5 steps to the left and someone wants to go out of their way to try to hit it to the right side, I'm fine with that. I've already done something that has caused them to change their planned approach (also, 95% of the players we play against aren't thinking about this stuff).

 

[quincy]

Leave Quincy alone.

Think it is the same for most players but DD would hear me if I yelled out so I learned to keep my mouth shut. Coaches would need to hit her with a 2 by 4 to get her attention when game is going on. Annoyed them to no end.

She heard everything anyone on the field said and just tuned all the rest out, including coaches.

That is why I suggested going through C.