Ideas for defensive positioning cards/wristbands

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Jun 1, 2015
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and special grey clay for those weird New England field tournaments.

Proud upstate NYer here where we have a bunch of those gray clay fields for both HS and tournament ball. As an umpire, it's always fun taking my gear off and seeing my socks/feet look like the color of dirty snow in July.
 
Jan 8, 2019
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Proud upstate NYer here where we have a bunch of those gray clay fields for both HS and tournament ball. As an umpire, it's always fun taking my gear off and seeing my socks/feet look like the color of dirty snow in July.
I vaguely recall wondering why my cousin’s LL team did not have brown dirt around Schenectady. Took it for granted out west! Where are you GDC?
 
Jul 22, 2015
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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.
We primarily used them for bunt coverages, but I always intended to go back and add OF positioning for exactly the reasons you described. I was going to keep it simple and use 1, 2, or 3 to indicate depth and something like SLP to indicate typical slapper defense. I just don't think we had good enough information on the teams we played to try and indicate that we need to play a certain hitter in the gap, down the line, etc. We also had calls for all IF in when we definitely wanted to try and go home with a ground ball, pickoff plays from the catcher, etc.
 
Jun 1, 2015
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Lemond: I'm about 45-50 minutes north of Schenectady - Just north of Lake George. It's split, depending on where you go, who has the gray clay and who has the brown dirt. Our town rec. fields are 3 dirt softball fields and our HS field is the gray clay fields. The fields in South Glens Falls that previously hosted the NYSPHSAA Girls' Softball Championships (through 2019) are brown/dirt fields, but the fields used BEFORE that at the Adirondack Sports Complex in Queensbury (about 15 minutes away) are gray/gravel fields. It's like the Forrest Gump "box of chocolates" of softball fields - you never know what you're gonna get.
 
Jan 8, 2019
664
93
Lemond: I'm about 45-50 minutes north of Schenectady - Just north of Lake George. It's split, depending on where you go, who has the gray clay and who has the brown dirt. Our town rec. fields are 3 dirt softball fields and our HS field is the gray clay fields. The fields in South Glens Falls that previously hosted the NYSPHSAA Girls' Softball Championships (through 2019) are brown/dirt fields, but the fields used BEFORE that at the Adirondack Sports Complex in Queensbury (about 15 minutes away) are gray/gravel fields. It's like the Forrest Gump "box of chocolates" of softball fields - you never know what you're gonna get.
Beautiful area! Visited there several times as a kid. Ft Ticonderoga was a favorite. Need to get out that way again, but not enough opportunities to get there from SoCal. I think I have one relative left somewhere around Glens Falls (moved from Scotia). Enjoy some Adirondack air for me!
 
Jun 1, 2015
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It absolutely is. I feel very fortunate to have grown up/lived/worked here. I used to work in Ticonderoga for a short while - same thing up with that area, Glens Falls I'm about 15 minutes from - that's the local "big town" for most of us (without going to Saratoga or Albany, anyway). I get plenty of that ADK air on the daily - nice and crystal clear up here vs. the city. The foliage is just starting to turn (at least in my yard, anyway), so the next few weeks will be the best it'll look until after the 25' of snow melts in April.
 

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