Simple 10U Wrist Bands

[Dew5000]

In all likelihood I am going to be head coach of a 10U travel team here in a month or two. I will have a pretty good experienced group of girls as far as a 1st year 10U team goes. They have played a lot together the last 2 years.

I am really considering using some wrist bands instead of traditional signs, I think it will be substantially less confusing for the girls vs indicator etc.

Does anyone have a very simple format or template that you use or have used? I am good with excel, so I will most likely DIY them.

Mostly thinking something like swing away, take, bunt, steal, walk/steal, etc.

My pitchers pretty much only throw fb/change so thats all I need there.

 

[Big Daddy Michigan]

I wouldn't use a sign for walk/steal. I'd be concerned that that would be confused for a take sign- meaning the batter is not swinging because she's trying to "walk/steal." Rely on your first base coach to make that happen.


My niece's dumbass coach had 100 numbers on their wristbands. Most of the numbers said "nothing" meaning swing away there is no sign. He kept screaming at the kids for striking out looking. Finally one of the girls yelled back, "You're the one giving us the sign to do nothing!" They thought he literally want them to stand in the box and do nothing.


I think wristbands slow the game down, but that depends on the coach & complexity of the band. I hate it when some kid is batting with 2 outs nobody on and an 0-2 count & her coach is calling 577 & she has to take 20 seconds to find it on the damn card. I want to yell, "It's swing away. Everyone in the park knows it, but your coach thinks he's tricky, and the pitcher is throwing a change because her dad calling the pitches from his bucket is completely unimaginative." Of course I don't, but I wanna.

 

[CoachJD]

I think wristbands slow the game down, but that depends on the coach & complexity of the band. I hate it when some kid is batting with 2 outs nobody on and an 0-2 count & her coach is calling 577 & she has to take 20 seconds to find it on the damn card. I want to yell, "It's swing away. Everyone in the park knows it, but your coach thinks he's tricky, and the pitcher is throwing a change because her dad calling the pitches from his bucket is completely unimaginative." Of course I don't, but I wanna.

A coach who's giving signs on every single pitch is probably slowing the game down more than the wristband itself.

This part intrigues me though. How often should coaches even be giving signs? If you only give a sign when you want to do something, that becomes obvious. But there's also zero need to give a sign on every single pitch.

Then again, at our level, I could just yell "Steal on the next pitch" and my runner would be only marginally more likely to be out at second than if I gave some kind of sign. I know because I've done that when they miss the signs.

 

[Big Daddy Michigan]

The place where it gets slowed down by the wristband is when the coach has to read his/her list to find which of the 10 numbers for bunt he will choose. Then the batter has to sort through 100 or so numbers to find that number. I'm sure there are coaches that have quick and easy systems. "Any number that starts with 100 or 400 is a bunt, any 300 or 500 is a steal. That way the batter isn't sorting through the cards to figure out what to do.

You are correct. I've yelled steal second base when players have missed signs. With the slightest bit of familiarity with the coach or by the second inning all the trickery of sign giving should be long gone.

I bet your lead off hitter is going to try to steal second. By the second inning I should know if you like to bunt runners into scoring position or if you prefer to swing away.


For coaches who use wristbands, how many numbers are on it? My niece had 100 numbers on a 10 by 10 grid. One of my former players had 50 numbers on a 5 by 10 grid. That seems like a lot of numbers for take, bunt, & steal. Maybe you have slap or hit and run, but slappers should know they are supposed to slap, and if you want them to bunt give them the bunt.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

So we have a "sign" for those situations (two strikes nobody on for example) where I visually give a wave of the hand and off they go, no numbers, no looking at the wrist band, it's swing/slap away...they know it, we know it, let's go.

Also as others mentioned a good number of our signs (ending in 5 for example) mean nothing. I still give the number, they know immediately, they still provide a glance at the wristband, and off we go.

 

[uncdrew]

I wouldn't use a sign for walk/steal. I'd be concerned that that would be confused for a take sign- meaning the batter is not swinging because she's trying to "walk/steal." Rely on your first base coach to make that happen.


My niece's dumbass coach had 100 numbers on their wristbands. Most of the numbers said "nothing" meaning swing away there is no sign. He kept screaming at the kids for striking out looking. Finally one of the girls yelled back, "You're the one giving us the sign to do nothing!" They thought he literally want them to stand in the box and do nothing.


I think wristbands slow the game down, but that depends on the coach & complexity of the band. I hate it when some kid is batting with 2 outs nobody on and an 0-2 count & her coach is calling 577 & she has to take 20 seconds to find it on the damn card. I want to yell, "It's swing away. Everyone in the park knows it, but your coach thinks he's tricky, and the pitcher is throwing a change because her dad calling the pitches from his bucket is completely unimaginative." Of course I don't, but I wanna.

You make a very fine point.

Go over the wrist band with the girls. Don't assume they know anything. For example, explain that on a steal call the batter can still swing. Some girls assume it means "don't swing so the runner can steal".

 

[uncdrew]

A coach who's giving signs on every single pitch is probably slowing the game down more than the wristband itself.

This part intrigues me though. How often should coaches even be giving signs? If you only give a sign when you want to do something, that becomes obvious. But there's also zero need to give a sign on every single pitch.

Then again, at our level, I could just yell "Steal on the next pitch" and my runner would be only marginally more likely to be out at second than if I gave some kind of sign. I know because I've done that when they miss the signs.

With no one on base, you can not give signs more often.

Once runners are on, you have to call some "swing away" signs just to keep the other team honest.

 

[The Man In Blue]

I hate wristbands. This weekend was awful because of them.

Pitchers (coaches and parents) be warned ... you had better be simulating taking a signal from your catcher.

This is a Point of Emphasis with NFHS.

Softball Points of Emphasis - 2022

www.nfhs.org

PITCHER SIMULATING TAKING A SIGN

While the pivot foot is in contact with the pitcher’s plate and prior to bringing the hands together the pitcher must take or simulate taking a signal from the catcher. A signal may be taken from a coach either by hand signal, verbal call, or by looking up on a wristband with a playbook/playcard. This signal can be taken while in contact with the pitcher’s plate or while standing behind the pitcher’s plate prior to taking a position in contact with the pitcher’s plate. None of these actions are illegal by rule; the only requirement is that no matter where or from whom the actual signal is obtained, the pitcher must take a position with the pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate with the hands separated and simulate taking a signal from the catcher. Requiring the pitcher to take their position in contact with the pitching plate and simulating taking a signal from the catcher prior to bringing their hands together allows the batter to prepare themselves for the start of the pitch. If the pitcher does not pause after stepping onto the pitcher’s plate to simulate taking a signal from the catcher prior to bring their hands together, an illegal pitch should be called.

Meanwhile, in baseball ...

Baseball Rules Interpretations - 2022

www.nfhs.org

Rather than addressing the issues of wristbands slowing down the game, NFHS Baseball issued an interpretation that it is illegal for players to wear wristbands on their belts. Thanks guys, get the things that matter. (No, I haven't gotten a response to my desire to eject players for wearing their batting gloves and sliding mittens in their pockets.)

SITUATION 3: The plate umpire notices that several infielders on the visiting team are wearing their signal sweatbands on their belt. The visiting team’s head coach says the umpires, at the last game, ruled the equipment legal. RULING: Equipment must be worn as intended by the manufacturer. Sweatbands were not made to be worn on a belt. This equipment is not legal if worn on a belt. (1-5-11)

 

[Gambler Bob]

That is a copy of the hitting wrist band we used when I coached 10u. It is copy and pasted from Excel, for some reason it is not showing that it was color coded. Meaning, one row was white, then next row was orange.

The first number you call is the only number that meant anything. For example, if I called 513. That would be hit. 413 would be steal, etc. If you thought the team had stole your signs you can just change which number was important without changing wrist bands. Pretty rare to steal signs in 10u.

As you can see, there is an A, and B column. We were always in the A column unless I called B before I said the number. For example B 672 would be suicide squeeze.

A	BATTING	BATTING	B
0	HIT	TAKE	0
1	BUNT 3RD	HIT	1
2	TAKE & STEAL	SLAP OVER 3	2
3	SOFT SLAP	SAC BUNT	3
4	STEAL	BUNT 1ST	4
5	HIT	STEAL	5
6	HARD SLAP	SUICIDE SQUEEZE	6
7	FAKE BUNT STEAL	HIT & RUN	7
8	SAFE SQUEEZE	BUNT 3RD	8
9	BUNT 1ST	SOFT SLAP	9