THEBASEBALL WRI STBAND REVOL UTI ON b yxanbarksdale
The Baseball Wristband Revolution What is the Revolution? If you are a coach, or a fan of amateur baseball or softball, you have probably noticed a big change over the past few years. More and more teams across the country are using a new method of relaying signals from the coaches to the players. The days of traditional signals are almost over! Coaches are choosing to use quarterback style wristbands to call pitches, put on offensive plays, and clearly communicate their thoughts with the rest of the team. A lot of traditional, or old- school, coaches still give signals with hand signs, but they re becoming fewer and fewer each year. Teams are electing to use signal wristbands for a lot of reasons, but mainly because they re reliable, they re pick- proof, and they are quicker than traditional signs. (We ll talk about each of these in more detail later in this book!) Baseball wristbands are still fairy new to the scene, but have become commonplace in many amateur baseball circles. There is a huge wave of teams using wristband signals in college baseball and softball. It s estimated that almost 75% of NCAA Division I baseball teams currently use, or have tried, using signal wristbands to relay the signals from coaches to players. This percentage isn t quite as large in high school and youth baseball, but each year it s creeping higher and higher. I can almost guarantee that if you go to any amateur baseball tournament you will find at least one team using wristband signals no matter what age the players are! Signal wristbands still haven t quite made their way into professional baseball yet, mainly due to the fact that professional coaches and managers don t call pitches that responsibility belongs to professional pitchers and catchers. However, using wristbands to signal plays is rampant in amateur baseball and I don t expect that to change. Now that you know the brief history of signal wristbands, I want to share with you exactly how to use them and how they can help your team.
How Do You Use the Wristbands? If you re nervous about wristbands being difficult to understand or hard to use, don t be! They re extremely easy to use and even 9-10 year old boys and girls have been using it. Step 1: The coach finds a play/signal on his Coach s Sheet For this example we ll say that the pitching coach wants to call a Changeup. He looks on the Coach s Sheet that he has with him in the dugout (usually laminated or on a clipboard) and finds a number that is associated with CH for Changeup. Let s say he chooses 3, 1, 2 for this pitch. Step 2: The coach relays the coded signal to the player(s) The coach will relay the signs to the catcher using either hand signs (recommended) or by using verbal signs. For this example, the coach would signal 3, 1, 2, or use the verbal signs Three, One, Two.
Step 3: The player finds the signal on his/her wristband The catcher will find the first two digits (3, and 1) in the correct vertical column. Once he locates the correct row, he will find the horizontal row that corresponds with the third digit (2). Here, you will see that the box says CH because that is the code that the coach selected for Changeup. Step 4: The player(s) execute the play The catcher will now call a Changeup to the pitcher and the other team has no idea what 3, 1, 2 means! Don t forget, the example we re using here is for pitching signs, but wristbands can also be used for offense by using codes like: STL Steal H&R Hit and Run SAC Sacrifice Bunt DRG Drag Bunt DLY Delay Steal...or whichever signs/signals you use with your team.
Wristband Strategy Now that you know exactly how to properly use signal wristbands as a player or coach let s go over some effective strategies to ensure that you opponents can t pick your signs! The only way that opposing teams could pick your signs is by keeping a log of what numbers you have previously called and waiting for you to repeat a number sequence. #1 Change wristbands regularly. One of the most effective ways deter other teams from even attempting to pick your signs is by changing them regularly. How often you decide to change the wristbands is completely up to you, but most teams choose to have between 3 and 5 different cards at all times. Most coaches will switch wristbands every few games, or every time they play a new team. I ve even heard of some coaches using 2-3 different cards during a single game! #2 Give dummy signs. If you think that a 3- digit sequence isn t hard enough for other teams to decipher, try using a 4, 5, or 6 digit sequence! There are teams that may try to decode your system when you re using 3 digits, but if you give more than that most teams won t even try! Earlier we used 3, 1, 2 as an example and we ll stick with that to help you understand what dummy signs are. A dummy sign is a fake sign that is given that has absolutely no meaning whatsoever it s only there to fool the opposing team. By using dummy signs, the opposing team doesn t know which signs are the real ones and which ones are not. We can choose to give dummy signs before or after the real signals. Here is an example of giving 3, 1, 2 with a dummy sign of 4 before it: The 4 (which is marked by the red box) is a dummy sign and doesn t mean anything it s only there to deceive the other team.
This can also be done giving the dummy sign at the end of the real sequence like this: Again, you ll see here that the first three digits are the real signals and the last one is a dummy sign that has no meaning. This is simple way to make it even more confusing to the opposing team! #3 Mask the numbers by using touches. If you think it s already tough for opposing teams to steal our signs, now we re going to make it impossible! An alternative to simply giving the numbers is to mix traditional signs and number sequences. To do this the coach will pick a spot on his face/body and assign a number 1-5 to it. Here is an example of what yours may look like: Here you can see that the coach has assigned 1 to the bill of his hat, 2 to his nose, 3 to his chin, 4 to his left ear, and 5 to his right ear.
So, sticking with the same example as earlier, if the coach now wanted to call a changeup ( 3, 1, 2 ) he could go through these touches: Chin (3), Hat (1), then Nose (2). #4 Don t repeat the same sign numerous times. We want to avoid using the same 3- digit sequence numerous times throughout the game in case the opposing team is trying to write down our signals and waiting for us to repeat ourselves. The best way to avoid this is for the coach to mark each number on his Coach s Sheet each time he uses it. This lets him know which codes he has already used and which one s he hasn t. It s recommended to either highlight the number once you call it, or use a pencil and mark it with a tiny dot, underline it, or however else you want to note to yourself that it has already been used.
How Using Wristbands Can Help Your Team There are a few major advantages of using signal wristbands over traditional signs. Some of the biggest advantages are: They re reliable! They re Pick- Proof! They re quicker than traditional signs! #1 They re reliable. There is a reason that 500+ teams have started using Never Miss A Sign the wristband signals just plain work. Players enjoy using them because they don t have to worry about remembering complicated signals, and coaches don t have to worry about players not getting the signs. #2 They re Pick- Proof. Using signal wristbands guarantees that your opponents can t ever steal your signs. This means that coaches and players don t have to spend time worrying if the other team has picked their signs. They can coach and play with confidence knowing that they never have to worry about what s happening in the opposing dugout. #3 They re quicker than traditional signs. Traditional signals can take 15 20 seconds between each pitch/play and using a wristband can reduce that time by 75%. However, the biggest benefit of using wristband signals is that your players don t ever have to remember any complicated signals, which means that they won t ever forget them and miss the sign! It would be nice to think that our players will never miss a sign, but that s just not realistic. And when do they always miss the sign? In the most important situation! Players don t ever miss signals when you re winning 9-1, it always happens in close games when the outcome of the game can be determined by one pitch! Since I created Never Miss A Sign, I ve received countless emails from coaches telling me how their teams have gone entire seasons without missing signals and that their players play with more confidence because of it.
Why Never Miss A Sign is the Winner When it comes to choosing how to create your wristband, there is one option that clearly out performs the other methods. Never Miss A Sign is the #1 rated software for creating signals wristbands for baseball and softball teams. This is because Never Miss A Sign is easy to use, creates customized wristbands in minutes, and affordable for teams at any level. I designed NeverMissASign.com because I was frustrated with the other software that was on the market. I wanted a software system that was quick and easy so that I could spend less time on my computer and more time on the practice field! I also didn t want to pay any yearly renewal fees either! I hired a team of developers and created Never Miss A Sign. This software has all the features that coaches want and need. Never Miss A Sign was developed to do a few things. 1) Give coaches a way of relaying signals to players without having to worry about the opposing team stealing their signs, 2) help players never miss signals, and 3) be affordable enough so that any team can afford it without having to pay yearly renewal fees. On top of all the other benefits, another reason to choose Never Miss A Sign is that customer service is my #1 priority. I (Xan Barksdale) played college and professional baseball, and am currently an NCAA Division I baseball coach. If you ever have any type of question or concern about this software I will personally answer any email that you send me. In fact, if you still have a question about Never Miss A Sign after reading this book or visiting the website at http://www.nevermissasign.com feel free to email me personally and I ll get right back to you. You can reach me here: Xan@NeverMissASign.com