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Baseball Bytes
From the book Developing A Successful Baseball Program
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Giving Signs From The Coaching Box
The younger your players, the simpler your signs must be. Use alphabetical, object-related clues; for instance, since belt and bunt both begin with a b, touching your belt could be the signal to bunt. Likewise, skin could represent steal, hat for hit and run, and so on.
The signal should only be acted upon if you flash a preassigned indicator, such as touching the ear or shoulder, to designate that the signal immediately following the indicator is live – it should be acted upon. Without the indicator, no signal should ever bed considered live, even if one has been flashed. If you think that the opposing team has stolen your signs, simply change the indicator and/or add a confirmation signal, such as a clap, when the sign sequence is completed.
Get in the habit of giving signs often, not just when a play is in progress, and get your team in the habit of checking signs regularly. During a rainy day practice indoors, it is wise to spend five minutes on reading signs.
If you see players looking for the sign, but you have nothing to say, simply point to them and call out something like, “Go get ‘em,” or “Your way.” But be sure to acknowledge that they have checked with you.
Many coaches ask for a confirmation sign from the batter or runner so that they know that the communication has been transmitted. A touch of the cap, or some other simple gesture will suffice. Some coaches even give players a request sign, such as tugging the belt and calling, “How many outs, Coach?” to request a steal. You reply with a shake of the head or the sign itself to accept or reject the request.
Professional teams change their entire sign series at different times during the season. But in 30 years of coaching, I’ve never changed mine except temporarily when my signs have been picked.
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Coach Trimble's book is the ultimate resource for every coach from Little League to High School. Developing A Successful Baseball Program systematically reviews each of the critical areas of program development in easy-to-understand, yet thorough detail. 191 pages, includes 165 drills and exercises.
"Coach Trimble has put together an extremely comprehensive and in-depth resource book on the game of baseball. He covers every aspect of establishing and running a first-class, successful baseball program at any level. Developing a Successful Baseball Program is an outstanding reference book that is a must resource for every coach." |
| – Jason Leta, Pinelands Regional High School (NJ) |
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Hitting With Wood: Breakage and Prevention - Coach JP
Excerpt from the article How to Choose A Wood Baseball Bat
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When swinging a wood bat, remember to hit with the trademark up or straight down. This allows you to hit the ball with what is normally the strongest part of the bat, the edge grain. Hitting on the flat grain will more often than not result in a broken bat. That’s the real reason the bat manufacturers put their brand logo on bats.
Hit Label Up or Label Straight Down
The reality of wood bats is that any one of them can be broken. However, with some knowledge and the right bat, they have been known to last a long, long time. The first thing to do to reduce breakage is to understand that the placement of the trademark is not by accident. As no two trees are alike, no two bats are alike either. The trademark is placed on an area that has the greatest possibility of failure. The exact opposing side of the trademark is also a place where bats will more likely to fail too. Take a close look and you will see how the grain runs and why this is true. So the simple rule of prevention here is…Bat with LABEL UP OR LABEL DOWN. While holding a bat with two hands extended across the plate, make sure the label faces up to the sky or down to the ground.
Know that around 70% of all bats break when hit off the end of the bat, not off the fists (hands). Your first thoughts might be that this sounds crazy because when the bat breaks you notice it tends to be near the handle, not the business-end of the bat, right?
But check out this reasoning. . .
Most hitters are right handed. Most pitchers are right handed. Pitchers in the aluminum bat era (since 1972) know that you can't pitch inside and saw off an aluminum bat so they live on the outside corner, not having been taught to pitch inside. I hear guys say that they will come inside, but really, not many do. Who wants to hit the guy and put him on base anyway? Also, what's the second pitch that you see so many guys throw? The hard, late-breaking curve or maybe the slider. And which direction do these break? Away from the right handed hitter!!! Many of them making contact on the end of the bat. And where does the bat tend to break? Near the thinner part, the handle!
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Baseball Training Card Tip
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If you wait for a slowly rolling ball to come to you, you’ll field it easily….but won’t get any outs! Charge the ball, quickly but under control and run “around the ball” to create momentum toward your target base. And remember, it’s probably better to hold on to the ball than to force an off-balance throw and risk throwing it away.
6 free cards (12 lessons) with the following purchases: