An update on the wristband signal systems

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I just wanted to give my friends here an update on the wristband signal systems since I got the original idea from here on OFC, and since to-date about 80% of my "customers" are from OFC.

In just over 6 months, I have done a little north of 40 systems. I have done systems for anywhere from 10-U to 18-U gold teams, and more recently for a bunch of high school teams and a couple of community college teams. Of the 40+ systems, about 25 have been for hitting/baserunning only (traditional 3B coaching signals), about 10 for hitting/baserunning and defense combined, 4 for pitching-calling/defense, and 2 strictly for pitch-calling. As I mentioned in a recent thread, I initially wasn't satisfied with the pitch-calling system and wouldn't have even used it for that myself, but I figured out a way to make it work and am very pleased with it now.

For those of you who bought early on, thank you, but I will say I have made a lot of improvements over the past 6 months. Each system is unique and customized to the signals an individual team uses. And when you buy a system, you actually get 3 different versions of the system, each coming in a different color. While the signs are virtually impossible to steal in these systems, I know the one community college team I did it for changes out cards between games of their doubleheaders just to be sure. I'm also grouping signs on the coaches' cards so they're a little easier to find. The average price of a system is coming out to a little over $100 which includes the systems, the wristbands themselves and shipping, which makes it very affordable for both travel and school teams. And I've been able to turn the systems around very quickly. Once a team places an order, if they put a check in the mail right away (I'll probably eventually go to credit cards), I can usually have the system in their hands within a week.

I do have a website (Sign Guide - About), and have recently done orders for teams in Georgia, California and Oregon. I still have a special rate for teams that find me here on OFC and don't make much money on these systems, but I am charging others a little more and the more systems I do, the better I can leverage some of my costs. In the meantime, I am enjoying the challenge of talking with coaches and seeing and hearing what they like, and am feeling good about providing them something that they and their teams are benefitting from ... and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback and endorsements to-date.

If anyone has any questions about these systems and/or is interested in more info on these, please feel free to e-mail me at jffbaker3@gmail.com or call me at (440)251-1584. And thanks again to all of you have ordered thus far and/or who have given me ideas to further improve the product!

Jeff Baker

 

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Am all caught up and finished with the high school and college teams since their season has started (or was at least scheduled to!). If there are any travel teams out there interested in more info on these systems, let me know. Also, anyone out there who got a system from me, feel free to post here and let others know how it's working for you.

 

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I have a request. If your team decides to participate in using the wristband signal system, please learn to do so expeditiously. Last weekend, we had two softball games that were the pace of baseball games due to the fact that the team was using the wristband signal system. Pitcher was taking the full 20 seconds with nearly every pitch. While 20 seconds doesn't sound like a lot, with 80+ pitches per game, that's over 26 minutes of batter in the box and waiting for the pitch vs what could be less than half that. I'm not saying don't use them, I just asking that you please do so with some level of efficiency.

 

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TR ... I'm not a big fan of pitchers wearing wristbands for pitch-calling. While I had a couple of teams early on get systems for this that included the pitchers wearing a band, I never liked the idea of slowing down her rhythm (or the game itself!) as I mentioned in the original post above. I subsequently developed an approach where only the catcher needs a band, and then "translates" the pitch call to the pitcher. As for hitting and baserunning wristband systems, there's no way that should slow down things unless the system is way more complex than it needs to be.

 

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I have a request. If your team decides to participate in using the wristband signal system, please learn to do so expeditiously. Last weekend, we had two softball games that were the pace of baseball games due to the fact that the team was using the wristband signal system. Pitcher was taking the full 20 seconds with nearly every pitch. While 20 seconds doesn't sound like a lot, with 80+ pitches per game, that's over 26 minutes of batter in the box and waiting for the pitch vs what could be less than half that. I'm not saying don't use them, I just asking that you please do so with some level of efficiency.

A couple of teams were using these in the tournament I worked last weekend. I also noticed some delays in the game from their use.

Pitchers were using them and taking a little bit longer to get on the rubber. But they were still delivering the ball within the rule mandated 20 seconds, so there wasn't much you could do about that.

The batters were another story. Between pitches, just about every batter wanted to walk ten or fifteen feet up the foul line to check with their third base coach and then check their wristband. If I had been in a grumpier mood I could have called over a dozen delay of game penalty strikes! Instead, I issued over a dozen warnings for batters to get back in the box.

Batters were looking at me like they'd never heard of this before and a couple of coaches gave me some flack about it, wondering why I was making batters get back in the box. Well, duh, it's a rule and we're playing a timed game. If you want to spend a third of the game watching kids stand around reading their wristbands, hey it's your tournament entry fee, not mine. Me, I'd rather keep the game moving along so we can play as much softball as possible.

 

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I agree. Thanks for putting it together, I know there are a lot of teams using them effectively; just not these two.

 

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Thanks, TR ...

Bretman ... there's just no reason you should be seeing delays like this. My system and at least one other I am aware of the batter gets a very simple 3 digit code, which has to be as quick or quicker than traditional signals. A quick glance at the card and they should be ready to go, and no reason to ever leave the batter's box. Of course they should spend a practice or two using them, and making sure they understand them, and maybe 1 game to get used to them, but that's it. If any of the teams I have supplied them to are experiencing these kinds of delays, please contact me because something's not right.