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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Home Schooling The Outfield
by Dave
Friday, April 14, 2006
In competitive softball every single slight advantage can make the difference between winning and losing. You scout your opponent to give your pitcher and fielders an edge. You discuss strategies about how to get specific hitters out. You plan to rattle a poor fielding pitcher, first or third baseman by bunting or slapping at her. You steal at key moments against a catcher you think has an erratic arm. You take extra bases against teams which don't routinely perform good cutoffs. You look for every small item which might produce or prevent a run. There is one thing most teams do not seem to do, except at the highest levels, which you can use to turn triples into doubles, doubles into singles, and hits into outs. You should at least consider this special something if you feel your team is up to the task. What I'm getting at is giving signs to your outfielders regarding pitch selection and location.
I think we all know that the spin of the ball coming off a curveball hit to the opposite field by a right handed batter is going to be somewhat different than that on a hit on a rise, drop or change. If your rightfielder knows this pitch is a curve, she is prepared to move to the line in a hurry and can get that split-second better jump which turns a hit into an out. Similarly, if you've got a girl pitching who really pumps it up there, knowing that a pitch is inside or out says a lot about where it might be hit if the batter makes contact. Fielders generally do fine without this information but, in one run games, they can make that key play which might otherwise elude them by bare inches.
Also, softball is a game of adjustments. You adjust your pitcher's approach to get a hitter out. The hitter adjusts to a given pitcher. No battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy. Let's say you scout a particular heavy-hitting cleanup hitter and find she likes the ball down and in regardless of type of pitch. So your pitcher is going to work her away. That's fine but eventually she's going to get wise and start stepping towards the plate to even the score. So you've got to find ways to keep her honest. Maybe you're going to throw some drops inside and low and an occasional change or rise up but outside the strike zone to set her up. But if your pitcher makes a mistake, she may give this hitter an opportunity to drive one out of her wheel house. You want your outfielders ready so if they know what the pitcher is going to throw and where, they can at least be ready.
The key questions are: can your outfielders handle knowing what and where the pitch is going to be, and how do you inform them. Let me answer the second question first since this is pretty easy. Your middle infielders should be the only players who can see the signs from catcher to pitcher. It doesn't so much matter whether your first and third baseman know pitch type and location since these are reaction positions with no time to adjust, so there's less of a reason to inform them. Besides, it is too risky signaling them, the other team can pick these off. So second and short know what pitch is coming and the location. These players can signal the outfielders with their throwing hands behind their backs. You use the same signs you use for all your pitchers. They signal location via pre-arranged methods like, for example, an outside pitch is indicated by the mitt hand hanging free by their side and an inside one by extending the glove forwards say by the belly button. You can use any method you find convenient but the important thing is to give a very clear signal to the outfielder which cannot be picked up by the opposing team.
Things get a little more complicated when you've got a runner at second who can also see the signs from the catcher. Obviously you might use a series of signals which have different meanings like the first finger tells the pitcher which of the next two or three signs is the real one. Or maybe location is going to be given by some other subtle sign. Your middle infielders need to know what the signs are with a runner at second so make sure they do. Let them know that if the catcher comes out to talk to the pitcher with runners on, they have to join that conference so they know which signs are being used.
Another problem with runners on base is the positioning of the umpire. Often, with a runner on second, he or she will place themselves behind the shortstop and can sometimes block the leftfielder from seeing short's pitch sign. Similarly, with a runner on first, the ump will often stand behind your second baseman blocking the rightfielder's view of the sign. This can usually be overcome by a slight position change but your leftfielder must know to watch out for the ump moving around and blocking her. In any event, you must also tell your outfielders that if they don't see the complete sign, they should ignore it. It doesn't do them much good to know the pitch type if they don't also know location and vice versa. So work hard to get them the complete sign. Move a couple feet if the ump gets in the way or even talk to the ump between innings and let him or her know they're messing with your signs. But likely they won't reposition themselves for your convenience any way. And make sure to tell your outfielders not to use incomplete signs.
As a final word on giving the pitch signal, there are two considerations which should not be forgotten. First, outfielders should not alter their positions for different pitches. This can tip off the other team and give them back the advantage. Secondly, you must be aware of fans or even coaches for the other team lurking about the outfield fence. It takes only a couple of pitches to pick off the complete set of signs. And if they can pick off the signs, they can just as easily signal back to the field what pitch is coming. The way to combat both the over eager outfielder and the fan signaling the pitch back is to give the sign late in the play. Once the pitcher begins her windup, it is about a second before the ball is released and a little over a half second before the ball arrives to the plate. So signaling no sooner than the pitcher begins her windup is advised since one and a half seconds does not give the guy standing at the outfield fence enough time to signal even the most cerebral of hitters in time to change batting approach. It also doesn't give the outfielders time to move more than a step or two (but see below for more discussion of this).
The one to the batter's opportunity to adjust is the changeup. Say a fan is standing out in center and all he does is look for the changeup sign in which case he raises his arms straight up (not a bad technique if you're batting, by the way), your opponent is either going to have a huge advantage over you or is going to take one pitch away from the pitcher's repertoire. So, for this pitch, I seriously suggest you concoct a series of different signs to fool the jerk in the outfield. For example, let's say your pitcher has the following pitches and signs: 1, fastball; 2 change; 3 screwball; 4 drop; 5 curve. You can use two fingers for the change but you can also use any number of fingers as long as they are placed below the beltline, for example. And / or, you can use any number of fingers near the hat or visor as also indicating a change up. So 1 finger in the middle of the back is a fastball but one finger on the butt is a changeup.
What is not advisable is changing the signals every inning or even every game. That is just plain too much to think about. The change is the only pitch I get really concerned about the other team picking up since it can be hit a long way and change the game entirely. In general follow the KISS method - keep it simple, stupid. And provide multiple signals only for the change and only in interests of defeating somebody standing in the outfield to pick up your signs.
So that's enough about how to do it but before you decide to signal your outfielders about pitch and location, you have to do some serious soul searching to decide whether or not you should. This really depends on the level of maturity and game intelligence of your fielders. As I said before, you don't want your outfielders to move before the pitch based on selection or location. That is too easy of a tip off to the batter. You want them to be prepared for a liner down the line but you don't want to position them as if that is what they are expecting. If your outfielders have demonstrated an understanding of this simple fact, I suppose you can go ahead but only if you are comfortable that they will use the knowledge about the pitch effectively. This is perhaps the hardest question of them all.
When I was a lad, I was fortunate enough to attend a football camp where I received instruction from an NFL linebacker. He taught me not to commit too early. He said wait one second (not really a whole second just an under-the-breath counting of "1") and see where the play develops, then move to it. That momentary hesitation taught me to not over commit and get beat by being out of position. I applied the same sort of reasoning to my limited baseball outfield play. I always waited until I was sure where the ball was going and I never took my first step in the wrong direction. The same rule certainly applies to playing the outfield in softball but an outfielder can still use the knowledge of pitch type and location to her advantage. She just must use the knowledge with caution.
The only way I can explain this further is through example. The best example of knowing the pitch I can think of is a line drive straight at a fielder on a drop ball. The outfielder should know that the ball is going to sink rapidly and perhaps even skip after it hits the ground. That knowledge can permit a girl not to rush in and try to make a catch but rather to be prudent and play it on the hop while expecting the ball to skip. Similarly, knowing that a pitch is a rise ball up in the zone tells an outfielder that the ball is going to have back spin on it so she should charge and try to make a catch since the ball is not going to go anywhere after it hits the ground.
I began this discussion mentioning the spin on hit balls on curves and screwballs. I think this is a great place where outfielder knowledge can make a difference. If you've got a lefty up to bat and your pitcher is throwing a screwball down and away, your leftfielder chasing a ball hit down the line knows the ball is going to bounce into foul territory perhaps reach the corner if she doesn't get her mojo on and get to it. Similarly, the rightfielder on a curve hit by a righty knows the ball is going to hook more than usual causing her to miss it unless she hustles and gets over there.
There are myriad other pitch types and locations which change hit ball spin and direction. You can work these out for yourself but I wanted to at least give you a couple so you understand what I'm talking about. As a coach, perhaps you will want to either make a big chart which your outfielders have to commit to memory or limit the types of pitches you want them to consider so as to keep things simple. Knowledge is a good thing if it is within the context of full understanding but, beware, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. So the deciding factor regarding whether or not to signal your outfielders on pitch selection and location is really going to boil down to the coach's assessment of the outfielders' game intelligence.
The fact is we play "a game of inch." Every one inch makes a huge difference to the outcome of a game. You want every advantage you can get. That includes the tiny piece of knowledge an outfielder can put to use if you signal her what and where. Well coached teams in highly competitive softball tell their outfielders what the pitch is going to be. It is very simple to signal your outfielders but be wary of what they will do with this knowledge and in all events, don't hand your opponent the advantage by providing them the same information.
 
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