: Strategies: Offense

Batting strategies
Many of these plays involve a player making a possible out to advance another player. Again, this won’t set well with very young players cause they are only concerned about ‘me’, not ‘us’. Also be aware that batting is a ‘confidence skill’. If they don’t have any, they won’t hit it. Be encouraging and positive with each and every batter. It’s okay to pray for a walk, just privately. Here are some of the most common plays and their strategy.

1. Always take on a 3-0 count. If the pitcher has thrown three straight balls, odds are he will throw another.
2. Bunt. Used primarily to move a runner into scoring position. The batter should bunt ‘away’ from the advancing runner. I.e. if runner on 2^nd, bunt down the first base line.
3. Sacrifice Fly. This is a ball intentionally hit up and deep so that the runner may tag up. Be sure to let the runner know to be ready to tag up!
4. Hit and run. A combinationof the runner stealing and the batter making contact of the ball. Ideally, the batter should hit the ball ‘behind’ the runner to lessen the chances of a double play. You should direct this player at those who can make contact with the ball, not to your power hitters who will tend to strike out more. If the batter does not make contact, your runner may be left ‘stranded’.
5. Hit to opposite field: This again is useful in advancing the runner. Right handed batters generally hit to left field and vice versa for left handed players. This would require a right handed batter to wait longer before their trigger moment. This is also a handy call when a batter is having trouble at the plate, as they will get to see the ball just a bit longer before swinging.
   

Communication: You will need some method of communicating your intentions to your players without yelling across the diamond. "Hey John, steal on this next pitch" gives the defense a bit of an advantage. Generally, the third base coach will call the ‘plays’. The batter will step out of the batters box between pitches and turn to get instruction from the 3^rd base coach, as well as all the runners on base. The first base coach is there to spot the batted ball and give instruction to the batter, I.e. take the next base or hold up at first.

You will need to develop a set of hand signals to communicate the above plays to your runners and batters. A good method is to use one hand for batting instructions and the other for running instructions. Keep them simple and basic in the beginning, embellishing as the players progress. Be sure to use them during your scrimmage time at practice.