Things that coaches and parents say, that don't help

[chinamigarden]

Got this idea from another thread. What things do you hear coaches telling kids during the game that either put negative thoughts in their heads, or drive you nuts with its obviousness. Maybe I will see a couple of my pet phrases posted and it will help me coach and cheer better.

Here are a couple of mine.
Coach to pitcher. "You have a runner on third, make sure you cover the plate on a wild pitch" Really, is the last thing you want to say to your pitcher before she goes into her windup is Wild Pitch?

Coach or parent to pitcher. "Throw Strikes" Really, what do you think she has been trying to do? Do you think she has been trying to walk the last 2 batters?

Parent to player. "Run faster" Really, run faster. Have you seen your kid run, thats as fast as it gets. Yelling run faster implies lack of effort. Deal with that later.

 

[FPMark]

Coach or parent to batter with 2 strikes. "Protect the plate now, anything close you got to fight it off." Might as well be telling the batter "please don't strike out. We know you can't hit this pitcher, so at least foul it off".

 

[Amy in AZ.]

When I played in Casey IL, there was an elderly gentleman that constantly yelled at me, "Just hit the ball!" Ha. I called my hitting lessons that for several years.

 

[hambon47]

I usually say " don't let anything close get by"-- with 10U and 12U their attention span is short, MOST parents tell me "you gotta remind her" or U gotta stay on top of her" " she goes into ____________ land",etc. I also ask the batter the count about halfway into her AB just to see if she is paying attention/ aware of the situation.

 

[sluggers]

My favorite:

"You've got to want it."

 

[absdad]

There's always a dad somewhere hollering to their kid "get that back elbow up"

 

[Coach JV]

How about
"You needed to catch that"

Really, on a ball that popped from the glove?

 

[SoftSocDad]

There's a dad in our rec league who started his 10yo daughter in pitching lessons 7 or 8 months ago. She's a naturally gifted athlete, but as you all know, pitching doesn't come naturally to everyone. She's doing her best as the #2 on a team that really needed another pitcher, but he stands behind the backstop and seems to have something to say about every single pitch, good or bad. Occasionally, he'll do the walk around and tell anyone who'll listen that he "can't watch" or whatever, but within a batter or two, he's back at his station. When she was just a position player, she was always her team's rock star, and like many dads, he took pride in that. But now that she's pitching, too, she's no longer the 'perfect rec player' she'd always been and I just sense something odd coming from dad who is struggling with the development process.

As to the point of this thread, I can't remember any specific remarks that I thought were stupid, but his non-verbal communication says everything...and helps nothing.

I'm pretty sure she'll make the all-star team as a position player, so hopefully dad will get to relax and enjoy watching his little girl play again.

 

[mradosevic]

I can agree with most of these.. But I guess I on a couple of these, I will continue to be that annoying coach that you all
hate to hear..

Such as:

Reminding your pitcher (especially the younger ones) to cover home with a runner on 3rd on anything past?? That’s just good coaching.

or

And why is reminding a batter when they have 2 strikes a bad thing..lol ??? I coach an 18U team, with a count of 0-2 or 1-2, I teach my batters to think like a pitcher..Know that the next pitch or 2 are going to be junk in an effort to get them swinging. After 2 strikes,
I teach them to stay in their zone and fight off anything close until they either find the pitch they like or work the count to
3-2...After 3-2, the odds work in your favor that a good pitch in coming...


Sorry to annoy... but I don’t think I will be changing

 

[PAcoach]

Through the years i have heard several that made my skin crawl, even a couple that wanted me to hop the fence. but for some reason the one that bothers me a lot, is a father/parent, making a comment to his/her daughter compaing them ( in a negative way) to an older or even younger sister. Thats just plain wrong, wrong wrong! I've seen several girls that were good athletes/softball players lose their passion for the game. They could never relax and just play! sad, very sad