Reasons Not to Scream at Kids

[Solo]

I could be coming from left field. But I was thinking of reasons not to scream at kids especially when they are hitting:

1. If you scream at them when they are hitting and you try to correct their ways in front of other people, they are no longer the ones batting in my opinion. YOU are the one batting.

So, the kids, I think, feel if they fail, it's their fault. But, if they get a hit, it's their coach or dad who did it.

On the other hand, if you leave the kids alone when they are batting, i.e. you don't scream at them, they know that if they get a hit, they are the ones who get the credit and not their coach or dad.

Any thoughts! am I [email protected]*&*(

[CoachB25]

I could be coming from left field. But I was thinking of reasons not to scream at kids especially when they are hitting:

1. If you scream at them when they are hitting and you try to correct their ways in front of other people, they are no longer the ones batting in my opinion. YOU are the one batting.

So, the kids, I think, feel if they fail, it's their fault. But, if they get a hit, it's their coach or dad who did it.

On the other hand, if you leave the kids alone when they are batting, i.e. you don't scream at them, they know that if they get a hit, they are the ones who get the credit and not their coach or dad.

Any thoughts! am I [email protected]*&*(

Yelling any hitting thoughts to the hitter by a coach et.al. serves no positive purpose here if it is anything other than positive encouragement. JMHO!

[Go Cardinals]

Your not in a fierce competition, so what's the point?

keep a happy enviroment, you can wait until they come back

[Jake Patterson]

Yelling any hitting thoughts to the hitter by a coach et.al. serves no positive purpose here if it is anything other than positive encouragement. JMHO!

Could not agree more...

[coops]

First off let me say SCREAMing at a kid while they are batting serves no purpose what so ever. However... I have had good success with asking a kid to step out of the battersbox and then explaining to them something they are doing wrong. Please understand I am not attempting to necessarily fix anything at that moment but instead I am trying to divert their fear of striking out to something more positive.

We also make it a point to never tell a player that they shouldn’t have swung at a pitch regardless of how high or low the pitch was. We make it a point of teach our kids their strike zone but we do not want them to be scared of swinging the bat.

Now if I could only get my parents to stop coaching from the stands.

Coop

[TG Coach]

A coach can't teach a hitter how to hit from the coach's box or dugout. At most, it should be one cue to correct a fault from the previous swing, assuming it's something you've been working on so he understands. Otherwise, be a cheerleader.

[Baseball gLove]

I know a coach that would yell at 11 year old kids if they knocked down a ground ball and threw out the runner. After no time at, all his kids were afraid to try to make plays because they might get yelled at. My opinion is an ugly out is still an out. My son's range expanded greatly because he is not afraid.

[Solo]

I am glad to see that most of the people/coaches responding here do not believe in yelling at kids while hitting or doing anything else.

Unfortunately, I have seen many coaches/dads screaming or making gestures to their kids during games.

I am glad to see it is not as pervasive as I thought.

[Solo]

Your not in a fierce competition, so what's the point?

keep a happy enviroment, you can wait until they come back

I agree with the comment above. I have witnessed the screaming coming from other people.

[dm59]

As Go Cardinals has in his "signature" area:

"You can't think and hit at the same time" - Yogi Berra

There's wisdom in there.

[BoardMember]

I happen to think there is a huge difference between aggresively yelling AT kids and aggressively yelling TO kids.

I feel most coaches and parents don't know the difference.

I yell aggresively TO my players all the time. And sometimes I think they need to know when they aren't using 100% of their own resources and concentration and readyness.

Yelling encouraging reinforcement such as "Win this battle Danny!"

And "Don't let this bunter beat you kid!"

Or one of my all time favorites to my hitters facing good pitching: "REFUSE TO BE AN OUT!".

I think aggressive reinforcement works wonders. I've often been heard yelling TO a player whose just made a physical or mental error but is still on the field: "Danny, I've seen you at your best!", "Show me that KID again!".

Just some food for thought.........

I could be coming from left field. But I was thinking of reasons not to scream at kids especially when they are hitting:

1. If you scream at them when they are hitting and you try to correct their ways in front of other people, they are no longer the ones batting in my opinion. YOU are the one batting.

So, the kids, I think, feel if they fail, it's their fault. But, if they get a hit, it's their coach or dad who did it.

On the other hand, if you leave the kids alone when they are batting, i.e. you don't scream at them, they know that if they get a hit, they are the ones who get the credit and not their coach or dad.

Any thoughts! am I [email protected]*&*(

[GFK]

I like BM's idea of yelling to the kids to pump them up.

On the other side of the coin, yelling out a laundry list of mechanics tweaks will more often than not, send them into the weeds.

For anyone that is interested, do a search for "Explicit Monitoring Theories of Choking".

[Jake Patterson]

I like BM's idea of yelling to the kids to pump them up.
On the other side of the coin, yelling out a laundry list of mechanics tweaks will more often than not, send them into the weeds.
For anyone that is interested, do a search for "Explicit Monitoring Theories of Choking".

I think we all can agree yelling TO and AT is different. Yelling AT is never acceptable.

Yelling TO can vary in scale from appropriate positive reinforcement to utter distraction.

[NJMetfan4life]

In my experience, I block out my coaches, and focus on what I'm doing. It puts me on the spot, and I can't stand it.

[RayR]

Wait a minute. You mean yelling at your players doesn't help them? Somebody better tell a lot of folks that they been doing it wrong all this time.