PT Wood posted …
There is no room for extras in your swing (quiet your hands, shorten your swing, get your base strong [and use it], get rid of the waggles, twitches, bells and whistles)
It remind me of a “parent in the stands” moment years ago. Most of the time I coached my kids in baseball/softball and basketball. But they also played other sports. I was known as a parent who would not coach from the stands. I would watch my kids fail all game rather than coach from the stands. It was their coach’s responsibility to make changes. I wouldn’t talk about the game afterwards until they were ready.
I couldn’t coach LL all stars. I was the coach of the 11u, then 12u travel teams we used to prep potential all stars before the selection date. At that time coaching travel made coaches ineligible to coach all stars.
The first year my son was one of two 11’s on the 12yo LL all star team. He was the best catching option. He was a midget (4’10” 80) among a bunch of trees. His job was to bat 9th and catch. He had just had a very successful season hitting. He hit line drives all over the field. But he didn’t clear any fences. The rest of the roster was big kids who could clear the fences.
In his first at bat he was doing all kinds of mannerisms he hadn’t done all season. He was mimicking Gary Sheffield. I turned to a friend and muttered, “Why would a kid change everything he’s done successfully all year to mimic a major leaguer?”
The parent asked if I wanted him to yell something to my kid. I told him no. My son was wiggling his bat all over the place. He took a huge swing. He hit his first homer. It cleared the maintenance shed behind the fence.
The next time up the person I was watching with asked again if I wanted him to yell something at my son.
I responded, “Sure, go Sheffield!”