How Parents Distract Youth Players from the Stands

It's probably been a while for most of us, but do you remember the pressure of going up to face a hitter the first time? How about the first time you saw a curveball or a pitcher throwing faster than anyone you'd ever faced?

Scary to think about right?

Now imagine you're that kid again and every time you went up there, mom, dad, grandpa, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Suzie are all yelling various commands at you, would that make it easier? No, it wouldn't and it probably only adds to the pressure and frustration of being a player who the odds say will fail 70% of the time!

I've listed 3 phrases I hear shouted pretty regularly from the stands that I can't stand:

1. Sit on it! - I heard this one last week and the kid turned around and yelled back, "you sit on it!" First and foremost he did sit on it, he sat there and watched a curveball go right by him, but that's not the point. The point here is that the command doesn't really go with what's being requested. Typically sitting on something means to do nothing, and that's what he did! Next time, the better option would be to let him or her go through the struggle of the strikeout and then the cage with an onslaught of curveballs being thrown.
2. Stay within yourself! - What? Is the kid about to have an out of body experience he's that good that he would move into another plane, outside of his body no-less, and then play outside of himself? Man that's deep and confusing to a 10-year-old!
3. Eye on the ball! - This one works great in the business world, eye on the prize, stay focused etc, but taken literally we're likely headed to the hospital! If your eye is on the ball in baseball that is not a good thing, trust me it hurts!

What are a few phrases I missed? Any that you can think of that are overused or can easily be taken out of context? Let us know in the comments down below!

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