Before you respond, hear me out. Having only coached a couple of years, I have seen (and been guilty of) bad softball advice given to developing hitters and pitchers (e.g. "squish the bug, hit down on the ball, touch the shoulder, just throw strikes, etc.) that it makes me wonder if we volunteer coaches should focus on the fundamental aspects of softball such as fielding a ground ball, catching, throwing, and how to play positions; and to stay away from instructing the very personal and individual mechanics of hitting and pitching.
For example, in my league, there is a father who is considered "difficult" because he does not want any of his DD's coaches messing with her pitching mechanics since he pitches with her 3x a week and has had a PC for the last 2 years and knows exactly what she is doing right and doing wrong. What advice could a coach possibly add?
Second example is, I have a player with a decent swing and a father who is a p/t batting instructor. When working from the tee or doing soft toss, I instruct very little since they probably have a better idea of how she should swing the bat than I do. You know the saying "we know enough to be dangerous". Maybe we should focus on the fundamentals of softball and leave the very technical stuff for the parents and teaching professionals?
For example, in my league, there is a father who is considered "difficult" because he does not want any of his DD's coaches messing with her pitching mechanics since he pitches with her 3x a week and has had a PC for the last 2 years and knows exactly what she is doing right and doing wrong. What advice could a coach possibly add?
Second example is, I have a player with a decent swing and a father who is a p/t batting instructor. When working from the tee or doing soft toss, I instruct very little since they probably have a better idea of how she should swing the bat than I do. You know the saying "we know enough to be dangerous". Maybe we should focus on the fundamentals of softball and leave the very technical stuff for the parents and teaching professionals?