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Originally Posted by tibear
Here's where some of you are going to jump all over me. The next time this little guy came up he was the first up in the inning so I walked over to him and asked him if his coaches had ever taught him how to react when the ball is coming straight at him. He said no so I continued and explained to him how to always turn away from pitch and bend over so as to "protect" the bat and himself from getting hit somewhere where you don't want to get hit.
Two of the coaches overheard the conversation and immediately started to explain this to the other kids on the bench.
A 20 second discussion that hopefully helped the kids learn to protect themselves.
At the end of the game, the little guy, his mom and one of the coaches came over and thanked me for further explaining the call and what he should have done differently.
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I have received plaques, certificates, and thank yous at these lower levels for taking the time to show a youngster the right way to do something.
Many times at this level, the coaching is nothing more than some dads with little coaching experience. Even with several coaches on a team, they often don't have the time to teach certain fundamentals, and I have found that at this level, the coaches do appreciate any help you can give. Just don't hold up the game to put on a clinic, and there should be no problem in giving some advice.
Sometimes after a knotty problem or some rules interpretation in which the participants are confused, between innings I will take the time to explain the "why" behind the ruling. This seems to help educate the younger players, especially when it comes to interference and obstruction rules, which are two of the most abused rules at the lower levels.