If Coaches Call Pitches, How Do Pitchers Learn?

As a pitcher, I am no doubt totally biased on this topic. But in my opinion one of the biggest problems in youth baseball is when coaches take the game away from the pitchers by calling pitches from the dugout. I believe wholeheartedly that calling pitches for pitchers is a bad idea. Like helicopter parenting, where parents do everything and kids learn nothing, calling pitches takes the learning out of pitching. It takes the thinking out of pitching.

Pitchers perform much better when treated with respect by a coaching staff. I always did. Give your pitchers the opportunity to make decisions on the mound, on their own. Let them decide what to throw. Then, in between innings, talk about the good pitches and the poor ones. Foster and support an environment in the dugout and in baseball practices where you let your players take ownership of the outcome of the game. Losing hurts. But sometimes letting your pitchers fail and learn is how they'll ultimately succeed at the next levels. And that's what's most important, anyways.