Every coach sees other coaches do things that make them cringe. Players get bugged by what their own coach does.
In trying to do a simple survey on these pet peeves, boy, did we step in the bucket. The overwhelming response included a lot of write-in peeves - often the same ones over and over. Those most often repeated are added below as 'write-ins'.

The bottom-line: the vast majority agreed with almost all the pet peeves we suggested. (Agree % shown, so 75% agree means only 25% disagree. 50% is even.) Biggest peeves are highlighted - these are the things to work on first.

PET PEEVES ABOUT...		All Replies	Younger Ages	Older Ages
Coaches	Who brand kids to same spot all year	75%	74%	75%
	Who love bunts & suicide squeeze	43%	52%	39%
Pre-Game	Taking infield with only two balls	70%	81%	65%
	All grounders right at fielders	65%	67%	64%
	Pointless throws like 1st to 3rd	57%	64%	54%
Catchers	Who don't cover first on grounders	79%	83%	76%
	Who don't check team positions before each pitch	72%	81%	68%
	Who call 2 fastballs, get strikes, then call a change-up	59%	67%	55%
Infielders	First basemen who s-t-r-e-t-c-h on routine outs	53%	64%	48%
	First and third who always hug the lines	75%	86%	69%
	Third basemen who swoop-catch not chest-block	87%	86%	88%
	Middle infielders who always try to turn two	73%	79%	70%
	Middle infielders who never call off back-pedalling cornermen	84%	81%	85%
	Infielders who never play deep with bases empty	75%	76%	74%
Outfielders	Who stand on same spot for every batter	77%	76%	78%
	Who never back-up infield plays	89%	100%	84%
Pitchers	Who fall in love with throwing junk	87%	95%	83%
Write-Ins (% of total who included an issue. Many more might have agreed if it was on the list.)	Coaches who yell at own players	13%	5%	18%
	Coaches who allow sloppy uniforms	5%	10%	3%
	Coaches who take a player off the field on an error	5%	10%	3%
	Coaches who play their own kids as stars	3%	5%	3%
	Teams thst walk on and off the field	3%	5%	3%
	Fake bunts to draw wild throws	3%	5%	3%
	Parents who yell instructions during a play.	3%	5%	3%
	Parents who think they know everything.	3%	5%	3%

If there's a conclusion to all this, coaches have a long way to go - in both training methods and interpersonal skills. Among other peeves:

• Young batters with one hand release
• Coaches without line ups ready by game time
• Coaches tolerating bad player behavior
• Coaches who put their egos ahead of the kids
• Bench players not following the game
• Batters who act up after striking out
• Pitchers who carry on when taken out
• Coaches who don't know the rules
• Coaches who call pitches
• Runners rounding 2nd who don't check coach

Here are just a few of the many choice comments we received. (Given the nature of the topic, we decided to keep these anonymous.)

Some coaches worry more about winning than developing players. Or they ask for 100% from their players but never give it themselves. And some players have no discipline in their games or in their lives.

My main peeve is seeing how other coaches treat their players. Specifically, why do some coaches go into a screaming tirade on the field at either a player or the team. Last year my team was ahead by 2 runs in the bottom of an inning, the other team gathered near their dugout and the coach starts yelling at the players at how they are dogging it and how pitiful they are. Public displays of anger and dress downs of players are disgusting.

Coaches who go out on the field to meet their players at the line to loudly chastise them in front of the fans and the other team. Even Brooks Robinson made three errors in one inning.