The machine isn't perfect, but you can pretty much zero it in such that it throws strikes about 90%+ of the time. There is a kid up who just will not swing at anything....he's terrified of even being in the batter's box and is probably only playing because his parents are forcing him to. I would usually give the kids a called "ball" no matter what after 2 strikes, but would also tell them they had to swing at the next one.

The kid takes strike 3 looking (probably for the 3rd time that game) and the dad loses his mind at me for calling his kid out on strikes. I'm like "bro, it's a pitching machine and it's set up to throw strikes"....he demands I'm blind, it was a ball and proceeds to use lots of profanity. I tell the dad he's ejected and needs to watch from the parking lot. Dad refuses to leave and continues to lose his mind....other idiot parents from the same team continue to join in. I walk over to the coach and tell him he has 2 minutes to get his parents under control and for the dad to leave the field. Two minutes later nothing is fixed so I pull the plug on the machine, call the game, and walk to the snack stand to call my uncle who was the little league commissioner and tell him the story. The coach or assistant coach then goes nuclear after I say they've forfeited the game and HE TRIES TO FIGHT ME.....a grown man had to be held back by the opposing coaches from trying to fight an 8th grader.

Long story short, the coach and parent were banned from the league thereafter....so yes, this has been going on for a long time. Failed athlete dads have a hard time accepting their boy is also going to be a failed athlete as well.