More on communicating with players

By Brian Gotta, President of Upstart Sports

OK, so you’ve learned to get eye to eye with your players as often as you can when talking to them, now…what do you say?
I think more important, is what not to say. Here are some common sense guidelines to follow:

Never say anything critical about a player’s ability. If he’s not hustling, it’s OK to point that out. If he’s not trying or goofing around, of course you should mention that and try to correct it. But never, ever criticize a player who is hustling and trying, for failing to perform. And sometimes it isn’t even what you say, but how you react. You may not have screamed out, “Oh! You should have caught that!” when Johnny dropped the fly ball, but your reaction in the dugout when you threw your hands up in the air and turned your back on him essentially shouted those same words loud and clear.