One of the essential [tag]baseball coaching tools[/tag] is respect for yourself and for your [tag]baseball[/tag] players. As with any [tag]coaching[/tag] style, there needs to be a mix of [tag]discipline[/tag] and encouragement. Athletes should be trained to [tag]respect[/tag] you as a coach and listen to your expertise. By respecting you, they should learn to respect themselves and each other, creating an environment of trust and respect. This aids discipline, because athletes will be much more open to your decisions and fear your discipline more.
When it comes to encouragement, recognize the hard work of your athletes! It is so easy as a baseball [tag]coach[/tag] to only focus on the negative aspects of the team that need work. However, no one works well in an environment that never offers anything positive. Your team is no different. When you see them following directions or doing their best to fix an error they discovered themselves, point it out to them. As a team, praise them for working well together or supporting each other during a particularly difficult competition. Let them know that even though your job is to fix their problems, your job is also to encourage them and pay attention to their strong points.
A good way of praising them is to have an awards banquet at the end of each season. You can develop different awards that you feel reflect important aspects of your team’s development throughout the year. Honor your athletes for their personal strengths. This is a way to show them that even if you have not pointed out their strengths as much as you should have during the season, it does not mean that you did not recognize and appreciate them.