1. Be Positive! When you provide criticism, put something positive with it. Say a baseball player missed a grounder. Handle it something like this: "Nice effort, Billy – next time remember to get your glove all the way to the ground. Good Effort!" Sandwich constructive criticism with positive reinforcement.
2. Make it Fun! As a coach, you must make the game fun! That does not mean there is no discipline and structure. It means you can still have fun while teaching them that discipline is part of the game. We're talking about children, not professionals, so keep it light, organized