samflamont:

One thing I love about the coaches I have played for is whether the news was good or bad, they were honest with me.  Your players need to believe in you and they need to know where you are at and where they stand as far as a depth chart.  The most uneasy feeling a players has is heading to the field and having to guess if they are in or if they are out because the coach did not communicate with them in a proper fashion what their role was.  Every player has a role and in order for them to understand and be able to fulfill their role they have to know what it is.  I have been privileged to play for coaches who were up front with me.  I think where this problem is most prevalent is in youth baseball.  I say this because at this level coaches try to protect their players and that is good, but it hurts them to feel like you are hiding something from them.  When this starts to happen players lose the trust you have worked so hard to build and that is when teams start to fall apart.  One good way as a youth coach to communicate with your players is a contract.  What you do is put together a sheet for each player and talk to them individually about where they stand on the team and what they need to work on, then you hand them a sheet and say if you can accept this role please sign here.  This is not a legal contract at all, it is just to make sure your players know what you expect from them and that you will always be honest with them.  Coaches give this a shot and tell me what you think.