What advise would you have for a Mom and Dad who get told by multiple "baseball" people that your son has a special gift and a bright baseball future but the parents just don't see that he is any more "special" than any other kids he plays select ball with?

Now that being said, let me elaborate. The "baseball" people are a Pro Scout, a D1 college coach, and a former Pro player who works with pre-draft prospects and rookie hitters for a major league team and the future they are speaking about is being drafted high, possibly out of high school.

The issue his mother and I have is all three of those people were or are currently taking our money for coaching or lessons. Call me jaded but I have to discount what they say because of that. Now, I can say that all three men are very well regarded by others and no one has ever accused them of being in it for the money.

...but we just don't see it. Although he is what I would call a good contact hitter, he has never even hit a home run. I know home runs are not all there is but I guess my expectation for a "special" hitter would be a kid who can really take one deep on a regular basis. The only thing we can think of is they see his swing and his make up and see his potential. I'd say he is an average infielder and slightly above average outfielder.

...and the real kicker is he is only 11. How can you tell me how good my kid is going to be at that age?

So we are curious how others handled this and what advise anyone would have for parents in this situation. We don't want to short change our kid but we think it is important to stay grounded and live in the "real world".

P.S. Our son is not aware of any of the comments.

Ron,
Welcome to the HSBBWEB. This is the place for info on baseball. There are many people on this site whose kids have gone through the same thing as you and the kids have turned out as HS, college and pro players. There are also others whose kids didn't make it do to various reasons. My son is 13 and we have been told the same thing that you are being told many times.

Relax. Take a deep breath.

The baseball roller coaster is a long and crazy ride. It seems like you have a good suspicious nature. It will help. Take all compliments as good things to hear, but I have always only had 3 goals for my son.

Stay healthy.
Have fun.
Get better.

As long as your son is doing these things, and the lessons don't burden you financially, enjoy the ride. There is nothing better than watching your kid play ball. Except maybe graduate, or get married. But at 11 you probably aren't thinking about it yet.

PS. Read about every subject you can find on this site. It is a goldmine and I am very glad I found it. It has made my life much less stressful and focused for all things baseball.

Ronbon,
I might ge blasted for this, but be careful as you are doing. My son was told he was a D1 player also, the person we worked with told him continuously after every tournamnet when my son perfomed well, I am going to find you a place to play, you could play in the bigs, this guy played in the bigs also.'I told this person look you dont need to say this to me or my son. I felt at that time my son was and is a very god player but dont fill his head with stuff like that. my son was in high schol but esp. at 11. the only contact this guy made for my son was a very small naia in another state, dont want to mention names. because my son took this in and believed this guy. he was legit, my son he now is heading to a JC because he wants to play D1.These guys that charge money and work with these kids, they make a living off of us, some of them are wonderful people but some are making a living. Just becareful/ As he gets older it will begin to be more obvious than now at eleven. so much can happen in the next few years.like the previous post just let him have fun, work on his game and see how it all plays out.

I agree with both of the above .
I have seen this many times before and done by some very nice ex pro players.
One that stands out was a guy who was told over and over how good he was and he was cut from thye AAA team and his HS team. He flat out had no talent. The hitting instructor was milking his parents dry. They finally figured it out after a few years of instruction and he dropped out of BB. That was one of the worst I have ever seen. They had him going 3 times a week and he still was not good. Parents kept telling me they couldn't see why he kept getting cut when the instructor was saying how talented he was.

My take:

Would your actions change depending on whether you believe what he says? Probably not at age 11.

I would be suspicious (as you seem to be) if an instructor said that to my son. I'd make sure that I didn't make any decisions off of that "information," and let other things, such as success in HS ball, determine whether and when I sent him to showcases, paid for lots of instruction, etc.

So, as long as I don't change my actions based on what he says, he could tell me all day long how great my kid was! Who doesn't want to hear that?

Ron Bon, Excellent topic. I think we have to realize there is a large amount of good solid business practices in youth baseball. The problem lies with the parents (the consumer) and their emotional involvement. Parents are yearning for positive reinforcement and the knowledgeable business person realizes this and uses that to their advantage. They hype the player, publish rankings, and give a vocal "award" when the player does well. They validate their "product" with success stories of those that have associated with them prior to your son. Pictures and endorsement adorn their walls. This is their best advertisement. Some players are allowed to participate for free just for the endorsement. Eli Manning was given a 2009 vehicle because it is excellent advertisement and will sell cars. When you go shopping for a automobile are you skeptical of the sales person? Sure you are. You should use the same approach when you "purchase" products from instructors, coaches, and showcase promoters. My advice is for parent to be as realist as possible and follow their instincts. You should NOT avoid the hype nor should you ignore the hype but rater learn to cope with the hype. YOU set the course of action you feel necessary for your son's future and don't allow the hype to alter your course of action. Budget your son's baseball just as you would budget his education or your vacation. Or ----- if it makes you feel better you can and spend like a crazy person on your son's baseball and have a good time doing so ---- it's up to you.
Fungo

I was told the same thing about my son when he was young... I do believe a professional can see natural born ability in kids ...But its a long road to college/pro baseball and so many things can happen... How does their body mature,will he be driven to compete, will he develop other interest? There to many variables.
So keep an eye out, go with the flow encourage
and protect his talent.

Ron,
They are yanking your chain. There is no way to tell with any certainty if an 11-y/o has what it takes. He is probably pre-pubescent and han't even started to develop the body he will ultimately have as an adult. They should know better. If they don't then I would suggest different coaches.

You can also send us a clip of his swing for analysis. If not here then BBF. (Hope this is OK Julie)
Jake

One of the local D1 programs runs a series of summer baseball camps for the 7-12 age group. I know the coach just well enough to say hello. I told him a local parent was saying he said their son is a future D1 player. The coach laughed. He told me if pressed by parents his response is an enthusiastic, "If he loves the game there's no telling how far he can go." He's right! There's no telling. Is the coach supposed to tell parents the kid sucks and don't waste money on his camps?

Here's what I thought about my son being a very good player at age eleven: It meant he was good enough to play again and enjoy the game at twelve.

Jake & coachbwww,

Are you saying that my son's coach was yanking our chain when he said son had special gift for fielding? Because right now he is making a living doing just that.

I think even at a young age you will know "it" (special talent) when you see "it"
Some kids could have it in art or music some in sports.

Some young players who are good because they are more mature at a young age. Some kids who will become good as they mature.But there are kids who are born athletes and you can see that regardless of their physical maturity.
Will they become pro/college players ...who knows.

Can you predict that a 11 yr old has a special talent? I believe you can. Can you say he will be a high draft pick? NO,its much to early to call that one

quote:

Originally posted by njbb:
Jake & coachbwww,

Are you saying that my son's coach was yaking our chain when he said son had special gift for fielding? Because right now he is making a living doing just that.

Exactly

quote:

I think even at a young age you will know "it" (special talent) when you see "it"
Some kids could have it in art or music some in sports. Some young players who are good because they are more mature at a young age. Some kids who will become good as they mature.But there are kids who are born athletes and you can see that regardless of their physical maturity. Will they become pro/college players ...who knows.

I believe it was the NCAA that did a study that reported that 72% of parents think their children will get college scholorships when in fact the number is more like one in many thousands. After 25 years and hundreds upon hundreds of players, many whose parents thought they had IT, I find the NCAA report to be pretty accurate.

quote:

Can you predict that a 11 yr old has a special talent? I believe you can. Can you say he will be a high draft pick? NO,its much to early to call that one

Many who have an intimate understanding of the maturation process, especially as it applies to baseball would disagree with you. The real "IT" usually shows itself post-pubescent.

Well, what a coincidence that son's instructor and his current employer both came to the same conclusion!

I also said in my first post that I believed a professional could see special talent in a child.
Baseball America ranks players as young as 12 and many have gone on to be high draft picks.

but you believe there was no signs of talent at a young age in players like the Uptons, A.Rodriquez,and Delmon Young?

njbb- No offense but your analogy sucks. You are talking about the first picks of a draft that were freaks and .001% of the baseball population. Was your son Arod or D. Young? My mother could pick those guys out!

I've had six first-rounders from my program and 14 big-leaguers. Looking back at when they were in their mid-teens (much easier to judge than if they are 8 or 9), they all displayed talent but were not neccessarily our best players. As a matter of fact, I've had better players not make it. Way too many variables including who keeps growing and who peaked early.

What separated the ones who made it was work ethic and incredible confidence in their ability. Those are things you can't measure at 7 or 9 much less 15 years old.

Conversely, I had a friend, Steve Springer, who was 5'2 as a high school freshman and didn't start in high school. He ended up maturing late and played over a dozen years in professional baseball.

The moral of the story- Don't get too high, don't get too low, and don't let anybody tell you what you can or can't do.

If you read my posts I said the same thing about variables.
I wasn't talking about making it. I was talking about the ability to see talent in a young player!
I also wasn't talking about 8 yr old.
I do take offense and as far as my son fielding goes you can scout him your self and make your own comparisons

If some one were to ask me if talent can be determined at 11-12 years old I would agree with njbb and say ABSOLUTELY! You can look at a young players and see that special talent and look at "players" with no talent and see the end of their playing days. That is a far cry from predetermining which player will play D-1 or pro ball at a young age. There are too many "positive" things that must happen and too many "negative" things that can happen to make this prediction possible --- but --- you don't have to be a guru to pick out the talented players and the non-talented players at a very early age. There are many players (the vast majority) that fall between the talented and the non-talented that can go either way but doesn't change the facts about whether or not you can look at an 11 year old and see if he has "it".
So I guess you would assume that I would advocate showcasing at 12 to start the ball rolling? No way! That to me is an early invitation for hype and can confuse the whole development process. I think parents need to be aware of their son's ability and "allow" them the opportunities to develop in order to get to the next level.

JakeP --- You say there is no way to evaluate talent at a young age and then you do a 180 and ask for a video clip of his swing so you can evaluate him
Fungo

with all due respect to this thread. i saw njbb son play the summer before his sr year. the kid was/is a player. and i'm pretty sure you could tell that at 12. doesn't meen that works with every one,but it did with her son.
i agree puberty is the great equalizer,but it can also be the enhancer. i have seen it go both way's.

For sake of discussion, I disagree with njbb and Fungo. I have no doubts either of you could see talent in your kids at a young age but consider..

In my experience, parents were more often than not poor judges of talent. If I had a nickel for every kid that was hyped to me over the years as the next great thing, I would be a much wealthier man right now. People can always look back and say they knew all along but it is not at all clear at a young age imho. My evidence for that proposition is the pro and college scouts often miss with their projections on much older kids. I also remember it was much easier for some parents to proclaim that someone elses kid did not have that "special gift" while often overlooking glaring weakness in their own kids. Of the hundreds and hundreds of kids my son has played with, there are only a handful of them still playing ball in their 20's so I cannot see how it can be even remotely clear when they are pre-teenagers given those odds.

In my very humble opinion, if a parent suspects their kid has some type of special gift, they ought to keep that information to themselves. Develop a love in the game with the child and leave it up to the pro and college scouts to decide how gifted they really are when they are in high school. For those of you tempted to project someone elses kid - pro or con - I suggest don't do that and more often than not you will be wrong. Baseball can take years for the ugly duckling to turn into a graceful swan. Don't kill some kids love for the game with what is very likely a flawed analysis because simply not enough data has been collected at that point and parental biases more often than not cloud the picture imho.

i think we all know you can't say who will end up playing pro ball. that i will agree with. i have seen hundreds of kids play. i have seen a handfull of kids that i will say are special. they have a special look and performance that you can see. doesn't mean they'll play d1 or get drafted ,but i don't think that's THE benchmark. i think if you've seen it you know. imho.

I don't know how well a parent can judge talent. But if the child is working with a instructor who is qualified and has worked with him over a period of time they start to see the things that at may separate him from other players.... May be they will be the first to see the swan in the ugly duckling!

quote:

Maybe they will be the first to see the swan in the ugly duckling!

A nice thought indeed