Actually, my son had good (not stupendous) coaching, and FWIW most just left him alone, the good coaching was just about playing the game more than anything, then he had great coaching in college. He had some sloppy mechanics in HS, fixed up later on. Most players, even the best come out of HS not with the best mechanics.
BHD, you make good points, but as far as becoming good players from the beginning, there is a beginning for everyone, different players, different ages, there is no set of rules, IMO. Better athletes make better players, so we let son do what he wanted, play tennis, play hockey (yes we have this here too). gymnastics, golf, surfing, basketball (lousy rec league but lots of fun we won), etc. I do beleive that most likely contributed more to his success as an athlete, not where he started or how much he play or didn't play.
Daque brings up some good points, I don't see too many disagreeing with some of which he says, only perhpap in pm's, which seem strange as most here are pretty out spoken and not afraid to state their strong opinions or argue a point. I understand what he speaks of, as an example, son didn't pick up a bat for over 3 years, batted .333 his short stint in AA. No lessons, no nothing, just that natural ability. You can't teach that, I think that is what he is saying.
My opinion is also that nothing much counts until one reaches the bigger diamond, then serious stuff begins to happen, for most players, you can't judge a player on the smaller diamond as to what he will or will not be in teh future.
Actually, I don't think much counts until one reaches HS.