"The goal for my son will be to enhance the ability side- the skill side will become a focus once he is older. Could care less about skill level at 12-15 years old."
Baseballthinktank,
All I can say is good luck with that. I admire your passion for this method, but do you have any data to back this method up? There's been plenty of studies on the value of correct repetition in sports such as golf and tennis, and a growing body of evidence that baseball benefits from the same. Presumably you do care about skill level at 16+, but I don't see how you get there from here.
I guess the issue we all face as parents and instructors is the "correct repetition". How do we accomplish that? Who is judging and evaluating "correct". Even if we are the world's foremost experts how do we teach in a way that its understandable and eliminates perception or confuses the nervous system?
Yes, during college recruiting, I always sought out ability first. Once kids have the ability, skill is much easier to teach. However, if the player doesn't possess ability, the skill doesn't really matter. At the higher levels of college sports and professional, without the ability- skill doesn't get you very far and most times it doesn't even get your foot in the door.
Sure, there are outliers, and crazy feel good stories about the kid who throws 81 and beats the #1 team in the country, but more times than not, it doesn't happen because they will never get the opportunity.
Ability gets your foot in the door and allows more room for error? Why? Because of perception, ironic, I know!
Thanks for your reply and I appreciate your kind words. Great conversation.