Do players automatically reach their potential or do they have to be driven to it?

I think so, yes, with your caveat of excluding the Baseball obsessed ballplayer.  And speaking as a Dad of a Baseball obsessed ballplayer from a  smaller Midwestern state:  even then it can be a real challenge finding enough at bats against top flight pitching.

I agree.  My 2019 who is traveling this summer on the mainland had trouble catching up to top flight (upper 80s to 90) pitching early on, but seems to be adjusting well.  He'd only see 2 or three of those guys back home, and only see them once a season.

As someone from a small state, do you think players actually "naturally become better players" or is it that in reality, in any school/state there's going to be about 2% who are actually any good? 2% of a graduating class of 1,000 is obviously going to be bigger than 2% of a class of 250, which is what my son had?

Nothing is automatic, except an out. The indidual player need "inner arrogance"! He should at age 15 play up and on several teams to gain experience and the 6th tool. Keep a diary of each game. Throw away the cell phone one hour before you arrive on the field. Study the field, the wind and the air. Watch the opposing pitcher warm up, take away pitches. 

Be a student of the game, have fun, stay loose. 

Bob

I have always believed that the most important job of a parent(s) is to help a child build the attitude and mental approach to life that will help them be successful. Baseball, like many sports or other activities, is a great avenue to this end.

I teach high school math, and my hope for my students is that they learn how to push themselves (and how to accept being pushed by those who are trying to help them reach their goals) so that they have a chance to be exceptional at something in life. I have learned as a teacher that many kids do not have such aspirations yet, but I hold out hope that they will learn the value of finding something they love and working hard at it so they can accomplish something. What that thing is for each person must be their own, and I learned along the way that I cannot "make" my son love baseball (something I am sure all of you figured out at some point along the way too), and with that lesson I felt a relief wash over me. Once I understood that if this thing is not his - and if he doesn't own it completely and love it - then he is never going to work hard enough at it to be successful anyway, well then it became much easier to sit back and let him do it on his own.

In short, if you are hoping for your kid to be truly successful at something, I believe you can only show them the work that will be involved to get there and let them make decisions, mistakes, and find the love of it on their own. Doing much less or much more is either not helping preparing them for what lies ahead, or stealing their passion for the game.

I would ask this same question with it being "small school in a rural area that plays a crap schedule" vs a big city school that plays all the "big boys".   My son grew up in a small town.  We started traveling an hour each way to travel ball when he was 9 because he wanted to play with and against the best.  At home he was a 9 year old dominating a league with kids 2-3 years older than him....in travel ball he was a good player on a very very good team.  Our HS has produced 4 division 1 baseball players....total.   His original travel team  (from an hour away,  played together thru 12U)  ended up having 3 kids go D1 from it....with another D1 in golf and 4 or 5 D2's in basketball, baseball and football.   Had he never went to play with that team would he have gotten a baseball scholly?  Who knows, but I really doubt it

Add to the original post ... I was at a high school game in the small state last spring. I chatted up a high school coach watching the game. The winner would be his next playoff opponent. Some of his players were talking up a player like he was the greatest thing since Babe Ruth. He was last year’s Gatorade POY. He went on to an Ohio Valley Conference team. 

I thought to myself every team in my son’s conference (large state) had at least one better player. Then I thought to myself, what would these kids think if they saw a WWBA 17u tournament game. The coach I was talking with had moved from Arizona. He commented these kids have no clue what real talent is. 

I think it can be attributed to being a large school, but also establishing a culture of winning.  We have big 6A schools that we play that are terrible, and some that are great.  The sports culture at our school is very strong.  When  you look around and everyone is doing more than the norm, it becomes the norm.  Our football program goes to state almost every year and it is expected.  You can't put in the "normal" work and play.  It won't happen.  I am seeing the same in baseball.  We currently have about half of the varsity team that works out independently 5-6 days a week with a trainer.  This is outside of baseball class and the hour and a half "optional" after school practice. Last year we graduated 12 seniors and everyone was committed to play college ball.  This year we have 3 pitchers throwing over 90mph.  We have a hitter that has had his name mentioned as a first round pick.  Every time we have gone to a hitting lesson, we see him there.  He works out all the time. I know it is not normal, but it is a culture where you are expected to do more and be better.  I don’t think all the boys that are now doing more are all intrinsically motivated, but they are surrounded by people all doing the same thing . If you choose not to, you likely won't be on the team or won't play. 

I think the revolution in communications has flattened things a bit.  Even if a kid's a big fish in a small pond, they will likely follow the bigger fish on Instagram, etc.  My son measures himself against catchers who don't live in our city (or state, in some cases).  Showcases/tournaments are of course multipliers for this

RJM posted:

Add to the original post ... I was at a high school game in the small state last spring. I chatted up a high school coach watching the game. The winner would be his next playoff opponent. Some of his players were talking up a player like he was the greatest thing since Babe Ruth. He was last year’s Gatorade POY. He went on to an Ohio Valley Conference team. 

I thought to myself every team in my son’s conference (large state) had at least one better player. Then I thought to myself, what would these kids think if they saw a WWBA 17u tournament game. The coach I was talking with had moved from Arizona. He commented these kids have no clue what real talent is. 

yep.  We face people mocking spending money going to WWBA etc. and I've learned to not even defend it.  They all think the local kids are as good as it gets.  Big Fish Small poind.    I don't think our HS coach has any clue what he's looking at either.  Loves hard throwers even if they can't throw strikes. Couldn't pick a good catcher or hitter out of a lineup with little leaguers. 

There was a parent on my older son's team (a neighbor in fact) who was talking about how great their kid was and all the college attention. His PBR numbers (all I could compare) are significantly lower than my 13 year old.  They have no idea what they are looking at because they haven't been "to the show".   Just try to avoid and smile as much as I can. 

Although I think that most of the drive has to come from within, I don’t think any player can reach his full potential w/o some coaches, mentors, etc. helping them maximize what they have. But, I’m a firm believer that the kid has to really want it and if he doesn’t, it will never happen. 

Competition is key! Recently asked my frosh son why he was now doing all the things that I had to remind him to do when he was in HS...even his SR year. His response went a little like this; "Easy Dad...everyone here is REALLY good! One of our frosh pitchers sits 94 and another is 2-way that is 90 and hit a HR first pitch during live AB's. I can compete here but I am going to have to work my butt off."

As a HS football coach in toughest league in the state, I can vouch for this as well. We are best when we have some depth and players know they could end up watching the game from sideline if they don't work their tails off and perform!

I believe it has to come from within being honed along the way with successes and failures. Coaches, friends, mentors, critics and players contribute to the process but i believe parents have to set the tone. Some of the things i told my son along the way were ...nothing in life is free, don't waste your God given talents and no matter how hard you work...some one else is outworking you to be better. His drive ebbed and flowed and i think that is natural as well. It didn't hurt that he had a genetic gift (chip) to carry on his shoulder along the way and that helped drive him as well.  

It just depends. I coach at a small 2A School. We are surrounded by 4A schools from Raleigh and Durham. Why do we routinely produce more college level players than almost all of these schools? Why do we field a team that is way more competitive than the vast majority of these schools year in and year out?

Could it be more about what you are doing than where you are from? Could it be a commitment to becoming the very best you can be and not about simply where you are from? 

If a player is from a small rural school and he works very hard to become a very good player will he be better off at a much larger school in a high populated area that doesn't work very hard?

You will find more talented players in the Charlotte area simply because there are way more kids playing the game. Then there are HS football programs like Clinton (2A) Wallace (1A) that send player after player to power 5 programs. Why? Culture of the area, coaching, tradition, etc?

I hold fast to the belief that it is not where you are but what you do where you are. Why? I live it. In any regard what do you control? Control that. 

Humans are amazing beings that constantly adapt to survive.  If you go to gym A, where most dead lift 700#'s  or gym B where most dead lift 400#'s which gym do you think you will gain the most?  

In my opinion, there are 3 types of players and they are as follows: 

The guys with all the natural talent in the world (high ceiling) but don't work hard:

We all know this kid. Born with all the tools, but the only thing he lacks is the work ethic. He's told his entire life how much better than his peers he is and ultimately becomes complacent. He doesn't have the hunger to get better every day and just goes through the motions. These guys rarely ever reach their potential unless they're driven to it by a coach.

The average talent but crazy work ethic:

This is the classic "grinder", he knows he isn't genetically gifted to play this game but he works like crazy to get in the lineup. These are the guys that are typically the first ones to the field and the last ones to leave. Their ceilings aren't very high but they end up becoming the best ball player they can be because they refuse to be anything else.

Natural talent + crazy work ethic:

These are the dangerous ones. These guys are usually the best players you'll remember playing against and rightfully so. These guys are blessed with athletic frames and natural strength. They'll work tirelessly to perfect their craft. These guys are the ones that get taken in June or play in P5 conferences. They have incredibly high ceilings and end up reaching it because they have the mindset that they're never satisfied, they know they can always be better.

Based on some of the responses I don’t believe some understand the question. If a kid is a stud in a small state does he push himself to become a national stud? Or does he misunderstand the big picture and believe  he’s a bigger deal than he thinks because he doesn’t understand what’s out there? Or, doesn’t get past high school ball because he never had to push himself until it was too late?

Of course this happens. I have seen it happen. But it all depends on the people within his baseball structure. Does he have a coach that understands the big picture? Do his parents? What type of program is he in? Have there been former players in the program that understood this and played on high level summer teams? Attended PG events? Many times "Big Fish" in small "Ponds" spend the summer and fall being just another fish in the Sea. To the people in the small town the kid is the next HOFer in the making but the player and those informed around him know better and make sure he does. 

Are there situations where a kid from a small town, small program suffer from not understanding this? Of course. But this can also we said for kids in larger programs and bigger areas. They assume because they play at Charlotte Providence and they are nationally ranked and numerous players have gone on to play Power 5 all they have to do is make the team. Many kids they are surrounded by are just naturally talented players and don't have to work as hard as they need to work to get there. So they just do what the stud is doing and expect to be as good as the stud. Then they don't understand why they didn't get the same results. It can work both ways and it does.

I go back to this. It's not where you are but what you do where you are that matters. One of the best benefits of playing in the summer is getting exposed to players outside of your area. You need to see what it out there. You need to be challenged. You need to be exposed to what you will be competing against. That goes for any player. Is it a must? Well it just depends on just how talented you are and how mentally tough you are. But there is no doubt no matter who you are it sure doesn't hurt. 

I have always said when people talk about my kids that they don't have a real understanding.  My kids and I have seen what is out there.  People think we are lying when we talk about 14 year olds throwing mid 90s.  They say that is not real.  We have seen them.  I remind them all the time that I know where my kid ranks in the baseball world.  He may be the best in a small town and has a chance to be one of the best ever in this area but he is not realistically right now in the top 100 in the US much less the world.  CAn he?  Yes.  But it will take work, which he is doing but it doesn't come overnight.  I hear so many people who say they want their kid to be like mine.  Then when I tell them about his journey they say that is ridiculous.  I just say then set your goals lower.  Mine has been gone the whole month of June for three summers straight and most of July.  They ask what about his summer vacation.  I just laugh and say what better vacation could you want than a month at Lakepoint, West palm Beach, Arizona, and Charleston.  What does he do for fun?  Plays baseball is the response.  Then I remind them they better get to know their banker and get a couple of more credit cards to make it happen and a lot of time at the field and the cage.  They do not understand what these kids give up to get to the P5 college baseball scholarships or other college baseball scholarships.  Most baseball players cannot imagine the hours of dedication that it takes to get a baseball scholarship at any college much less at one of the big ones.  And yes.  Most of the time it takes someone or someones pushing them to get them there whether it is a day that is going bad or they are tired or for some every day.  but it also takes a lot of dedication on the parents and the family.  I say all the time that travel/showcase ball has to be a family decision.

In partial answer to RJM's question, I've heard said "if your kid is the best player on his team, find a new team." I do think playing with and against players better than you pushes kids, along the lines of Real Green's post.