Does the size of the player matter ?

Current rooster for my son's DI team. 24 of 32 6' and over. 11 of 12 pitchers over 6'. However, I do agree with Doughnutman that some of those heights are a bit of a stretch.

The one pitcher under 6' throws 93-95 & has topped at 97.

Looking at Perfect Games ratings for 2015, 3 kids under 6 foot listed in the top 100 (2 5'11" one 5'10").  Of those 3, 2 of them throw 88+ fastballs and the other runs a 6.37 60.  Even as you look at 101-200 there are just 8 or so under 6 foot.

It has been said on here that some of the reported heights are inaccurate on PG. So I don't know if you would want to go on that . You know what I would like to see is a group picture of 6' PG attendees. I can see it now " all right boys please remove your shoes and caps" . Smile 

hhhmmmmmmm...

 

http://www.howmanyaltuves.com/

 

Maybe TrackMan can measure it.

 

There is nothing you can do about your ht. If someone has a bias towards you because you are short there is something you can do about that. You can be good enough to make it not matter. If people suggesting better players are passed over simply because they are not 6 then your wrong. College coaches are looking for the best players they can get.

Could it be that most elite level players are 6 or better? Or is there a conspiracy to keep shorter players out of the mix?

There is nothing you can do about your ht. If someone has a bias towards you because you are short there is something you can do about that. You can be good enough to make it not matter. If people suggesting better players are passed over simply because they are not 6 then your wrong. College coaches are looking for the best players they can get.

Could it be that most elite level players are 6 or better? Or is there a conspiracy to keep shorter players out of the mix?

All rosters lie.Many, if not most, PG heights are lies. When they sign up guess how they get the heights? The players tell them. The players are advised by various people to lie. I have had several parents kids tell me that their advisors told them to lie at a young age to establish a better height. 5'10" is 6'1". If they were 5'9" at a PG event their sophomore year they are 5'11" or higher the next year in general. Suddenly they are 6' plus. Do not worry abut your kids height unless he is a pitcher. Just lie like the rest of the players, parents and advisors do.

 

My son is a legit 6'2". Everybody who sees him in the baseball world says he is 6'4" . It is because they have been adding 2 inches to everybodies height for so long it is ingrained.

 

Just play the game well and lie about the missing inches. It works for everyone.

Doughnutman - I'm sure you're right that more than a few players pad their height. Just not sure that it's quite so omnipresent a practice as you are suggesting. Would there not be some risk of credibility blowback from potential coaches who see 6'1" listed and then see 5'10" (the example you used) out on the field?  It's not difficult to see the difference between those two heights with your eyes. Calling 5'11 as 6'0" is more common I think. I would think a pitcher listing himself as 6'3" when he's really 6'1" would be a bad practice for the player for a couple of reasons... But maybe I'm wrong and it's as routinely done as you suggest.

 

I would also think that PG would measure and weigh players in to insure accuracy for the recruiters at the event and later on the website, but I suppose that might not be practical.

Soylent I think you are on to something here.

If college coaches thought it was so very important (like a 60 time, FB velo, etc.) would they simply not ask PG to do this much like the NFL combine.  My guess if they did PG would find a way to facilitate this.

 

I think it goes to Coach May's point.  Most of the coaches worry about whether or not you can play over ht and wt.

I remember when my son went to the Stanford camp.First thing they did was take their shoes off, weighted and measured.

When Coach Stotz began his welcome, it started like this, " I see that many of you were on the Jenny Craig flight, when got on the plane you were 6'4" 190 lbs. when you landed, you were 5'10" 165 lbs".

 

Most creditable camps, showcases, and college roosters don't encourage lying about your size. It's something that is easily verified. 

I do think it would be a good idea to verify heights at these events.  One issue that I can see is that are people measuring their sons with shoes on.  If they are, That can make  a difference.

Size doesn't make a player better. But the physical benefits of being bigger may allow the bigger player to develop more. But if the smaller player is better size doesn't matter. 

 

Dealing with stats in large numbers like a PG or MLB database you're going to see a large percentage of bigger players who developed. But the smaller players who are talented are not left behind.

 

The one benefit of doubt 6'2" players get is a coach won't hear, "What were you thinking when you chose this guy?" if the guy flops. Having a 5'9" player flop leaves the coach open to scrutiny.

 

Maybe this topic should be placed in a special category so we don't have to rehash it every month.

For the most part the ht and wt we list stays the same or gets bigger when the player is listed on a college or pro roster.

 

I know many kids exaggerate their size, so it must mean the best players that actually move up to the next level don't exaggerate as much.

 

Guess it's kind of like the guys that try to cheat the most when running the 60. Usually those are the slowest runners.

 

It's easy to exaggerate by an inch or less and I think that is what happens in most cases.  Much more than that and it becomes very obvious to scouts and recruiters.

 

The tall athletic body does stand out.  All evaluators would pick nothing but those over 6 foot if they never saw them play.  Unfortunately there is this small problem that gets in the way of many players (both tall and short)... It's called The Game!

Hahahaha ! I forgot Coach Stotz said that.Thanks for refreshing my fleeting memory He had lots of quips like that one.

 

 

What bothers me about this topic is some people want to seem to suggest that their son didn't get a fair shake because he isn't the right size. Or might not. Or someone's son got a fair shake or unfair advantage over theirs because they were the right size. And then there is the suggestion that coaches pick players, recruit players, play players because of their size alone. I guess I am just one of those people who can't stand excuses and people who use them. And especially parents who want to give them to their kids. For God's sake there is nothing worse than raising a kid on a good helping of excuses.

 

There are always going to be obstacles. Especially when your trying to accomplish something great. You may have to shed the perception you can't play because you don't look like you can. Maybe your short. Maybe your short and skinny. Maybe you don't have the typical athletic build. Heck maybe you look like a clown I don't know. But there is something great about this game. You can go out and prove you can ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME.

 

Some people want to suggest that the reason there are so many players 6 or better on college rosters is because college coaches only recruit players who are 6 foot. That is total BS. They recruit guys who can play at their level of play. If there are more 6 players on the roster than not 6 foot maybe its because they were the better players? If your son didn't get a shot and he was in front of college coaches so they could see him play it was not because he wasn't 6 foot. It was because he didn't show them what they were looking for.

 

Yes some guys don't tell the truth about their HT. Don't you think the college coaches know what 5'10 looks like? Don't you think they know what 6'0 looks like? But more importantly they know what a player looks like when they watch him perform. And if you can play there is a place for you. And if you can't no amount of HT is going to help you. And really what can you do about how tall you are anyway? So why worry about it? What can you do something about? You can focus on what you can control and let the cards fall where they fall.

 

This game is about performance. The ability to actually play the game. That win's out every time. Unless you are looking for excuses then you can tell everyone your son didn't get a fair shake because he is not 6'0. If that makes you feel better go for it. But don't try to sell that to me. I aint buying it.

Vanderbilt has a couple of freshmen recruits who are 5'5" and 5'6". I'm willing to bet they were recruited for their talent.

Vanderbilt has a couple of freshmen recruits who are 5'5" and 5'6". I'm willing to bet they were recruited for their talent."

 

I'll bet they are 5'3" and 5'4".

Ha! DM you took the words right out of my mouth... err... keyboard.

"Would there not be some risk of credibility blowback from potential coaches who see 6'1" listed and then see 5'10""

 

6'1" will get the coaches out to look at a player. Ability will get the coaches not to care about your height. It's like getting a giant box of cereal. The size looks huge but the bag inside is about 2/3 the amount. If you like the cereal you don't care about the actual amount of cereal. You want it regardless of the contents.

So if the player can play, then why fudge the numbers in the first place? To Coach May's points above, I don't believe there's any real size bias against good players who can play. I agree with your cereal analogy... if the kid is good enough, then a recruiter/scout probably isn't going to care much that he padded his height... might not even really notice in many cases. But if he ends up competing with another recruiting prospect who's about the same skill set and about the same actual height but who reported his height straight up... some coaches might make a note in favor of the second kid.  Anyway... it's not a major point.  The important thing really is that if you can play you will be recruited and if you can't, you won't... regardless of height.  My own feeling is that players are probably well advised to keep any padding down to no more than an inch... there's no real upside and potentially looks deceitful on the downside. Once they make a college roster, the school will likely pad their height anyway... especially prevelant in football but I'm sure in baseball too.

 I have had scouts want to know how tall the coach was so he could measure guys up when they get near him. Sometimes they will walk down by BP just to get a closer look, they know that the programs often have bad information. (6' often means 5'10" on a roster)

Well I got a pretty good idea where the extra inch may come from. Just took my 13 year old to the doctor. He's 5'6" well they measured him with his shoes on at 5'7" 1/2. Been arguing with him the whole time were waiting on the doctor. He said well it says 5'7" on my medical record so it's official and documented. Hahaha teenagers are pretty funny if you can keep from strangaling them.

It has been my experience that the very best players are not the ones doing the most exaggerating.  But I will admit there sure seem to be a lot of 5'10-5'11' guys listed as 6'0".

 

Actually too much exaggeration does become counterproductive. Then again we were once surprised by a player that turned in his height at 5'6" and we found out later he was 6'5". Guess he somehow made a mistake when filling out the form.

 

 

Regardless, they're the last ones to know it's raining.

He might have been dyslexic.

That's what I said earlier.  Also, it depends on who is doing the measuring...

Does the size of the player matter ?
... maybe, maybe not in all cases. But, the one overriding thing in a player, that definitely matters, maybe even above talent alone to a certain level, is the "size" of a players heart!

       
       


Tell them not to slouch, and make sure they stand up straight & shoulders back! A 1/2" for sure!