JUST A THOUGHT

I have done this with a couple of college's our son is interested in. Son looks at these, as well, and knows it will take that much more work to make it on a college team and stay there.

I don't know that I agree with that way of thinking. While I can’t disagree that many freshmen struggle their first year in college baseball, I have always thought that many of those struggles were the result of a perceived problem similar to the batting slump. The mental approach to the game can spell the difference between success and failure and if you go in thinking you are going to fail you are absolutely right! While we are on this subject of college performance we need to understand there are many exceptional players that peak about their sophomore year and then regress the longer they stay in college.
Fungo

These are very interesting thoughts!!!!! On the one hand, I do think the step up is significant in terms of skills but also think the coaches, for the most part, are more than capable of bringing players to the next level. I still believe this is more a mental/discipline/desire than physical issue.
Fungo has an extremely intriguing, and accurate, observation about players whose performance deteriorates/flattens as they progress through college. I guess it is seen but is less obvious/publicized in the minor leagues. From what I know, it is clear that players not only need to make the physical and mental leap from high school to college or the minor leagues, they need to persist and continue to improve every step of the way beyond, and that is not easy to do.

Interesting thoughts here. I just had a discussion this week about some of these feelings.

I think the step up to college is about many things. I think that most of the kids that play ball in college were the top kids in their area, so skill wise I don't think it's earth shattering to them. Maybe a bit surprising when everyone on the team can hit a ball like they can, etc.

However, there's the demands of their schedule which is definately a change. There's leaving friends (girlfriend) and family behind. There's a change in coaching staff for them (sometimes this isn't a pleasant change). I think if they have a slump their freshman year or don't get opportunities to contribute, this is really a small part of the picture.

To have the mental strength to deal with the entire picture is without a doubt an important piece. Each level that a player moves up requires more and more of themselves be given and more sacrifices. It's not easy any way you view it.

the biggest adjustment is 6 inches....between the ears.

One of the best things a college coach can do is to put his players in a postition to succeed.

The step up doesn't seem so big if the kids are used at the right times, IMO.

lafmom has touched on what was the biggest change for my son and several of his friends, that is the change in schedule and time committments from high school to college. Going from 25 or so games to 40-60 games, plus travel etc. and all the other things that go with college studies, social activities etc.

Seems the biggest jump has been in matters off the field, not on it.

quote:

Seems the biggest jump has been in matters off the field, not on it.

There is a lot of truth in that observation...but I think a minor league or college player has to do much more to succeed. From what I have seen, and what little I really know , successful players need to get better and do get better at every step of their progress in their baseball careers. How they do that is, to me, a lot of the unknown. If we were to look at the Oakland A's, their middle infielders, Crosby and highly underated, Mark Ellis give enourmous credit to Ron Washington for coaching them to the next level. In the Blue Jays organization, Orlando Hudson went from a very late round pick to one of the best 2nd baseman in baseball and he gives credit to Coach Brian Butterfield for getting him there. It is not all coaching and it is not all the player but must involve significant contributions by both, with constant adjustments by the player. If you have the talents of Arod/Jeter, maybe you make less adjustments and get more out of them. To me, though, in addition to the mental side, there is a clear contribution from good coaching at the collegiate and professional levels. There also has to be talent. What I think can be underestimated until you are in college or minor league baseball is the amount and constancy of the pressure and need to improve and perform, at every step. When your skills and performance remain constant, except at a highly productive level or for the highly compensated/scholarshipped, you may be close to seeing the end.