The "Peaked" Athlete

[jonriv]

During interviews with College Coaches, one of the questions that always would be asked is "What kind of player are you looking for?"

Usual answers were the obvious-

-talent
-speed
-hitting
-coachable(which can mean different things to different people)
-grades
-potential

Two of the coaches when talking about "potential" mentioned "peaked" athletes. They went on to describe players, often who were very good, but were as good as they were going to be. I had recalled from my High School days(ok, ancient history) Of guys who were football players and studs at 13- who later got passed by players who matured later than they did- but was not really sure what the coach meant.

One gave this scenario- a real good HS player- makes all county, all-state etc... has a big batting avg steady fielder etc... Players we have all see, but when you put them under the "coaches" microscope- holes appear. - most hits against weaker pitchers(struggle against better talent) throws are accurate-but not strong good runner, below average speed. Good fielder(catches everything hit to them) but range is average. On the pitching side- successful pitcher in HS and probably even- but barely throws 60mph -

Do these players go on to play in college- many do(many do not), but to the bewilderment of their parents and friends- not to the level they all thought.


"Where all the Div I scholarship offers" a parent of a good pitcher from bordering Westchester County, NY asked. His daughter had been a star and had thrown record number of no-hitters in HS. The facts were this- she had good speed, dominated weaker teams, but never the good teams. Her story was not isolated.

As NORCAL has said- Talent, ability and Grades are primary. As they say in basketball- you can't teach 7" As been professed though-out the HB world- you need to play against and have success against top talent. In college, at every level, most of the players were the best or one of the best at their HS- everyone has talent. Coaches are looking for people that can take their talent to the next level.

[hit4power]

There was an 18G team from around here that three years ago had a #1 pitcher who was about 5'6" tall, threw 60-62, had good movement, and could locate. The #2 pitcher was a 6' lefty, kind of awkward and gangly, not polished mechanics, struggled with location on many days. Guess who the D1 coaches came to watch....and they were all thinking the same thing....let my strength coach and pitching coach have that lefty for two years and then look out. From what I've seen, I agree that the D1's are looking for potential, defined as some combination of athleticism, size, and speed. They believe (and probably correctly) that they can fix any mechanical issues with hitting, throwing, pitching, etc.