Could I become a professional athlete?

[Voltron87]

i think a lot of people drastically underestimate how talented major league athletes are. and how many people are *almost* at that level but not quite.

i dont think you could become an nfl kicker or punter without a lot of natural talent. you can train to become a really really good one but you are competing against so many people for so few positions that sooner or later the genetic lottery winners will have an edge. There are tons of kickers out there who are pretty close to the nfl level, but when you get to that skill level diminishing returns kicks in and you just cant make up that real estate with practice.

[kenberman]

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i think a lot of people drastically underestimate how talented major league athletes are. and how many people are *almost* at that level but not quite.

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this is very true, and a great example is golf. there are like thousands of guys out there on lesser tours who can consistently shoot in the 70's, and maybe even brush the 60's sometimes. a lot of these guys are serious players, who have commited themselves to the game.

but these guys are still not good enough to play in the PGA. some of it is nerves, some of it is natural talent. but they're not good enough, and they are nasty at what they do.

You'd want him to play sports where practice and training have the most benefits.

A potential athlete can outwork everyone else, but that will not be enough to get to the big league level in most sports.

Sports where hard work can overcome lack of talent (wont be the best, but could be pro):
Golf
Tennis
Football-- o lineman if tall enough, kicker, punter, long snapper. any other position no
Baseball-- maybe make it to minors, need serious talent for majors
semi sports
pool, bowling

No chance without major talent:
basketball
soccer
etc.

[tdarko]

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i think a lot of people drastically underestimate how talented major league athletes are. and how many people are *almost* at that level but not quite.

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the majority of AAA and the majority of established (meaning sucessful) AA prospects (meaning within the organization) are as talented and have the same exact skills as the average big leaguer and some have more. i think you may be looking at superstars when thinking about this. the seperation of talent/skill level between AAA/big leagues isn't that much it's how these players react when they get under the big lights and the big contracts and the 50,000 fans and the 162 games a year etc etc etc. it also has to do with who stays healthy enough to get their break to get into the big leagues.

for every big leaguer there are a dozen that were more talented that just never caught there break or werent in the right situation.

[KingDan]

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I think that if someone trained a kid for Major Leagues, a Knuckleball pitcher seems like a good try.

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this is very wrong.

you can't train someone for the "major leagues." you can train them well enough to get drafted and get into organized ball (professional baseball/minor leagues) then from there its basically who gets the breaks and luck factors in. once you get to AA/AAA the seperation of talent level evens out and it comes down to injury, business etc., not necessarily what is fair 100% of the time. i could go way into this but the post would be too long.

as for turning him into a knuckleball pitcher this is really a terrible idea, look at how many knuckleballers there are and how many pitchers there are, there is a reason for that. knuckleballers a reserved for former big leaguers in the twilight of their career that are just trying to add a few more years to it (most of the time).

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I didn't make myself clear.
I know the chances would be small of making MLB. I thought working with average genetics, a knuckleball pitcher had less emphasis on traits that could not be determined, though still a longshot.

I think your odds would be much worse trying to get a kid in as a hitter, as hitting pitching is one of the toughest things in sports.

As far as baseball, what position do you think would allow a kid the greatest chance?

[kschellenger]

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I think that if someone trained a kid for Major Leagues, a Knuckleball pitcher seems like a good try.

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this is very wrong.

you can't train someone for the "major leagues." you can train them well enough to get drafted and get into organized ball (professional baseball/minor leagues) then from there its basically who gets the breaks and luck factors in. once you get to AA/AAA the seperation of talent level evens out and it comes down to injury, business etc., not necessarily what is fair 100% of the time. i could go way into this but the post would be too long.

as for turning him into a knuckleball pitcher this is really a terrible idea, look at how many knuckleballers there are and how many pitchers there are, there is a reason for that. knuckleballers a reserved for former big leaguers in the twilight of their career that are just trying to add a few more years to it (most of the time).

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I didn't make myself clear.
I know the chances would be small of making MLB. I thought working with average genetics, a knuckleball pitcher had less emphasis on traits that could not be determined, though still a longshot.

I think your odds would be much worse trying to get a kid in as a hitter, as hitting pitching is one of the toughest things in sports.

As far as baseball, what position do you think would allow a kid the greatest chance?

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Another point to consider is that knuckleballs are less stressful on the elbow than a curveball. Therefore, you would reduce the chance for injury along the way.

[tdarko]

i see what you are saying. but scouts won't give a player the time of day if they see that he is a knuckleballer, they wan't guys that can dominate each side of the plate, up/down and though velocity IS important it isn't the MOST important b/c you can ask any big league hitter what they would rather hit: a guy throwing a flat 94 or a guy throwing 88 with great late life in the zone, its just harder to center the ball with the latter.

i would get my kid with the best pitching coach in the area and teach him how to manage the plate and manage a game. if he didn't have the natural ability to throw the ball 90+, he would still be able to "pitch" with great "stuff" in the mid-to-upper eighties and get outs. many big leaguers have had long careers with the arsenal that i just mentioned.

[kschellenger]

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i see what you are saying. but scouts won't give a player the time of day if they see that he is a knuckleballer, they wan't guys that can dominate each side of the plate, up/down and though velocity IS important it isn't the MOST important b/c you can ask any big league hitter what they would rather hit: a guy throwing a flat 94 or a guy throwing 88 with great late life in the zone, its just harder to center the ball with the latter.

i would get my kid with the best pitching coach in the area and teach him how to manage the plate and manage a game. if he didn't have the natural ability to throw the ball 90+, he would still be able to "pitch" with great "stuff" in the mid-to-upper eighties and get outs. many big leaguers have had long careers with the arsenal that i just mentioned.

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All true. I was just noting that if you have a 13 year old throwing curves and heat he'd have a much higher chance of throwing out his elbow or having some other major arm trouble.

[M2d]

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i see what you are saying. but scouts won't give a player the time of day if they see that he is a knuckleballer, they wan't guys that can dominate each side of the plate, up/down and though velocity IS important it isn't the MOST important b/c you can ask any big league hitter what they would rather hit: a guy throwing a flat 94 or a guy throwing 88 with great late life in the zone, its just harder to center the ball with the latter.

i would get my kid with the best pitching coach in the area and teach him how to manage the plate and manage a game. if he didn't have the natural ability to throw the ball 90+, he would still be able to "pitch" with great "stuff" in the mid-to-upper eighties and get outs. many big leaguers have had long careers with the arsenal that i just mentioned.

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and you teach your son to throw in the upper 80's how? mechanics aren't going to give you more than a couple of miles more on your fastball. if you don't have great stuff to begin with, it's pretty much impossible to acquire it.
also, with a few exceptions, aren't scouts only going to take a look if a pitcher meets certain criteria (from what I heard, it's 6' tall or 88mph and under 22yo for righties, slightly less for lefties).

you could make it (into professional athletics, not "make it" as in be successful) as a junkballer with a great college career who is signed in july after his senior year to fill a space on a short A team after some roster moves have been made, or as a hometown hero in a city with an independant team.

[KingDan]

I was thinking the average person would not be able to throw that hard, but I may be overvaluing the importance of genetics. Maybe a pitcher with great form can build powerful legs to get some velocity.

Still, even with all this I doubt the average person would be able to top 85, if that.
I was also thinking that a pitcher trying to throw hard would be 2-3 more likely to get a serious injury, but I am just pulling this out of my ass.