It’s not how good you are, its how good you want to be.

It’s not how good you are, its how good you want to be.
The level of competition particularly in baseball, is such a unique thing. It’s the only sport that signs as many professional contracts as it does to players on an annual basis.
If you don’t know, its a lot.
It’s safe to say that the pool of talent in the United States alone can be quite intimidating for most players.
I know it was for me.
For a long time, especially in high school as well as my first year in division one baseball, I constantly compared myself to other players that I competed against.
Now during this time, I was playing against players like Stephen Strasburg, Buster Posey, Rickie Weeks, Yonder Alonso, who are all either already causing a ruckus in the big leagues or are having successful minor league careers.
So for me feeling intimidated was a battle that I had to first become aware of it’s negative impact on my game before I could overcome it’s grip.(Which I eventually did.)
First I had to be completely realistic with myself. I didn’t throw 98 MPH of the bump, and I didn’t hit .400 with 14 hrs in the ACC conference. So what skills did i have that gave me an edge over these players.
I had passion.
I had faith that if I could focus on the things that are within my control, good things can and will happen.
Now to be completely honest, I do have some natural talent. I run about a 6.4 sixty yd dash and have an average arm by professional standards, which is the ability to throw in the upper 80′s as a MID-INF.
I also had a pretty good idea of how to hit, but was I a first rounder?
No…..not by a long shot!
So it comes down to this.
It’s not how good you are, its how good you want to be. No matter what level you are currently playing at, you can play with the hope that because of your desire to get better and play for a long time, it might just happen.
I can’t help but think of the short conversation I had with former MLB player Greg Litton. His daughter was a student of my mother’s and I had the pleasure of receiving some advice which was this.
” if you can find a way to just get better, even if its just a little, every year, you just might have a chance”
Now this is coming from a former big leaguer who didn’t even make his high school baseball team!
It was the greatest advice ever given to me, which is why after almost ten years later I can recall our conversation like it was yesterday.
So what does this mean for you? It means that your development as a baseball player is solely your responsibility. There is so much information now that is easily accessible, specifically on the web, and most of it is free. Not only at this site but there are countless sites that can give you helpful advice. So getting the correct education in baseball should be a given.
So you have no excuse! Remember….”it’s not how good you are…it’s how good you wan’t to be!”
- Paul Arden

 

Thanks PlayLaughLive....nice to see you posting again.