About one person out of a hundred is blessed with a natural athletic ability that far surpasses that of the average person. A well-trained baseball manager can spot natural athletes instantly, by the way they throw a ball or the way they run with the speed, power, and fluid grace of an animal. No amount of practice will make you into a natural athlete. You either have it or you don't. Most of us don't.

Natural athletes will usually get selected for a baseball team first, even if they have never played baseball before, and even if they can't read, tell time, or speak English. None of this matters, because a natural athlete can learn to excel at almost any sport in a fraction of the time it takes the rest of us barely master it.

Don't get upset if the baseball team's manager selects some scruffy kid from the wrong side of the tracks ahead of your respectful, well-trained boy or girl. The scruffy kid may have been blessed with a natural talent for sports. Remember, Babe Ruth was a juvenile delinquent. ( He learned to play baseball in a Catholic reform school.)

Unless you and your spouse are natural athletes, the chances are that your children will have average athletic ability. With hard work and perseverance, they can excel, have a lot of fun, and learn valuable lessons that will serve them well in later life. However, they will never be able to accomplish in sports what a natural athlete does with seemingly effortless ease.

Natural athletes have an immense advantage in sports. Major League Baseball teams are made up almost exclusively of natural athletes, and most athletic scholarships are gobbled up by the "naturals."

Set your expectations accordingly. Don't be upset if your children, despite a lot of hard work, only turn out to be average players. Don't hassle them over it.