The Difference Between Talent and Ability

For many people, the words “talent” and “ability” are interchangeable. Understanding the difference between them can make all the difference in how we live and work. Here at Pro/spur, one of the first lessons we share with our players is recognizing their talent vs. their ability. So what is the difference?

Talent is what you’ve been given.

Ability is how you grow the talent you’ve been given.

Right now, there are more than 8,000 pro players in Minor League Baseball. Do you know how many of those players have enough talent alone to make it to the Big Leagues and stay there? The answer: not that many. 

What we’ve seen over and over is that the athletes who make it move beyond their talent and focus on their ability. They don’t just show up and play. They put their all into practice, discipline, and focus. Excellence almost always takes more than talent; it takes the long, difficult road of ability: putting your talent into action. 

While you have no control over what talent you’re given, you have 100% control over the ability you put towards growing your talent. 

So how do we at Pro/spur go about this process? We ask players to identify their top 5 talents in order. Then, we create a plan together to grow their talent.

An example: let’s say that a player knows that his talent is locating his fastball. Though he may not be the best at throwing other pitches, he can always count on his fastball. Instead of leaving him to rely on this God-given talent, we’d challenge him to consider growing that talent by perfecting other pitches. How can he develop as a pitcher? First, he needs to identify his weaknesses. By listening to his pitching coach and learning to throw other pitches for strikes, he becomes a much more complete and valuable player. 

While our tendency is to practice what we’re good at, we’ll never grow our ability until we challenge ourselves to address our weaknesses within our talent. Per the example above, this would mean working specifically on throwing secondary pitches during both practice and games until it becomes natural. 

The bottom line is this: don’t stop with your talent. Focus on your ability in order to expose every ounce of talent you were born with.