Seen some dumb things in recruiting videos, but this was new...

[marriard]

I have seen it all - once saw a girl bunt a ball into her nose and bleed everywhere. Not only did they leave that in, you could see the blood on her shirt for the rest of the video. Also saw a video where the girl was just wearing a sports bra and volleyball shorts while her mother yelled supporting comments from the sideline - that one is still a riot since they sent a new one every season. Saw a video that when clicked on was 38 minutes long - didn't watch that one...

Last night one of the college coaches I know forwarded me a video he had received for a 2021 pitcher. This was a skills video with game highlights - which I like - show skills on the practice field, then show the skill in a game to show you can use them. It also had all the things you don't need - captions, video effects, bad angles, blurry video and terrible annoying music. It was fairly awful especially since I went out and saw they charge $250-350 to put it together.

Anyway, the third clip in - meatball pitch that that gets smoked WAY over the fence. I mean crushed. They even let the clip run long enough that you see the ball land and scatter the team warming up beyond the outfield fence.

Yes - they included her getting totally demolished. Editted in so you just see the pitch and hit. To bad music. For ~ $300

Cause you know - that will get the coaches interest (well maybe for the batter).

 

[murphdog]

I know a girl up here that didn’t edit hers at all so most of her infield skills showed either her missing an easy ball or the ball going right between her legs. She eventually ended up walking on to a team and the coach told her that even though she had seen her play, the skills video was what made her never offer a spot prior to walk on tryouts

 

[gator5]

The funniest one I saw was when they sped up the video when the girl was running bases. And to make it every funnier, they left in the audio so that was distorted too I don't know who they thought they were fooling. They did not do it as a joke either.

I only wish I had saved a link to it.

On a recent one my daughter saw, it was a skills video. You only saw the girl hitting from a side view. You could not see where the ball went. But we heard one compliment: "nice pop up"

I have seen it all - once saw a girl bunt a ball into her nose and bleed everywhere. Not only did they leave that in, you could see the blood on her shirt for the rest of the video. Also saw a video where the girl was just wearing a sports bra and volleyball shorts while her mother yelled supporting comments from the sideline - that one is still a riot since they sent a new one every season. Saw a video that when clicked on was 38 minutes long - didn't watch that one...

Last night one of the college coaches I know forwarded me a video he had received for a 2021 pitcher. This was a skills video with game highlights - which I like - show skills on the practice field, then show the skill in a game to show you can use them. It also had all the things you don't need - captions, video effects, bad angles, blurry video and terrible annoying music. It was fairly awful especially since I went out and saw they charge $250-350 to put it together.

Anyway, the third clip in - meatball pitch that that gets smoked WAY over the fence. I mean crushed. They even let the clip run long enough that you see the ball land and scatter the team warming up beyond the outfield fence.

Yes - they included her getting totally demolished. Editted in so you just see the pitch and hit. To bad music. For ~ $300

Cause you know - that will get the coaches interest (well maybe for the batter).

 

[corlay]

Some simple things I would have paid attention to that so many dont:

1. Pick a nice field.
What is in the background can be distracting, so no shopping mall parking lots, etc.
Make it a softball field (no infield grass)
If it is off-season, a Skills Video on an infield full of weeds probably isn't the best choice.
Keep the background scenery clean and organized. No field maintenance equipment, spare nets, etc laying around in field of view.
2. Limit distractions
Don't let your little sister run around during filming.
Also, keep your pet dog off the field , too.
And background audio matters. Please no Sirens, traffic, conversations occurring off-camera, etc.
3. Be in uniform
Ratty t-shirts and shorty-shorts probably isn't making the best impression
4. No Daddys
If your vid features a pitcher/catcher, let them all be players,
No Daddys sitting on a bucket receiving pitches, especially.
Exception: if you are filming batting with front-toss from behind a net, Daddys are ok, but please dress the part. (ie Look like a coach)

 

[marriard]

Some simple things I would have paid attention to that so many dont:

1. Pick a nice field.
What is in the background can be distracting, so no shopping mall parking lots, etc.
Make it a softball field (no infield grass)

One more thing on field... the field should have a fence at SOFTBALL distance. Something like 190'-200' - preferably with that marked on the fence.

If you are on a slow pitch or baseball field or even a field that is out to 240'+ there is NO REFERENCE on how hard you are hitting the ball if you are shooting from the backstop. You can't tell from most angles.