Skills Videos

[justwannaplay]

Hello All:

I was wondering about the players skills videos, I see most players have them.

Do the coaches really take the time to view them ? is it a must have ? Will it increase or decrease your chances of having the coach come see you play ?
I was going to make my own but chose to pay for one since I am not to good with video cameras.

All responses are welcomed ........

JWP

 

[starsnuffer]

They are very good to have when done right. Most coaches won't get the chance to see you play, and when they do, they're primarily watching you warm up. If you're not a pitcher or a catcher, you may only field one or two balls in a game, which is not enough info for them to make judgement on. Skills videos allow them to see you, gain an understanding of what you can and cannot do, and glean a glimpse of your personality.

Keep them short and to the point. The best prep you can do is to join a speech club or take a toastmasters class. The biggest weak point in these videos is usually the player simply talking.

Good luck!

-W

 

[blazerdad]

Yes. That's how my daughter got recruited, twice. Posted them on YouTube and emailed the coaches a link to the video. Keep it short and simple.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

We did not elect to do a skills video. But I'm going to share my experience and opinion.

My DD doesn't want to go "away" to college, so our choices of 6-10 schools were within a couple of hours from home. 6 of these an hour or less from our front door. So it was much easier to get/invite the coaches to come see her at the HS level and interstate TB. I kept in contact with the colleges via email forwarding stats and media articles, and encouraging them to come see. This approach paid off well for my DD's path. LHP

Now fielders are another topic. I do feel they should make a short skills video to show their talents. Most of my girls did about 3 mins, two mins on the fielding and about a min on hitting. They have received some good offers and interest from the videos. The video only gets the college interested, you still must perform once they come to watch at an expo or private workout.

As far as the BIG picture? Yes, I'd recommend a skills video. A small investment of $$ compared to the 1000's we spend each year for TB.

 

[Scl1991]

A skills video cannot hurt. But, do not spend money on it. Seriously. We filmed ours ourselves and we definitely did not have any filming experience. We came home and I used whatever software came preloaded on my computer to edit and splice together a clip. I jumbled my way through it but got it done in about 2 hours. Uploaded it to YouTube with a private link and that was it. My daughter sent it to about 50 schools. It got viewed 73 times. We had about 10 schools specifically request a skills video. She ended up having 7 offers so if the 4 hour process did anything to help her have options, then it was worth it to us. We all invest so much into this journey for our kids, the skills video seems almost negligible.
The video will not make or break the recruiting process, but it can highlight solid mechanics and get a coach who doesn't know you interested enough to come out and see you. Keep it simple- no music, no fancy graphics. Get their attention in the first 60 seconds or they move in.

 

[Atlantabell]

A skills video cannot hurt. But, do not spend money on it. Seriously. We filmed ours ourselves and we definitely did not have any filming experience. We came home and I used whatever software came preloaded on my computer to edit and splice together a clip. I jumbled my way through it but got it done in about 2 hours. Uploaded it to YouTube with a private link and that was it. My daughter sent it to about 50 schools. It got viewed 73 times. We had about 10 schools specifically request a skills video. She ended up having 7 offers so if the 4 hour process did anything to help her have options, then it was worth it to us. We all invest so much into this journey for our kids, the skills video seems almost negligible.
The video will not make or break the recruiting process, but it can highlight solid mechanics and get a coach who doesn't know you interested enough to come out and see you. Keep it simple- no music, no fancy graphics. Get their attention in the first 60 seconds or they move in.

Exactly what we did for our daughter and it worked fine. I have to say that the production value was not great, but it worked. Again, the coaches for the school where she plays saw her in person, but the skills video attracted interest from other schools who had not seen her.

 

[RichK]

I have a question for those getting an early start at recruiting rounds: If you make a video during their freshman year, do you make another new one in subsequent years?

Another version of that question: what was the first year you sent out a video?

TKS

 

[starsnuffer]

I'm not sure why anyone would send out a video or attend a college camp for a college they intend on attending their freshman year. You can only ever get crossed off a coaches list, once you're off, you're not getting back on.

-W

 

[Scl1991]

We did our video November of her junior year, when we had 2 coaches ask for one. Recruiting is getting earlier and earlier, but I don't think a coach will ask for videos much before their junior year anyway. So unless someone is asking early, I would wait until DD is as good as she'll get before recruiting really starts, then do the video. Attend camps younger where they can see you, but unless your DD is a phenomenon at 15, I wouldn't send it out too early. Like starsnuffer said, you can get crossed off. They are just looking for reasons to whittle their lists down.

 

[RichK]

That makes sense....our 16u team is a mix of fesh/soph. With my older dd we started like you say, junior year. It feels now like we SHOULD start earlier but agree it doesn't really make sense. Tks