what do college coaches prefer

[maksoftball]

One college coach doesn't represent all coaches. Don't assume that what works for one or two or three coaches will work for the other two or three. I think all efforts should be made especially for top 10 choice colleges.

J/S

 

[girliesmom]

Something I hear consistently from coaches is put what you do well first in the video. So if you hit well that should be first as they often times don't watch all the video.

^^^^ Fully agree with this ^^^^

DD has her video (made private) on Youtube. Those who have accesss to it are those she's invited to watch her video (ie. email or recruiting questionnaire). With Youtube Analytics, we've noticed that most coaches only watch about 1 minute of the video. Only a small handful have watched the full 4 minutes. Some only watch 20 seconds - to the end of the good stuff. Yes, put the best stuff up front.

 

[marriard]

In regards to the videos, when making them, then would you suggest slowing it down for a couple swings?

What angles would be the best?

Just do a search on this forum. There are several very strong threads on what to do and also critiques on skills videos others have posted. Some threads are REALLY detailed.

But quickly:
- 2-3 MINUTES. Edit out dead time. Be brutal. Realize that it is the first 30 seconds that must gain attention.
- Short, quick video highlighting best skills. No more than 2-3 of any one skill, no more than 2 angles.
- Don't include BAD hits or BAD pitches.
- Contact info upfront and at end. Include grad year, positions, high school, travel team, email and phone contacts. Stats not really important.
- No music. No need for an intro speech (if you want your DD to speak over the video that is cool) - see 30 seconds comment above. Some videos aren't even into skills 1 minute in - and the coach has likely turned it off by then,
- Identify the skill being performed (e.g. Drop ball, slap, fielding at position X, etc, etc)
- Put it up somewhere - private YouTube video is fine. Send LINK to the video, not the video itself.
- Update each year

 

[JAD]

DD has her video (made private) on Youtube. Those who have accesss to it are those she's invited to watch her video (ie. email or recruiting questionnaire). With Youtube Analytics, we've noticed that most coaches only watch about 1 minute of the video. Only a small handful have watched the full 4 minutes. Some only watch 20 seconds - to the end of the good stuff. Yes, put the best stuff up front.

Not sure if public or private are better, but my DD's skills video has 8000+ views....should I be afraid? LOL

 

[JAD]

In regards to the videos, when making them, then would you suggest slowing it down for a couple swings?

What angles would be the best?

Here is the short version of my DD's skills video. Thought I would share it to give you some ideas on the camera angles for hitting.

 

[TamiAz]

My daughter uses Fast pitch Scout and puts highlight videos of herself pitching, hitting and at third base. She changes some of them quite often because my husband tapes her all the time. She did have a skills video up, but she decided it was too long, so she took it down. The great thing about using Fast Pitch Scout she can see what college coaches are visiting her site, what videos they are watching videos and for how long. It's a pretty cool!