Preferred fomat for video?

Most prefer basic VHS

One word of caution---make sure they know the tape is coming or it might end up in the
circular file" !!!

Thank you!

and about those video's.........what exactly do coach's want to see? I am making one up for a specific college now. How long should it be? what do they want on it?

This happens to be what I do. First of all, Never send a tape unsolicited. i have found that some like DVD format. What you should do is email or write the coach introducing the athlete. In the letter ask the coach what he prefers. Funny thing that it really varies depending on the sport. We have found for example s****r coaches almost always want DVD. Go figure. As far as length. You have to consider the tape like a resume. Utilize the KISS method. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. This is not designed to get you the scholarship..it is designed to spark interest. 5-7 minutes is plenty. Do not make it a "ESPN Highlight Film" How a batter lays off a 1-1 pitch out of the zone is as crucial as how they run to first. Show the players skills...not his greatest hits!!! Keep in mind...like a resume...it can spark interest but it can also terminate interest. Good luck and feel free to email me if you have any questions

bk
Athletes of Tomorrow

P.S. I also want to add that even though I make money doing this...I believe it is something that a parent can do for themselves if they are so inclined to.

Keep in mind that each college coach looks at things thru his own eyes---if you are sending a tape to a specific school call the coach and ask what he wants to see and he wants to preseted-- you want to pique his interest so that he shows up in person to see the player

Unsolicited tapes can eb a waste--like I say call ahead

I can't speak for how well college coaches have used this ... but what I've done is shoot my own video in digital-8, load it onto my home PC, then distilled it down to 7-8 minute long sequences by eliminating "dead time". I create different videos based upon activity, i.e., hitting, pitching, fielding, using video editting SW. I then generate a streaming-video file and upload it onto a website I built as a "player profile". Then, for specific schools that have contacted my son via US mail or e-mail, I simply send them a URL link to the website and videos section any time I add new content. I always put the URL on the school questionaires.

Since the videos are streaming, coaches can view them relatively quickly without having to wait for the full file download. If they want a local copy of their own (e.g., if they have a slow Internet connection), they can simply "right click" on the file link and "save as" the file to their local hard drive. This makes it easy for me to add new video over the course of a season, and solves the lost tape or DVD problem. If a coach specifically wants a DVD, I can simply burn the same videos onto a RW DVD and send it.

So far all the videos I've done are from actual games. In the pitching videos, I show every pitch of every at bat ... it's important to show how he deals with critical situations when runners are in scoring position, not just K's. I found I can get about four full innings of pitching into eight minutes of video. I haven't done a 'training' video yet as I've felt that seeing performance under actual game situations shows a lot more beyond just basic mechanics or physical attributes, e.g., mental approach, his pitching & hitting approach with bases empty vs runners in scoring position. I tend to set the camera up on a tripod and just walk away and let it run, editting it down later on the PC ... this way I'm too far away for it to pick up my own voice , and I don't want to be the distracting dad standing behind the backstop.

Well thanks for the pointers. The coach has requested this video from my son. Profiles been sent along w/ their recruitment form that they sent my son. I will have my son call him and tell him that the tape is on its way.
Like I said, they requested the tape beings that we are pretty far from Rhode Island. Wish us luck. We'll see what happens.

What I did for my daughter and her field hockey/basketball:
downloaded video a'la PBone's method to the PC, then inserted individual clips into a power point presentation [very simple to have the individual clips/slides play automatically. First couple slides were informational/resume/highlights/awards, etc with a hot box to "Click to continue" had a slide with her in action in softball/hockey/bball unis and one from her as homecoming queen [trying to show diversity and athleticism in a still]. Burned all to a CDROM. Coaches i spoke with said they liked the format - currently working on a DVD version for WIndmill Jr - trying to figure out how to get the informational slides in - Keep you posted. Anybody have any feed back on any of the stuff I'm doing/did?

My father is retired and he uses a progam on Macintosh to cut and edit videos. At 70, he makes it look easy, so if you have a Mac, I recommend using or borrowing the software to cut and edit videos. The nice thing about the way he does it is that it can be converted to VHS or DVD.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bk102:
This happens to be what I do. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. This is not designed to get you the scholarship..it is designed to spark interest. 5-7 minutes is plenty. Do not make it a "ESPN Highlight Film"

BK102- I was wondering if you can clarify what I perceive to be dissonance between your post here about not making an ESPN highlight film and the following text off your website under 'Deal 1'
"We will add dazzling special effects and slow motion to make you look like a blue chip recruit..."

I am not trying to belitte what you do, in fact it looks like a good value. I just thought that the advice you gave conflicted with the way your describe your service.

Thanks for the clarification.

Glad to. I do add effects like spot shadowing, arrow pointing, still frame, ect. The word dazzling is really just for marketing. The truth of what I meant about it not being an ESPN highlight film is the actual plays themselves. Coaches not only want to see a hitter take one deep, it is just if not more important to show a batter hitting behind the runner to move the guy on base. it is as important to see how a pitcher sets up a batter with a fast ball high and tight as it is to show the breaking ball away that stikes the batter out. Parent s and kids who make their own film tend to only show the "ESPN Highlights" rather than the plays that show the overall ability. Hope this explains my statement.


bk102
Athletes of Tomorrow


P.S. I failed to mention asnother key. Don't send unsolicited tapes and DVD's. Sen an introductory letter or email expressing interest before just sending. The Coach will really appreciate it.

thank you

Biggest thing to avoid is adding any effects, music, etc.

Coaches are not watching these videos to be entertained, they are looking for skills and fundamentals.

I know because at eBaseballClub.com, we produce videos for players that coaches actually care to watch. We don't show highlights. We show skills.

Coaches don't want to see homeruns or great catches. Anyone can do these things once in a while.

What coaches want to see are the fundamentals and mechanics.

Sign-up at eBaseballClub.com and get a profile and video on-line with us for $99 a year.

Once your profile is up, coaches and scouts come to our site and search for players (for free) and fill holes and gaps in their programs. Right now, we have nearly 300 registered college coaches searching for players.

Feel free to check us out at eBaseballClub.com, or call me at 630-655-9512 and we can talk.

-Chris

And the reason coaches don't want to see homeruns...on video you can't tell if that field is 400 or 200 feet deep.

Plus you can't tell what the pitching quality was that game.

This is why it is so important to sign-up for a service like ours and make sure your video is actually of things coaches want to see.

-Chris

Chris - I posted this reply on your other forum, so here it is again.
While I am sure your orginal intentions were good, as a new person to this site I must warn you about any message boards in which you advertise or talk about your company.If you go to the rules sections of these Message Boards, you will see that Bob is very strict about doing any FREE advertising. That is why he offers advertising options to those who which to get the word out about their service.
I learned VERY quickly about all of this when I was new to this site because I made the mistake of asking the question about a website in a forum and everyone jumped on me about working for the company. They thought I was doing some undercover advertising when in reality I was merely asking about these types of companies.
So, welcome to the site and feel free to enlighten us in further forums so that we can learn from your experiences.

Hopefully TR remembers this , but years ago there was a story about what college coachs do with unsolicted tapes....


it went like this, during a rain delay the college team was in the clubhouse laughing up a storm, a visitor asked what they were doing and the coach told them he was showing the team the videos he had been sent.....all of them choreagraphed to music .......

Then he added that he used all the tapes in the batting cage, taping his hitters............

make sure they want the tape......

piaa

That is more than just a joke--- it is more fact than fiction-- saves them budget money