A HC of one of the schools my son is interested in contacted my son’s travel coach shortly after sending in his video. They are setting up a call. My son usually talks to adults very well but seems pretty nervous/anxious. Does anybody have recommendations on topics he should discuss or questions he should ask?
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A HC/RC knows kids aren't polished and used to having those conversations and will help lead it. That said in an initial call he should be prepared to ask questions about the school itself from an academic perspective, and then sport specific questions, such as how they train at his position, etc.
Interesting question. But the answer is that all of them are different. One was all business and wanted to know what other schools were talking to him and another spent an hour telling him how to best play a video game.
Coach will want to get to know where you are in process and to get to know you, while you need a list of questions so you can quiz him.
Coaches I talked to also said they instantly disliked a certain kid and crossed him off the list after call.
1) Prepare the questions in advance and practice asking them to a neighbor (or some adult he isn't as familiar with)
2) I agree with GoodKnight that your questions are your questions....unique to you. Different people want different things out of their college baseball experience. If going into professional baseball is something your son wants to do then I'd steer the questions to training and development to get to the draft and the programs history with the draft. If professional baseball is not a consideration then I would gear my questions to the time balance of baseball and academics at this particular school. Disciplined time management as a college athlete is paramount. I would ask about specific majors relative to college baseball.
3) NYCDad is correct for the initial call typically the HC takes the lead and does most of the talking. We had one situation where that was not the case, and my son ended up doing most of the talking. So, again come prepared with a lot of questions. One of my favorites is to ask..."what does a typical week look like in-season and a typical week look like out-of-season". This will give the conversation a lot of "fuel" to discuss, because it will be a busy week either way. Another topic is what is their strength and conditioning philosophy in-season and out-of-season. There are so many strength and conditioning programs out there. Have an idea what works for your son then figure out if their program is a fit to their way of doing things. Just so you know, you're son is expected to show up Fall of freshman year in the best shape of his life and compete for a position....ask about their summer workout program and ask about placement in summer college baseball leagues.
4) Hit the little magnifiying glass on the title bar on this page and type in: recruiting questions to ask . This will give you some more ideas.
Good luck!
Coaches pretty much steer the conversation the first time. They will ask lots of questions and keep it from being awkward. You son just needs to remember to answer with sentences, not just yes or no. If he does have questions, he should ask, but he doesn't need to manufacture them. The only call my son had that was uncomfortable, was a mid major who wasn't on my son's radar. Coach asked him to call after the game. He calls and the coach says, "what do you know about our program?" My son says (truthfully), I don't really know much about it. Coach says, call me back after you look us up and know more about it. He probably should have looked them up but he said to call after the game. The coach seemed to have a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. That said, if there is ever a school he isn't really familiar with, look it up and know the basics before you call.
We had a 7 word rule. He was not allowed to answer any questions in less than 7 words. Yes, no, yes sir, no sir, yeah, uh huh was never allowed. He was always supposed to answer yes sir or no sir but elaborate. Son never had a problem with respect for elders so the sir part is who he is. I asked him ahead of time the obvious questions.
How was school ball this year? Record? Elaborate about positions played success and failures. Grades? Be honest but elaborate. Maybe throw in Covid helped it or not whether he was in school or online.
What will you be doing this summer? Where will you be playing? Tell him you will email him a schedule and regular updates (we did updates every Monday on the previous week for school and summer).
Where are you in the recruiting process? Be honest but don't feel obligated to share schools you are talking to if any. What are you looking for in a college experience? Be broad and not all about baseball.
If he asks about coming to a camp, you need to ask what that camp will entail.
Questions to ask:
How was your season? Know their record and games won/loss but push him for details on their season.
How many guys do you have coming back? How did Covid affect you guys? What are your guys doing this summer?
You should have him write down notes on how to answer questions and the questions he wants to ask. A good RC will drive the conversation and know he is talking to a teenager. A bad one will expect your son to drive the conversation. Have him sit down when he makes the call. Mine put it on speaker phone and I sat in the other room early on so that I could help him with pros and cons afterwards. He wanted me to help him get better but did not want me in the same room with him. After a while, it becomes easier. Good luck. Any questions, pm me.
All great stuff. I would also ask your kid to do a little research on the coach in addition to the program, just in case there is some small talk.
Lots of good advice here. In my son's experience the coach drove the conversations. The one piece of advice I gave my son was to avoid asking questions that are obviously available on the schools website, and to think of questions that are personally important to him. In my son's case, he was interested in how the team managed strength and conditioning, both in the off-season and during the season... this led to great discussions of nutrition, time management, how the practices were run, etc.
@PitchingFan posted:"We had a 7 word rule."
This is great advice and we implemented the 7 word rule for my son when he was starting to have conversations with coaches (I may have even learned about it on this board)! Great growing up experience overall for him to go through these conversations. Your son should be prepared to answer "who else are you talking to?". My son found that the best policy was to be upfront - the coaching world is very small and they know...
It is amazing how little experience teenagers actually have using their phones for a voice call. The vast majority of their communciation is through texts and face time. My son's first call with a HC was clunky, and he said that he wasn't used to talking to someone w/out seeing him.
“From what you’ve seen so far, what part of my game should I be working on? How do you think I should work on that part of my game?”
@knownothingdad posted:“From what you’ve seen so far, what part of my game should I be working on? How do you think I should work on that part of my game?”
100x this. HC at son's commit school was direct and specific. Has helped guide son's work since.
Check school media guides. Lots of information on the team, program, and coaches. Love the 7 word rule!
Practice, practice, practice. When they start out talking to coaches always be respectful of their time and program and my son talked to everyone that was interested, early on, and got comfortable with the process and then he started to let some schools go. When you know you're not interested in a program, let them know it doesn't seem like a fit or whatever, but be respectful. You never know who else these coaches talk to and when they might be at a program or scouting for the majors and if you were a jerk. People will know.
One additional idea - I had my son do research and come up with two very specific questions/observations for use during each conversation with a coach. For instance, one school's RC was previously at a west coast school and we knew a kid he had recruited. Another HC had a career in the majors and son was ready with q's (what was it like to play with so-and-so?)
Questions about the institution are great but sort of formulaic. Questions about the person with whom he's speaking can set a kid apart.
