I searched for the answer and could not find it, so I thought I would ask. We have lots of video of my 2020 hitting. Not much of him pitching or playing defense. So I am going to put a video of him hitting to start. Do I put complete AB's in the video, only the part of the AB, all his swings in the AB??? What are scouts looking for..... And how long is too long?
Thanks!
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My understanding is one minute or less. Good game swings, not complete at bats. Include clips of BP: five swings from opposite the hitter, 5 swings from behind. Use the best swings he has.
Wait for other answers. There’s more than one way to approach this.
Per Duke HC Pollard: "2 Minutes max or I'm not watching". This is for swings and defense, if it's just swings, then 1 minute max like Smoke said above. A few game AB's are nice, but at this time of the year the coaches are accustomed to seeing a few swings off the tee from behind registering exit velo, then both rear and side views during a BP round.
From Yale Recruiting Coordinator (see attached PDFs)
2019Dad posted:From Yale Recruiting Coordinator (see attached PDFs)
That's awesome. Thanks for posting!
Here is some advice from coaches / scouts at a camp my son just attended.
brief, no music, no fancy graphics, get to the skills, edit out any bad plays / bad swings etc. Just show the good stuff. For example, 5 good reps at ground balls, 8 good swings etc.
Agree with all of the above. Just left my son's third unofficial visit. All three assistant coaches and head coach said that the "SkillShow" and "ProspectPipeline" videos that you see on YouTube are like the Glamour Shot modeling photos girls used to get in the 80's and 90's. They make you look better than you might be at times.
They really want live game videos. Hitting against live pitching. Fielding against live hitting and pitching in live game action.
Another thing a head coach of a top ten program mentioned to a group of parents mentioned he does during the recruiting process is he NEVER speaks to ANY coaches the player PAYS or has PAID to play for. He lets his assistants determine if the player is good enough to play at the Division 1 level before he does his assessment. If his name makes it to the final cut as a potential offer and he needs to do the final assessment on character and playing ability, no calls are made to travel/club coaches only his high school coach. That's why you tell your kid that high school ball still matters!
2019cubdad posted:Agree with all of the above. Just left my son's third unofficial visit. All three assistant coaches and head coach said that the "SkillShow" and "ProspectPipeline" videos that you see on YouTube are like the Glamour Shot modeling photos girls used to get in the 80's and 90's. They make you look better than you might be at times.
They really want live game videos. Hitting against live pitching. Fielding against live hitting and pitching in live game action.
Another thing a head coach of a top ten program mentioned to a group of parents mentioned he does during the recruiting process is he NEVER speaks to ANY coaches the player PAYS or has PAID to play for. He lets his assistants determine if the player is good enough to play at the Division 1 level before he does his assessment. If his name makes it to the final cut as a potential offer and he needs to do the final assessment on character and playing ability, no calls are made to travel/club coaches only his high school coach. That's why you tell your kid that high school ball still matters!
A pipeline to reliable travel team coaches is considered vital to recruiters. They know who to trust and vice versa. Recruiters will make a point of seeing recommended players coached by the ones they trust.
It's the paid recruiting services that they uniformly mistrust.
With respect to videos: SHORT, representative, and augmented with velocities whenever possible.
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately all I have right now is live video from him hitting. I will get the BP swings and Pitching with Radar in a month at a local showcase he is going to. I put this together last night as a start. I will remove some of the live swings and put some of the showcase stuff in there when I get it...
Removed video
Thanks again
MNBaseballGuy, for video of your son hitting in games, I think you want to show (a) the swing, (b) where the ball ended up, and (c) then what base he ended up reaching. You do have to pan the camera a little bit, and it can be difficult to make it look great, but the coaches will get the idea. If it were me, I would not lead off the video with two infield hits. I would suggest starting with his most powerful hits (homer if you have it, or triple, which you did show) because you want the coach to keep watching. You want to grab his interest from the get go.
Unfortunately, it is harder to show hitting and fielding well than pitching. For pitching, live game action can be very good in video, and it's just flat out easier to get it on video (e.g., you know your kid is pitching and something will happen). Fielding especially can be hard.
Also, I think the advice about a short recruiting video is spot on, but once your son is in regular communication with a coach, he can send longer information. Particularly if the coach is not in the same geographic area or can't come to watch. For example, during this quiet period, my son has sent entire innings -- even entire outings -- to coaches (with whom he has been talking) and they can watch if they want to. Again, easier to do for a pitcher.
Good luck!!
Sorry made some changes (based on feedback and me looking around), so I deleted old video. Uploading new one now.... I will add link to this message when complete.
New Link - https://youtu.be/cm2YMYCcIXQ
MNBaseballGuy posted:Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately all I have right now is live video from him hitting. I will get the BP swings and Pitching with Radar in a month at a local showcase he is going to. I put this together last night as a start. I will remove some of the live swings and put some of the showcase stuff in there when I get it...
Don't wait for video from showcases. If your son has a good day along with some solid measureables you can include it one of the recruiting emails and continue to reference the good measurables.
Take the time to build quality recruiting video yourself at your pace, it can take a while. Hire one of your preferred instuctors who has access to a facility large enough for fungo's, and one who can throw good BP. Let the instructor know the time is for recruiting video, not dedicated for an hour of instruction. Also, let the instructor know there are specific angles you need to get, and you'll have to take a lot of video to get the good half a dozen reps. 2019 referenced Yale's RC; this guy gives very specific directions.
This was the best $100 we spent, and we did it a few times inside and outside over the course of three years.
The showcase videos aren't always the best, and sometimes our kids have off days...so I wouldn't wait.
Your son looks like he has a nice swing...
After sending the first video and building a relationship with a coach, it’s always a great idea to send short video updates when the coach isn’t able to come in person. A 10 second video of in game bomb is likely going to help speed up the recruiting process. While data such as exit velo is quite popular and for good measure, I’m sure a coach would rather recruit a guy with an 80 ev vs 90 ev if he shows he can hit in game pitching. I’ve always thougt live at bats be the most beneficial for recruitment videos and have never had a coach ask me what my exit velo was (still very important).
The video of no more than 2 min or ideally 1.5 min will do the job. Most coaches get 100's of email a day and need to filter them out somehow. An intro that makes you stand out right from the start will give you a better chance of the email being opened. Also it helps to know who you are marketing to and provide something to spark the coaches interest like a subject line of ......"6'3" Left hitting Catcher" or "Lefty Pitcher" or "6'4" any position".
The video will most likely be more successful with schools that do not have recruiting budgets. The video should show the skill and mechanics that are relevant to the position that is being "marketed". Big State U has a RC with other assistants that will rely on their own "eyes" and not pay much attention to video.
Hope this helps!
JABMK posted:The video of no more than 2 min or ideally 1.5 min will do the job. Most coaches get 100's of email a day and need to filter them out somehow. An intro that makes you stand out right from the start will give you a better chance of the email being opened. Also it helps to know who you are marketing to and provide something to spark the coaches interest like a subject line of ......"6'3" Left hitting Catcher" or "Lefty Pitcher" or "6'4" any position".
The video will most likely be more successful with schools that do not have recruiting budgets. The video should show the skill and mechanics that are relevant to the position that is being "marketed". Big State U has a RC with other assistants that will rely on their own "eyes" and not pay much attention to video.
Hope this helps!
Bingo.. subject attention getter, opening scene on video, AND marketing to the “right” school. Physically big with skill as a HS Soph appeal to top D1’s. 5’8 Soph w great hands and skills needs to be seen in action, early video goes unnoticed...
FWIW, in our case, the value of video came from sending it after a coach had seen the kid in person, not before. He got good feedback from a few guys he sent it to cold, but when he sent it to coaches who had already seen him and made contact, the reaction was yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
I think you should get as many swings in as you can when you're showing game video. For example, on the triple to start, you've got 4 seconds of dead time before he loads. I'd cut that. Same for the blurry footage and view of the chainlink. And I'd cut everything after he rounds first for the doubles, except maybe once to show speed. You could get 2 or 3 times as many hits in that way using less time.
I'd get rid of all IF hits. Coaches want HARD CONTACT. Especially the first one, where the SS should have had him.
I like how you have an into part. One thing we did was add 5 seconds of him saying thanks for watching the video and noting a couple of stats in that spot.
I agree your son has a very nice swing! Good luck to him!
JCG posted:I'd get rid of all IF hits. Coaches want HARD CONTACT. Especially the first one, where the SS should have had him.
Thought process was show him speed getting down the line. They don't care about that?
Take care of that with an official 60 time as an initial indicator of speed. If you can get footage of him stealing a base or two that will demonstrate his quickness. Any video with hitting it should show well hit balls to the OF.
Just my 2 cents.
What Smoke says.
Though if you have a bunt for a base hit that could work.
