We are in the process of getting one made for our 08. It will be approximately 7 minutes long. Is that too long or not long enough. Thanks for any help.
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We've heard 1-3 minutes is optimal.
i thnk mines around 3 minutes with an introduction of myself for about 40 seconds.
This is me being picky after having watched countless recruiting tapes in my time as a recruiter, but let me tell you what type of things worked for us.
The introduction: Highly unnecessary. We have gotten your tape, it has your name, position, etc on the outside of the tape. No need to put an introduction and waste time. We want to see you play, not see you talk. We've already gotten all the info you're going to say in your information you included w/ the tape.
Keep it no longer than 5 minutes, and please please please do not include entire live at-bats from games, or entire innings pitched. Show us your tools, not the 60 seconds in between.
For hitters, show BP hitting from the profile view so we can see your swing straight on. No need to show more than 15-20 swings. We'll see what we need by then. If possible, also include 15-20 swings with the camera 30 feet or so behind home plate so we can see how you hit pitches that are in, middle, and away.
On defense, show 10-15 ground balls, including a few DP's if you're a middle infielder. Show a couple of throws to 1st w/ the camera behind the 1st base bag so we can see your mechanics and your carry across the infield.
In outfield, show yourself fielding 15 or so ground balls and fly balls. Also show yourself throwing to 3rd base from right field with the camera either behind you or behind 3rd base so we can guage your arm.
Catchers, show yourself blocking a few pitches, receiving a few pitches pitches, and 5 pops w/ the camera behind 2nd base so the coach can get his own pop-time on you from the video. (Can't tell you the number of times a catcher will say in his letter he throws a 1.95, then we time him on the video and it's a 2.25 5x in a row).
Pitchers, show yourself throwing 8-10 reps of each of your pitches from behind home plate from both pitching positions. If you have a radar gun available that can be clocking you and be seen by the camera, that is just an added bonus. Also include 8-10 profile shots so the coach can see things he can't see from behind home plate (such as staying back, etc.)
Lastly, take a few cuts and sprint to 1st base so the coach can get his own home-1st time on you. If there is a football field available where you can run the 60 and the yardage is on the field, the coach can see that you're starting on the goal-line and running to the opposite 40 yard-line and knows its a legit 60, do it.
It really is not too complicated, just show your tools and don't waste time w/ fluffing it up w/ rock music or overused slo-mo.
This is just based off my experience, and my conversations with other college coaches. Opinions may differ a bit, but the key is: SHOW YOUR TOOLS. You want to be able to let him determine how good he feels you are w/out him feeling like you tried to sneak something by him.
Sorry for taking so much space here guys. Hopefully some other people that have had experience can lend their opinions as well.
Best of luck!!!
The introduction: Highly unnecessary. We have gotten your tape, it has your name, position, etc on the outside of the tape. No need to put an introduction and waste time. We want to see you play, not see you talk. We've already gotten all the info you're going to say in your information you included w/ the tape.
Keep it no longer than 5 minutes, and please please please do not include entire live at-bats from games, or entire innings pitched. Show us your tools, not the 60 seconds in between.
For hitters, show BP hitting from the profile view so we can see your swing straight on. No need to show more than 15-20 swings. We'll see what we need by then. If possible, also include 15-20 swings with the camera 30 feet or so behind home plate so we can see how you hit pitches that are in, middle, and away.
On defense, show 10-15 ground balls, including a few DP's if you're a middle infielder. Show a couple of throws to 1st w/ the camera behind the 1st base bag so we can see your mechanics and your carry across the infield.
In outfield, show yourself fielding 15 or so ground balls and fly balls. Also show yourself throwing to 3rd base from right field with the camera either behind you or behind 3rd base so we can guage your arm.
Catchers, show yourself blocking a few pitches, receiving a few pitches pitches, and 5 pops w/ the camera behind 2nd base so the coach can get his own pop-time on you from the video. (Can't tell you the number of times a catcher will say in his letter he throws a 1.95, then we time him on the video and it's a 2.25 5x in a row).
Pitchers, show yourself throwing 8-10 reps of each of your pitches from behind home plate from both pitching positions. If you have a radar gun available that can be clocking you and be seen by the camera, that is just an added bonus. Also include 8-10 profile shots so the coach can see things he can't see from behind home plate (such as staying back, etc.)
Lastly, take a few cuts and sprint to 1st base so the coach can get his own home-1st time on you. If there is a football field available where you can run the 60 and the yardage is on the field, the coach can see that you're starting on the goal-line and running to the opposite 40 yard-line and knows its a legit 60, do it.
It really is not too complicated, just show your tools and don't waste time w/ fluffing it up w/ rock music or overused slo-mo.
This is just based off my experience, and my conversations with other college coaches. Opinions may differ a bit, but the key is: SHOW YOUR TOOLS. You want to be able to let him determine how good he feels you are w/out him feeling like you tried to sneak something by him.
Sorry for taking so much space here guys. Hopefully some other people that have had experience can lend their opinions as well.
Best of luck!!!
Hire Skillshow. It's worth the money and they pretty much include everything TSfan spoke of. They do use an info and background music but the info is maybe 15 seconds long and the music isn't annoying.
Do you have to have a video? Can you be recruited without one? Son is going to 2 Div.1 schools next week for an unofficial visit. Neither school has asked for one at this time. Actually I will take that back one Head Coach mentioned it but then when contacted by the recruiting Coach it was never mentioned as something that they need. Should we wait until asked for this to do one?
TS,
What would you think of a video that started off with all the things you mentioned (taking groundballs, BP, running, and throwing), followed by a minute or two of in-game clips with music as kind of an outro? That's what I have on mine so far.
What would you think of a video that started off with all the things you mentioned (taking groundballs, BP, running, and throwing), followed by a minute or two of in-game clips with music as kind of an outro? That's what I have on mine so far.
The gentleman that started our website was a former major league player, coached D1 ball for ten years, and is now a pro scout. He is in routine contact with other college coaches that all agree on one thing: videos should be short and to the point!
He has also noted to us that it is ok to pay a service to make a video for you, if you do not have the time to make it yourself, but in general, it only takes about 2-3 hours to film and edit your own video AND you save a bunch of money that you can put towards other recruiting efforts.
All the videos we edit we take 5-10 minutes of footage and eliminate all of the downtime in-between so that the video is only 1-1/2 to 2 minutes long. Coaches can tell a lot about a players abilities in that short amount of time. All the music, bells and whistles that video companies offer is all unneccesary. Make it short and sweet as coaches time is valuable.
Anyone wanting free information on making a video YOURSELF can e-mail me at mark@ebaseballclub.com.
He has also noted to us that it is ok to pay a service to make a video for you, if you do not have the time to make it yourself, but in general, it only takes about 2-3 hours to film and edit your own video AND you save a bunch of money that you can put towards other recruiting efforts.
All the videos we edit we take 5-10 minutes of footage and eliminate all of the downtime in-between so that the video is only 1-1/2 to 2 minutes long. Coaches can tell a lot about a players abilities in that short amount of time. All the music, bells and whistles that video companies offer is all unneccesary. Make it short and sweet as coaches time is valuable.
Anyone wanting free information on making a video YOURSELF can e-mail me at mark@ebaseballclub.com.