To video or not to video that is the question

Because I work in the web site business, it was pretty easy (and free) for me to just put together a profile website and load all the videos onto the site as streaming media files. That way there's nothing to send and coaches can choose to peruse them or not at their leisure without having to request a tape or DVD, or find it in their 'filing' system .

Most of the video I shot I'd just put the camera on a tripod, turn it on, and walk away. I'd then edit out only dead time between pitches, to cut the run time down to something reasonable. I never selectively deleted pitches or at bats ... I thought it important to show situational pitching, hitting spots, pressure situations with runners on, mental approach after a BB, etc. If I needed to shrink run time further, I'd just do a limited number of innings ... but always the complete three outs.

The only downside is that viewing videos online does require a decent high-speed internet connection, and with streaming video, a coach can't selectively REW or FF to review specific spots unless they do a "Save target as" to their local HD then view it locally on thier own desktop.

There are services that can do this for you, or you can do it yourself ... but it does take a decent PC for editing video, some video editing software, and time ... lots of time. I've been able to justify it since photography is kind of my hobby. Plus, I figured I'm out at the field for every game myself anyway ... so why pay someone else to come out and do the video/editing stuff. I can understand for some folks the cost, time, and hurdles of learning how to do all this stuff may be overwhelming, so paying someone to do it works for them. The side benefit for me is I've been able to help friends out too, did a volleyball training/recruiting DVD for one of my son's friends. The dad wanted to pay me, but I told him to keep his money and just buy me a beer sometime ... just something I enjoy doing for kids.

My friends played pro ball with the Cleveland Indians for several years, then went on to both coach college ball and be a scout for the Indians.
When he was a coach, he said you would be amazed at how many times coaches take the kids videos, erase them, and use them for their own means. He told me that when it comes to videos, players should send a letter to a coach letting them know of their interest in playing for his school and ASK if it is OK for them to send him a video of their skills. Unsolicited videos get thrown-out or like I said, erased. It was his opinion that just sending a video unsolicited is a waste of time.
Like pbone, if you can get your video on the internet, it is much better than mailing videos. On the internet, you do not have to pay the postage of mailing the video and you can send one letter to many coaches letting them know that they can view the video by going to the website. I too know of a great service that allows you to put both a resume AND a video of your skills on-line for coaches to view. If you need further info, please e-mail me at Looney73@aol.com.

The web idea was a good idea and the nagatives you gave were why I chose not to do it that way.
It cost roughly $1.50 per disk to send the DVD. The VHS was a lot more. I used a card bord sleeve and it was cheap. I designed a beautiful label for the DVD and as I have said almost every coach looked at it with a little prodding. The real thing you should worry about is getting it done. You will never get 100% but you will get 0% if you don't get it done.
I sent out only about 20 or so at approx. $3.00-ea. I have a toll free at work and e-mails are free. I spent $60.00- and wound up with several offers and or interested schools.

By the way if you have flaws in your mechanics the video will be the least of your worries. Let a knowlegeable coach review it and correct your flaws.

If I can add a little insight to the Recruiting Video discussion...
We have filmed over 50,000 athletes in multiple sports around the country and we CONTINUE to learn and listen to coaches on what value they can get from "video".

The clearest knowledge we have is that video is a great tool to show 3 things:
1. athleticism
2. body type
3. basic mechanics

Remmber "video" is "information" just like stats, scouting reports, etc. When scouting a player, recruiters needs as much 'information' as possible, so video can be extremely useful.

Imagine paying to see movies in the theater without seeing a 30-second trailer first...you could waste time & money on something you never wanted to see. Now think of the time & cost of a coach/scout to travel and see hundreds to thousands of players! Our goal is to 'enhance the scouting process with video & internet technologies'. So far, we have gotten great feedback from the scouting community...but we never stop asking how to improve our service.

There is no exact way to produce a players video, but if you can demonstrate those 3 things in a presentation that is 5 minutes or less, then you are doing the viewer (coach or scout) a huge favor. If you can get it online with updated personal information, you can minimize delays in your recruiting process.

Skillshow website

We sent out DVD and it was viewed by the coaches (one had to have his assistant help him). They were very well received and as stated earlier, they could go to specific places to watch a specific thing. Where my son ended up signing, the coach called last spring and told us that he was viewing the DVD with the coaching staff and they noticed a flaw that needed correcting. He went on to describe the flaw and how it should be fixed. My point is that not only did they get the DVD and watch the DVD, but they kept it and used it to help us out. Also it is a very inexpensive thing to do and if you send out ten and only five get seen, that still is positive. Heck if you send out fifty and only one gets seen but by the right school it's worth it don't you think?

IMHO.....

Our son was at a showcase in New York where we had our first exposure to video promotion. It was in fact Skillshow! I am not metioning this to promote Skillshow, but I will say that after my son was seen at this showcase by the head coach of a New York school, his images reminded another coach from the same school about my sons skills and abilities.

It seems that the second coach, their recuiting coach, had seen my son play ball this past spring and summer here in Illinois. When my son was contacted by him at the direction of the head coach, my son replied with an e-mail, plus the website information on Skillshow with his access code. When the coach saw the video, my sons 'swing' refreshed his memory of seeing him play this summer. The process of my son being "recruited" has accelerated greatly, and he will be visting the campus this weekend on a stay-over with one of the players. There are other schools that have contacted my son, we feel, as result of this video presentation, that did not see him play this past season.

All of the schools that my son is interested in, and have shown interest in him, are high academic D3 universities. He is 5'8" and 145lbs. and not a D1 prospect because of his size!! And according to him, that's O.K.! He wants to play baseball in college and feels that his best opportunities are at a highly selective university. We truly believe that if it were not for the Skillshow video, he might not have these opportunities.

There.....I went ahead and promoted Skillshow!!!! They made everything easy for my son and did a tremendous job!!! I even recommended them to some parents at a PG event last month in Iowa, and they did sign-up their sons!!!

quote:

it gives the perspective coach a chance to look for little faults that he may not see other wise

There are a lot of variables here and can be a little complex. Some players should NOT send out videos and some schools don’t use videos. BUT on the other hand some players need videos and some colleges are receptive to videos. My son had a video made but never sent one out. Here’s my take on the video issue from my limited exposure of going through the recruiting cycle (D-1’s) with my son and asking specific questions to a number of coaches during that time. My take was that large Division I schools spend little (if any) time looking at DVD’s, tapes, or a websites suggested by prospective student athletes unless it is a unique situation where they WANT to see a player but can’t. The larger division I schools are bombarded with information about prospective D-1 players. These larger colleges utilize their vast manpower and financial resources, plus listen to respected baseball contacts that are continually knocking on their door to “discover” players. They follow different high profile summer teams and are in contact with the “better” high school programs in their area. You see these college coaches at showcases and hear them talk about going to different showcases. Professional scouts also give a lot of information to the bigger D-1 because they need their help in scouting their players down the road. If I wanted to make an impression with a large D-1 I personally would NOT send a tape or CD (or even recommend a coach look at my son on a website). I would use every other means available first.... the conventional ones like the SHOWCASE, the SUMMER TEAM, and maybe even a camp. I would them make a phone call to the coach. If that coach is not interested in my son after all that “dancing and parading” around in front of him for the past three years then my son's chances of playing for that college aren’t very good. I would move on.
The smaller schools will be more receptive to the video because they don’t have the manpower or the funds to launch an all out recruiting campaign. The feeder programs for the smaller divisions are very small compared to the large D-1s.
A player’s talent weighs in greatly in whether they should send a video too. If a player has a “reputation”, a blue chip player, then that reputation spreads his name....He needs no video. Coaches everywhere have read his name in Baseball America. Even if he's not in BA they still know him. They will seek him out. (kinda like if he can play they will find him) On the other hand the less talented player needs to get his name out. Maybe he didn’t play for the best summer team around and maybe he wasn’t invited to Jupiter or maybe the parents didn’t have the means to send him where he “should” have been. This player needs a video and needs the coach to see him. The less talented player needs to be more active in selling himself. STILL, I would NOT send a video unless I called the coach first and explained my situation and he agreed to look at my video.
The recruiting cycle is not rocket science folks. The name of the game is exposure and while the video and electronic promotion of a player is a form of exposure it can have very little impact.
The one fear I have for the young player being lulled into believing electronic wizardry has emerged as a way to move to the next level. I applaud those that are trying to re-invent the recruiting process (except recruiting services) and understand things are changing ... but we as parents and players should not be the recruiting guinea pig. We need to conform to what the college coach wants . . . TODAY.
IMHO
Fungo

Interesting timing on this topic. . .my son just got his first request for a video the other day, in his initial contact from a smaller D1 school. I figured they wanted it because that was going to be their best way of seeing him. Also, my son's baseball 'resume' mentions the showcases he attended, but we also specifically reference in the main letter the most recent Perfect Game showcase he attended. I was thinking that would be helpful to the smaller D1s that he is looking at, any thoughts from anyone?