Recruiting Tape - How to?

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A handful of colleges have asked my daughter to send in a recruiting tape. ?She will be a junior this year and is a pitcher. ?How do I put together a recruiting tape? ?Is this something I can do myself? ?Do I need any special editing software?

 

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Tim Placie at Sports Unlimited in Shawnee (Lima,OH) does an excellent job on recruiting tapes. He has done tapes for girls all across Ohio. Give him a call at 419-999-2273. He is usually there in the evenings.

 

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We didn't have much need of a tape because DD had narrowed down on academic grounds to two Division III schools, but I was struck that both of the coaches who received our home-made skills tape said they liked the fact that we just let the camera run on each skills set and didn't edit for the "best" of the repetitions. Made me wonder how effective the error-free tapes are . . .then again, two coaches is hardly a reliable data base.

 

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I've always been told they would prefer a tape of a game instead of the skills tapes anyways.. is that true?

 

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hermom:

I think you definitely do NOT want to send a tape of a game. WAAAY too long. In fact, anything over 10 minutes is probably too long.

 

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i meant an inning or two not the whole game. I heard clips from games were better maybe even a mixture of games on one tape.

 

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The video can be shot on a vacant field in about 2-3 hours with a $300 digital camcorder and a tripod. Blank DVDs are now only a couple bucks each. The only other expense is your time. It DOES NOT have to be professionally done. A college coach can spot talent if it's there to be seen.

Avoid using game footage. Set the camera on a tripod and let it roll. DO NOT hand hold unless you are VERY steady! Move it for a better view at each station. You want video of throwing, hitting, running, and any specialty skills she has (pitcher, catcher, slapper, etc.). Include tee hitting, soft toss and hitting live pitching - you can do this from behind a screen. Hit her some flies, grounders etc. Have her bunt and run to first 3 or four times. Use your imagination to showcase her skills, especially what she is very good at. If she is a pitcher, video her from several angles throwing all her pitches. The most important thing is that she has to GO ALL OUT! Mistakes are OK, lack of effort IS NOT!

If you have a newer digital camcorder, it probably came with some basic software for editing and burning DVDs. Spend a few days messing around with it and you'll figure it out. Your computer should be fairly new also. It's nice to have a Gig of RAM and a pretty big hard drive.

Remember - the coaches don't want an Emmy award winning masterpiece. They just want a realistic visual of your daughter's skills. No fancy transitions, NO BACKGROUND MUSIC, etc. Just edit out the "down time", places where you switched stations, chased balls, etc. Use common sense here. Ten swings off a tee are probably good. DO NOT edit out ALL the foul balls, missed catches, etc. If she missed that grounder she dove for, so what? The coach wants to see her effort!

Editing may take a few evenings of work, including your learning curve, but it will be worth it. You should wind up with no more than 10 minutes at most when done, or you'll lose the coaches interest.

My opinion on VHS vs DVD for your final output is this. Most laptops now have a DVD player built in, and most college coaches travel with their laptop. A DVD is very compact, so the coaches can view it about anywhere. Face it - VHS tapes had their day, but there's better cheap technology available now. Bottom line - make it EASY for the coaches!

Now, burn your video to a DVD. But BEFORE you make a bunch of copies and send them out, have her travel coach or high school coach (or both) preview it and give you an HONEST, UNBIASED opinion. Now's not the time for hurt feelings to get in the way. Take their suggestions and edit accordingly.

Then, burn your final DVD and keep this one as a "master". Make duplicate copies from this one as you need them.

Good luck!

 

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As a retired college coach I spent countless hours watching video tapes of prospective players. Just remember this....The first impression is the most important one. A video tape can mean the difference between getting a coach interested enough to take the next recruiting step with your daughter (attending a game, etc.). If a tape is done in a sloppy fashion or the coach cannot see what they are looking for, they may not pursue your daughter any further.

If you feel you need to save money and film the tape yourself you should at least purchase the "how to" tape by Cathi Aradi. She gives an excellent guide to filming a recruitment tape. I think the tape is an extremely important step in the recruitment process so it should be done carefully and semi-professionally. College coaches WANT a SKILLS tape with (if you want to) an added on game splice highlighting your daughter making some plays or hitting.

Hope this helps.

 

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The college coaches we spoke to would prefer to not have game footage. Put your daughter's best features first. Make sure her name and contact information are available as much as possible on the video. Do not cut out all the bad parts--try to get clips of several repetitions in a row that are unedited.

At the ASA nationals, the coaches only took DVDs of my daughter. All the VHS tapes went untouched.

 

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Dreamer makes a good point about the Cathi Adrati book. It contains everything you would ever need to know about the recruiting process. Follow Cathi's suggestions - she is a seasoned professional who knows the ropes.

True, the video may be the first thing a coach sees. But coaches know these are usually done by amateurs. If the video shows CLEAR angles, is not shaky (TRIPOD), and shows her at her best (GET A SECOND AND THIRD OPINION), that's all you need. A glitzy production with menus, music and special effects only makes the coaches roll their eyes.

The video is not rocket science. Home brew may not be for everybody, though. But if you've shot game video (trust me - don't use that on your skills video) and can burn a music CD, you can do a skills video.

I suggest asking her pitching coach for suggestions. They should be able to give you tips about what Div. I & II and NAIA coaches are interested in seeing. Then go shoot some video - use a tripod! Then take the camcorder back to her coach to see the raw video before you proceed further. You'll never know unless you try it!

You don't need to be intimidated into spending big bucks to do this. It does consume a lot of time, but hey - you're spending it mostly with your daughter! The whole process is pretty labor-intensive, and that's what costs so much when you hire a professional. Aside from the camcorder, everything else is fairly cheap. With today's technology and a little savvy and practice, a novice can produce a video that can help your daughter get recruited..

 

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Is there anyone in NE Ohio good at making a skills tape that wouldn't break my bank? (Cash is tight after traveling all summer)

 

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I've never seen a tape done where the hitter is in a cage. Would this be a problem?

 

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OK - I finally made a recruiting tape of my daughter. ?Does anyone know whether I should burn it on a dvd or a cd? Which format would a college coach prefer?

 

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I debated this same issue when I sent out packages to coaches. I decided to stay away from the VCD format - it may not be compatible with all DVD players or DVD drives. I went with the straight DVD format, and as a backup, I sent an mpeg file on a CD also.

I sent both formats in every package I sent. I burned a DVD for the coaches with stand-alone DVD players, or a DVD drive in their laptops. Then I burned the mpeg video file on a CD, which can be played in any computer with Windows Media Player - which is about every Windows compatible computer manufactured in the last 15 years. I tested a few on different DVD players and some computers at work before making the final copies.

When following up, we got no reports from anyone not being able to view either of the disks.