With the ability nowadays to send information through the internet, recruiting videos are more popular than ever. So what are ways you can make your video stand out from the crowd? These three tips will help you optimize your video to get the results you are looking for!
Have appropriate content/length
You want your video to showcase your finest athletic abilities in an appropriate length of time. Show the best plays from a season or a game, or plays that you think coaches would want to see. If you are unsure of what coaches who are recruiting athletes may want to see, you could talk to your own coach and discuss what they think would be good to include. Getting advice from other athletes who had made a video would be a good way to see what types of plays and content they had in their highlights as well. Coaches often are sent full game films. Try to avoid doing this unless the coach requests a full game film to view. Recruiting is only a part of a college coach’s job, so they want to optimize their time as best they can, and viewing an entire game film on one potential recruit might not be the best use of their time.
Post your video so it is easy to view
Being able to send a physical disc of a game is good, but sending a video in an online format is better. For example, a YouTube or Vimeo link is a great way to send your video to coaches quickly. You can send many coaches an email in a short amount of time and include your information and video. But physically mailing a disc would take a greater amount of time. Also, using the Internet is a quick way to get your video out to the public and viral. Other coaches may stumble across the video without meaning to and become interested as well.
Make sure your video is high quality
We are not talking about the highest quality out there, but making sure that your video at least looks the part is half of the battle. If a video is lacking in quality it may look poor right off the bat when a coach views it. Good quality videos are available through many services, and spending a little money on a sports videographer service to improve your quality of the video may be worth it in the long run. What’s a little money when it can get you a spot on a college team for 4 years and a life-changing experience? Good quality also means clarity. Clarify which player you are in the clips up front, whether that means a circle around you before each play, or a number in the beginning of the video for what jersey you are wearing, be sure that it is obvious you are the one making the plays in each highlight. Having a proper zoom is also important as it makes it easier to identify players.
Coaches watch many videos, so following some of these tips and adding your own personal flair to a video will make it stand out in the end. Having some personal music or interesting graphics are always something that could make a video different than the rest. We hope these tips help to get your video project going!
