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Recruiting: Video Wars and How to Win Them! by Cathi Aradi
Almost all college coaches agree that a good skills video can be an important recruiting tool. Some coaches feel it's a must and will want to see your video before they'll make an effort to watch you play in person or consider you a serious candidate for their teams.
Cathi Aradi is a softball recruiting expert!
Ten years ago, players' videos were often somewhat primitive, usually "homemade," and the degree to which they actually showed an athlete's skills varied greatly! These days, that's all changed. While many parents still shoot their daughter's video themselves, good editing has become commonplace, and families now have access to digital cameras, computer editing programs and more. Some families even pay substantial amounts of money to have their player's tape look like a Hollywood production with special effects, music, title overlays and more.
One trend is to put your skills video onto a CD or DVD. Players can have their videos shot digitally and edited directly onto the CD/DVD with a complete resume, schedule and other information included. Precision editing, slow motion and other effects are just a click of the mouse away. To a great extent, VHS tapes have been replaced by CD's/DVD's, though you will still find a coach here and there who requests a simple old VHS tape. CD/DVD's are less expensive, easier to copy and cost a lot less to mail. In ten years, if videos are still being used, CD's and DVD's may also be obsolete. Coaches will just go to a web-hosting page and click on the videos they want to screen. That's the newest trend!
While these technological advances may be exciting, they also create a lot of questions in the minds of families going through the recruiting process for the first time. Should you put your tape on a VHS cassette or a CD? Should you pay a lot of money so your video has great music and astonishing displays of special effects, or is a simple homegrown version okay?
I think many college coaches prefer CD's or DVD's because they are compact and easy to store, and if you have a good computer and monitor, they're really nice to watch. However, not all coaches can view CD's or DVD's. What's most important is having a good skills video that shows your athleticism and your mechanics effectively. The format is far less important than the content, and you certainly don't need music or other fancy additions.
So, now that you've decided to shoot a skills video, how can you make yours stand out? After all, the coach you're sending it to may well have 100 or more videos stacked in the corner of his or her office.
Again, special effects have almost nothing to do with getting you noticed. Obviously you don't want a tape full of fuzz, bad shots, your coach yelling at you in the background and so on. So some skilled editing is very helpful. But the pounding music overlay, the freeze frames and other cinematic wizardry won't make a coach say, "I want this player!"
Cathi Aradi's book "Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level" presents all the facts on college scholarships and opportunities.
My book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, can help guide you through the planning and shooting process. You can also pay someone to shoot your video, though it isn't something you have to do in order to get a good one. I do, however, recommend a good editor (e.g., one who knows how to take the raw footage and cut it down so that it shows your skills effectively.) You don't want to send a coach 35 minutes of unedited video.
Special effects and format aside, however, there is a key ingredient that many players leave out of their videos that has nothing to do with their athletic ability. That is their passion for the game.
Let me ask you WHY you are making a skills video? Presumably, it's because you hope to play softball in college. Okay, WHY do you want to play ball in college? If you're thinking about playing in college for the scholarship money or because your parents or coaches want you to play, then perhaps you should consider focusing just on college and not worry about softball. You're probably pursuing college softball for the wrong reasons.
If, however, you want to play college ball because you love the game so much you can't imagine not playing, your video should show this. When a coach watches your DVD, he or she should be left with the feeling that you are really passionate about softball!
Can I honestly say a video from an athletic player who looks like she hates softball and everything associated with it will be compared unfavorably to a video from a less athletic player who's having tons of fun? No, I can't. But if I was thinking about ten players' videos and trying to distinguish each one in my mind, the video that shows a person who's happy to be at the ball park would almost certainly stand out.
Why do so many players' videos look like someone is standing just off camera with a shotgun pointed at their heads? Well, between parents going buggy on you and you thinking if you're not perfect on camera you won't ever get recruited, it can be very hard to have a good time out there. (And now you have to add me telling you to have fun!)
That's why I stress starting early, planning ahead and allowing lots of time to shoot your video. Don't show up after working the midnight shift at the cineplex and expect to get everything done in an hour. Don't expect to hit every ball over the fence, to never miss a throw or to have every pitch be a strike. Players should gently encourage their parents to relax, and try to do the same themselves. Through the miracle of modern editing, we can take out the section where you fell down--twice! We can also remove the shot with your dad's voice in the background going on and on about how you hit the double that won the tournament last Sunday!
Editing forgives mistakes, dead time, air balls, and more. But editing cannot put a smile on your face. Nor can it make you hustle and show coaches how competitive you are and how much this game means to you. That has to come from within. If I could give you one piece of advice on how to make your video stick with a coach long after he puts it away, it would be to play with 100% of your heart.
It's okay to giggle, to laugh, to be silly in your introduction or even on the field. It's possible to be intense and relaxed at the same time. It is not possible to be uptight and relaxed, and it's not possible to be miserable and look like you're having fun. SO...if you can't enjoy making your video as much you would playing in the big game, maybe you should wait and do it on another day. Or maybe you don't really want to be doing this at all. Remember, your love of the game should be your best marketing tool!
*****
Catharine Aradi has been a recruiting consultant for over 16 years, and she is considered by many college coaches to be one of the best recruiting resources in the nation. Through her book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, her clinics and her consulting work, she has helped thousands of college-bound players gain that "competitive edge" during the college search process. Cathi is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Assoc., (which also publishes her book), and she works with players and schools around the country. For more information, visit her web site at www.fastpitchrecruiting.com or email her at info@fastpitchrecruiting.com. To order her book, you can call 662-320-2155 or go to www.nfca.org.
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