As we have previously discussed in our blogs, it is crucial for student-athletes to have a highlight video. When you email coaches through National Prospect ID, your profile automatically gets linked. Getting as much information together in one spot makes it easier for the college coaches to evaluate you. You need to fill out as much of your NPID profile as you can before emailing coaches. An important part of your profile is uploading highlight film.
Make a highlight video or skills tape
A lot of teams record game footage to review for ways to improve. Find out if your coach or any of the parents have game footage of your child. If you child is on a team that doesn’t film, do not worry – it’s not hard to do on your own. You can get a tripod for your smart phone off Amazon for less than $20. You can also use the free editing software that comes with your laptop. Don’t have your own computer or aren’t sure how to use the editing software? Head to the library for all the hardware and software you need for free.
Tips on video content
The goal of a highlight video is to grab the attention of coaches right away. The most outstanding play should be the first video clip, not the 21st clip (which happens way too often). You need to give the coaches a reason to continue watching. The second clip should be equally impressive, putting the best plays at the beginning. Go to YouTube and search skill videos of successful college athletes. This will give you a solid layout of what highlight videos should look like. Make sure to cut out all the dead time in the video. Examples of dead time are players getting lined up, extra seconds before or after what you are looking to highlight, etc. For softball and baseball, coaches want to see a skills tape and not highlight tape.
Background music
Simply put, do not add music. College coaches do not want music playing during highlight tapes, especially music with curse words or other vulgar language. Music does not add anything to the video. It is viewed as an annoying distraction. College coaches will mute the video or not watch it, depending on how bad the language is.