Video and streaming are becoming two of the most important tools that a player who wants to play college softball can use. With all the uncertainty created by coronavirus and it’s never-ending changes to the world of recruiting, we know that the days of a college coach seeing a player in person are becoming harder to imagine.
Video has been used for years as a way to open the door with a college coach. It was the tool to get that coaches interest and to convince them to come out to see you play.
Video used to open the door but now it needs to open the door, keep the door open and answer all the questions that a college coach might have about a player and her ability to impact their program.
Once upon a time a skills video was all that a player needed to have. If the skills video was good enough the college coach would find that player and be sure to see her play in-person.
Which means that a player now has to have a skills to showcase her basic skills and ability. The skills video is just like it sounds. Some hitting, some fielding, some pitching, a little base running and a little bunting.
But that same player also now needs game footage showing her in action in live competition. The game footage is trying to fill the void of a college coach not being able to see a live game. How much game footage? Every game you can possibly record. And not a “broadcast” of the game but focused video of the player herself. It means setting up to see the player hit. It means setting up again to get the player on defense. It means setting up yet again to get the player on the bases. It needs to be focused on the player herself.
Now that player also needs a “highlight” video. Someone needs to edit the above mentioned game footage and trim it down to the actual highlights. When we say highlights we don’t mean just the kind of plays that would make the ESPN Top 10 but, rather, all the plays in a much more stream-lined format. So an interested college coach can see the actual action without the dead time.
Wow, that is a lot of work isn’t it? Yes, it is. But you need to be prepared to have whatever a coach might want to see. When a coach could attend a game in-person, they all have the list of things that they want to see in a player. There are just as many opinions as there are coaches.
The more prepared you are the better off you will be.
Good luck and happy editing!
