3 Things To Do Before You Send Your Game Film To Coaches
As Covid-19 continues to complicate the recruiting process, the value of film is increasing. In previous blogs, we’ve talked about the best way to compose your emails to college coaches. Within that, the focal point was full game film.
Now that you have created your list of schools and created your email, you’re ready to upload your film for all coaches who open your email to see.
You only get one first impression so how can you be certain that you’re sending them your best? Here are some things you can do to help your chances before sending coaches your film.
☝️ Show more than just your ability to score
You can be a bucket getter but if you are showcasing that’s the only way you can impact a team, your recruiting is going to take a hit. College coaches understand that there’s a lot more to the game than just scoring. On many occasions, players would send film of a game where they dropped 30+ points but didn’t compete or impact the game in any other way. At that level, it was an easy no.
So, absolutely show your ability to score but what else can you do? Understand the value of the intangibles as well i.e effort to rebound, willingness to run the floor hard, activity on the defensive end, etc. and show them.
✌️ Choose a competitive game
It’s one thing to drop that 30 on a good team, it’s a completely different thing to drop it on a bad team. College coaches are constantly looking for indicators that will help them see your game translating to their level. So be aware of the level of your competition. If they are not somewhat competitive, it’s not going to help that coach as much in their evaluation of your game. 15 points vs a good team is a lot more valuable than 30 on a bad one. Coaches will notice.
👌 Film quality
College coaches are staring at their screens recruiting all day. If you can help it, try not to make this a more difficult task by sending poor quality film. If they can’t easily make out where you are on the floor, the likelihood of them watching enough of that film of you is low. With all of the technology today, you can record a game with good quality from your phone.
Don’t have anyone that can film games for you? Get together with some teammates who are also looking to send their film to coaches and convince a parent to take on the task.
Bonus Tips: Upload your film to a video hosting site like YouTube and send coaches links to your games instead of files that they will have to download. Don’t assume the coach knows your jersey color or jersey number. Put that information in the email or in the title of your game link. Making their job easier will always increase your chances!
Still unsure about your film? Send it to a coach you trust and ask them what they think a college coach would see. If you don’t have access to that or just want an outsider’s perspective, we’d love to help guide you!
Happy recruiting!
Coach Chevy
7 Reasons College Coaches Are Not Recruiting You
As a former D1 coach I learned that there was a lot more to evaluating a player outside of just their skill. Over the years it became clear that there were a lot of talented players making some common mistakes that were hurting their recruiting.
Not to say those players didn’t still receive opportunities, but I can confidently say they could have had more.
As a former D1 coach I learned that there was a lot more to evaluating a player outside of just their skill. Over the years it became clear that there were a lot of talented players making some common mistakes that were hurting their recruiting.
Not to say those players didn’t still receive opportunities, but I can confidently say they could have had more.
My goal is to give you some insight from the perspective of a college coach to help you avoid making the same mistakes, here are seven..
1. Your Work Ethic
College coaches want to coach their teams and focus on game planning and player development but when they have to coach you to play hard, it takes away from the potential growth of the team. This reduces your value quickly.
Tanya Warren, Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the University of Northern Iowa speaks on this here:
2. Your Coachability
When players are not coachable it’s a HUGE red flag. Even if you are the best player, it’s extremely unattractive to coaches. There may be a few schools willing to look beyond it but the majority of the time, you will not be recruited at the level you could if you displayed leadership by being able to handle criticism respectfully.
3. Your Body Language
When you are being recruited, coaches are watching your every move. Once they see that you can play at their level, coaches begin to evaluate other areas of you as a player. So each interaction they observe has the potential of helping or hurting your recruiting.
Here are some examples:
With your coach
Poor eye contact
Eye rolls
Disengaged when subbed out
With your teammates
Lack excitement when they make a good play
Showing frustration when they make mistakes
Clear frustration after wins because YOU didn’t play well
With the refs
Complain about every call you disagree with
4. Your Social Media
Posting, retweeting, liking content that uses profanity, drugs, alcohol, nudity or cyberbullying of any kind. Those are just a few things that I witnessed first hand from recruits that we had interest in. These actions unfortunately lead to us removing them from our lists.
5. Your Relationships
How do you treat your mom, your dad, your sisters, brothers, friends, coaches and teammates? College coaches pay attention to all of that.
Carrie Moore, the Recruiting Coordinator for North Carolina WBB says it best here:
6. Your Effort
Coaches appreciate when you put a little effort into the recruiting process. Take some time and do a little research on the programs that you know you will be engaging in conversation with. I’m not saying being fun/engaging on the phone call will get you offers but it definitely helps.
In the beginning stages of recruiting, college coaches call and do their best to introduce you to them and the university they’re representing. The least you can do is do a little research to help the conversation go more smoothly.
Coaches are on the phone with a lot of kids everyday and this is a simple way to separate yourself. In other words, don’t be a dud 😴
If you’re nervous or just not the most interesting person, prepare some educated questions to ask, coaches will appreciate it! So hop on Google and learn some things about your potential future school.
7. Your parents
Coaches LOVE enthusiastic parents but there’s a difference..
Tough but true, parents have the potential to negatively impact their athlete’s recruitment. As mentioned above, once it’s clear a recruit can play at that college’s level they will begin to evaluate other things, including the behaviors of parents.
Here are some examples..
Excessive yelling at refs, coaches and players
Criticizing your athlete’s AAU/HS coaches both to college coaches and on social media
Unrealistic expectations of your athlete’s recruiting process
Final Thoughts
College coaches have a responsibility to the players and families that are currently in their program, so it’s important for them to do their homework on you.
As a recruit and parent, you don’t want any of these easy to change mistakes to detract from your opportunity to play at the next level. So if you are doing any of the above mentioned things, it could be playing a role in your lack of recruiting.
Luckily, there’s still time to make some changes 😊
Happy Recruiting!