Professionally edited video already plays a crucial role in the college recruiting process, but with the changing landscape of recruiting during COVID-19, it’s more important than ever. However, putting together a video coaches want to see can seem difficult depending on whether your upcoming sports season is postponed or canceled, or you weren’t able to attend camps or recruiting events this summer.
So, instead of a highlight video with footage from competitions and camps, student-athletes can get on a coach’s radar and showcase their athleticism with a skills video. These videos are designed to help coaches see an athlete’s athleticism and technical ability, and are relatively easily to shoot on your own, as they don’t require specific locations or expensive equipment.
What do coaches want to see in your skills video?
College coaches told NCSA that they are looking to see anything that displays their athleticism and technical abilities, which includes:
- Technical elements like running, jumping, change of direction
- Old competition footage, practices and recruiting events
- Individual drills and small group trainings (like those done during practices and warm-ups)
- Consistency and repetition
Most importantly, coaches want recruits to know that skills videos do not have to be perfect. They don’t need transitions or other effects like many highlight videos incorporate, nor do they need to be filmed with specialized equipment.
What do I need to shoot my skills video?
College coaches don’t expect skills videos to be perfect. Athletes can ask a family member to film them using a cell phone or place their phone on a tripod. Don’t forget to test out your angles to make sure coaches will be able to get a clear view of your skills!
Some skills, like throwing or pitching may require workarounds. From using a tarp in place of a hitting net or water bottles instead of cones, get creative and don’t let a lack of standard equipment stop you from running drills and shooting your skills video.
Where can I shoot my skills video?
Athletes don’t need access to their usual practice space to shoot a skills video. Instead, skills videos can be shot in garages, backyards, driveways, parks, playgrounds and even empty parking lots—anywhere you have enough space to safely run drills works!
Where do I post my skills video?
Coaches should be able to easily access an athlete’s skills video, so be sure to upload the video to Hudl or YouTube and add it to their NCSA profile.
When communicating with college coaches via email, social media or texts, include a link to the video and let them know it’s your skills video. Don’t forget to tell coaches when it was shot and if there were any unique circumstances that led you to film the video, like a canceled summer or fall season.
