If you’re making a video for coaches to see, you want to make it as user-friendly as possible – for the coaches, not for you. You laugh, but too many videos are just an exercise in ego for the maker. You don’t want a coach to stop watching because of video issues before even evaluating your game. Believe me, it happens. Coaches do not have unlimited time. A very poor quality video causes the coach to hit the stop button and you get either no response to your video or a blow-off.

This doesn’t mean you need to pay a service to have it done. The only possible reason to pay to have it done is if you simply can’t be bothered or don’t want to spend the time. Anyone with a smartphone and a  YouTube account can make a good video.

Here are a few rules to make the process work better and improve your chances.

1. Identify your team, jersey number and color. Coaches don’t know you. They don’t know your hair color, your size, your body language, your position, your team. Don’t make them guess. This is not as important for highlight videos as it is for game video, but you should do it for both.
2. Game video is preferable to highlight video.
   1. Highlights have a place in the process, but 90% of the players/ parents making highlight videos don’t do it right, leaving coaches frustrated and shaking their heads as they watch. A highlight video should not be longer than one to two minutes, and should showcase abilities that immediately set you apart. This includes things like size, speed, athleticism or special skill.
   2. Game video is where the coach gets to see how you play the game. Are you smart? Are you a team player? What level is your team playing at? Do you do the little things? Do you make those around you better? Make sure you pick a good one. If a coach watches for 20 minutes and is wondering when he’s going to see something good, you’ve picked the wrong video. If you think this is common sense, you haven’t seen all the bad game video out there.
3. Do not use slow motion. This is an absolute no-no. Coaches can see what they want to see without the benefit of slow motion. Using it makes the athlete look like a prima donna and wastes a coaches time.
4. Do not tell the world how good you are. This means no over-the-top notes or text introducing or ending the video. Don’t scream at the viewer by using lots of capital letters, or use multiple exclamation points etc. Let the video stand on its own. Let others decide how good you are. That other stuff will only make recruiters think you’ve got a big ego or are likely to be a problem. This goes for the parents as much, or more, as the athletes.

Video is a key part of today’s recruiting process. In today’s world anyone with a smartphone and YouTube can have a good video. There’s not excuse for not having one. Coaches are already picking your game apart looking for problems. Don’t give them any unnecessary reasons to add to that list by providing a poor video or none at all. If you’re lucky enough to get them to watch, don’t blow your opportunity.