What makes a good recruiting video?

You need decent footage—it doesn't have to be 4K, but avoid shaky, blurry, too dark, too bright, or distracted shots (like fingers in frame). Generally speaking really poor footage can't be fixed through editing. Most AI camera footage (tall tripod cameras) works most times. Ideal settings: 4K resolution at 60 FPS, HDR turned off, and filmed in horizontal orientation.

Keep recruiting videos between 1:00-3:00 minutes long. College coaches won't watch 5 minute highlights, regardless of talent. If you have more must see content, split it into multiple shorter videos.

Lead with your best clips! Coaches receive hundreds of videos yearly and won't watch slow starts. Include an intro slide with your profile picture, grad year, position(s), number, high school, and club team (if applicable). Many athletes also add their GPA.

Most recruiting videos feature gameplay highlights. In certain situations though you may want to send the coach an additional video that showcases you performing a certain skill specific to your sport.

Skip music in recruiting videos. Coaches consider it a distraction, and many mute videos by default. However, music is essential for social media hype videos.

Create social media accounts for easy sharing. Field Hockey coaches commonly use YouTube and Instagram while other sports still use Twitter/X. Don't attach videos directly to emails due to file size limits. Instead, embed a direct link to the video or your YouTube channel.