Recruiting Videos - wait or not?
A parent recently asked me to evaluate his son and after sharing my thoughts and explaining what I saw as his weaknesses, the dad asked (like most parents would and should), if that hurt his recruiting, should we not share his video at this point?
(My answer can also be applied to players who are young and maybe not as physical, there is a lot that can be learned from this so please continue reading and as always if you have any questions or comments please share with me.)
It's a great topic for debate but having been involved in this for so many years I firmly believe that you do not look at anything like that as hurting your child, remember the idea is to find the "best fit" and not force a fit (square peg in a round hole). Your child is who he is so by forcing him into a situation that just isn't real, doesn't do anyone any good, eventually the real player will appear. Which, if you've over shot your ability (whether academic or athletic), your child will most definitely be exposed. That is not setting your child up to succeed so ALWAYS understand where your child's ability level lies, surround your child with good people who are interested in your sons success and happiness and remember - (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT) - it's all about the right fit - it should never be about the "highest" level .. ever! Sometimes the highest level is the right fit ... just be real ... and it'll work out the way it's supposed to.
If there is no video (or you choose not to share) then they (the coaches) have nothing to go off of which will mean your son is not gaining any ground in the recruiting process. So waiting to fix his feet, get stronger, better hands, faster, more velocity, whatever it is, will just keep everything stagnant for your son. Yeah it might keep a certain coach from recruiting you at that time but if he hasn't seen video or seen him play, he wouldn't really be recruiting him anyway. Even though you may still be getting correspondence ... (i.e. camp invites and solicitations), you really aren't actually being recruited, rather you are being "marketed"
If you have video and there is a weakness, then the weakness needs to be addressed and continually updated and shared with the college coaches who are recruiting your position in your recruiting class. Either way, the coaches that like what they see and have a need at his position will act and follow him. Those who do not have a need or an interest, just won't. it's really that simple. So you could argue that holding back the video and improving his weaknesses would help to get him in the mix with those coaches (eventually) but I would say that most of those coaches are moving forward in their process and not putting their recruiting on hold and waiting for guys to develop. So get involved with coaches who are recruiting your position in your class and like what they see - then keep getting better.
Let's face it, we all want our kids to succeed every second of their life but the reality is that they will struggle and they will fail. To me, when they fail in college, I want the guy who is coaching them to have seen them fail while in high school and still likes them, as opposed to the guy who saw them hit two doubles and offered at that point. Yeah its great that he hit two doubles while a scout was there but guess what, he is going to strike out and he is going to fail - especially in college. He is going to miss his family, he is going to miss his high school buddies and he is going to struggle in the classroom ... I need to know that the guy coaching him will have his back and be there to help him get through those tough times and the coach that does is usually the guy who has seen him fail in high school.
Does that make sense? Love to hear comments - please email me at jefffallon12@gmail.com
