The Problem With Baseball Recruiting
The Problem With Baseball Recruiting
Say Yes To Woods Recruiting
What is unseen counts for nothing.
As you already know, exposure is a critical component in baseball recruiting. If they don’t know about you they can’t recruit you. The problem with baseball recruiting is there’s a lot of baseball players and someone is going to get overlooked by college coaches.
The number of college programs has virtually remained the same for decades. The number of student-athletes playing baseball has increased dramatically over the last several decades.
What are you going to do to get the attention of college baseball programs?
The Obvious Solutions Are Simple.
- Go to camp.
- Play on a travel team.
- Play in tournaments.
- Have a lot of video.
- Work with your high school coach.
- Work with your club coach.
- Excel at tournaments.
- Be amazing during your high school season.
- Good grades.
Now let’s address these bullet points individually.
Go To Camp: Everyone goes to camp. Every summer, college baseball programs has their on–campus camps. It costs money to go to these camps, but I believe it’s an amazing way to get exposure. Sometimes these college camps are invite-only. If you are privileged to be invited then you need to be amazingly prepared to excel aggressively and give it everything you’ve got to showcase your talent and skills in front of college coaches who could have a major impact on your life.
Play On A Travel Team: This is a no-brainer. Playing on a travel team is a must. It would be almost like trying to play a baseball game without your glove, you would look ridiculous. Playing on the travel team is going to get you exposure in front of college coaches who could possibly be in attendance. This is also an opportunity for you to get better. This is also an opportunity for you to videotape your batting practices, workouts, and your entire game. This is where you can showcase your talents and, by all means, give it everything you’ve got.
Play In Tournaments: If you’re on a travel team and not playing in tournaments you need to quit that team and find another. It’s all about showcasing the talents that you have developed over your lifetime. It would be foolish to play a baseball game in a tournament that your parents have invested a lot of money in and there’s no college coaches there. That would be like performing on American Idol and there’s no judges to evaluate your performance. It would be a waste of time and embarrassing.
Have A Lot Of Video: Video is the voice for the voiceless. It’s critical that you have a lot of video. College coaches go by what they see. You need to have video of batting practice. You need to have video of all your games. You need to have videos of all your workouts. I cannot stress enough how important video is. College coaches may not be able to see all of your games or attend all of your tournaments, so it’s critical to have your video. Be sure to invest in good equipment. It will be worth the investment I guarantee it.
Work With Your High School Coach: Your high school coach is going to help develop you as a baseball player. You’re going to learn different techniques and skills that will help you be the best baseball player that you can possibly be. The recruiting process is challenging. Your high school coach may have relationships with many college programs. Talk with your coach to determine what level of college you can play at and figure out a strategy to target those college programs.
Work With Your Club Coach: Your club coach is also a valuable asset. He’s going to help you with continued development as a baseball player. Your club coach may also have relationships and connections with college baseball programs. You’re going to need your club coach because the summer is critical in baseball recruiting. You need to be showcasing your talent during the summer tournament showcase club season. It’s just that critical.
Excel At Tournaments: We talked about how exposure is critical. You’re going to be playing in tournaments showcasing your talents in front of college coaches. You should approach the tournament as though it is the World Series. Every time spent at bat, it’s the World Series; every time in the field, it’s the World Series. Your goal as a baseball player is to take your talents to the next level which is college. If you do not give your best every moment you’re out there you’re cheating yourself. Showcase your talent as though you are playing in the World Series where millions of people are watching you play. Be spectacular! Be amazing! All the time.
Be Amazing During Your High School Season: Every opportunity you have to be on the baseball field is an opportunity to showcase your talent. Every day is an opportunity to be amazing. You don’t know if this is going to be your last baseball game, your last practice, your last workout or the last time you’ll ever be on video. You have no way of knowing that. What you want to do is to give it everything you’ve got when you have that opportunity to do so. Be amazing during your high school season.
Good Grades: Let me be clear: If you have bad grades you will be invisible to college coaches. For every hour you spend developing your baseball athletic ability, equal time should be devoted to academics. They don’t give away baseball scholarships. Academic money is based on a strong grade point average and even stronger standardized test scores. Sometimes the message of good grades falls on deaf ears with many baseball student-athletes. You may be the next amazing baseball talent, but if you have grades that are suspect it won’t even matter what kind of talent you have.
Final Thoughts: Baseball student-athletes are amazing. Baseball is a special sport because you play every day. Every day is a day to erase the past and begin anew. Every day you have an opportunity to do something different, to be the best, and to showcase your talent.
The last time I checked no one was buying a ticket to watch someone take a math exam. You have to buy a ticket to watch a high school baseball game. Student-athlete is a special title that brings a huge amount of responsibility.
You only get one chance to go from high school baseball student-athlete to college athlete. It’s critical that you do everything in your power to achieve that goal. There are a lot of baseball student-athletes all fighting for that particular scholarship that awaits you.
You need to stand out athletically as well as academically to gain the attention of college programs. You have worked for this opportunity your entire life.
These will be moments that will be extremely special, that you will remember forever on how the recruiting process worked for you.
All your games, your coaches, and your teammates will be memories that will last a lifetime and now you want to take it to the college level.
That’s the end game, the ultimate goal. An education is amazing and will last you a lifetime. You don’t want to live a life of a minimum wage employee because you had a minimum wage work ethic and now you’re going to have a minimum wage lifestyle.
Avoid that way of life and give it everything you’ve got on the baseball field. When you’re given an opportunity to showcase your talent, I guarantee that you will be the best if you just work at it.
