How to Make a Highlight Video

A key part of recruiting is giving college coaches every opportunity to see you play. When contacting colleges, always include film of you playing. Here is what you should include in your highlight film.

4 steps to creating a great highlight/skills video:

1) Start with a title page that is only shown for about 3-5 seconds. This should include player’s name, number, club name, high school name, position, graduating class, contact email, height, and jumping statistics (block vert, approach vert). Put this information in the “notes” section when uploading this onto YouTube. If you have a recruiting profile, include the link to that here also.

2) Start with a bang! Not all coaches are going to be able to watch the entire highlight video, so grab their attention by highlighting your best plays first.

3) Show position specific highlights:

• OUTSIDE/RIGHTSIDE HITTERS: Show that you are a versatile hitter and can hit any shot: line, cross, tips, and rolls. Also, throw in some defensive plays, whether you are serve receiving, digging, covering, or blocking, it is important to establish you can make a defensive play. More and more, we see pin hitters at the collegiate level playing all the way around.
• MIDDLE HITTERS: Same as the pin hitters, show your versatility by hitting angle shots, tips, and rolls. College coaches want to see that you are a smart player and know the game well. Blocking will be even more important in this position, so add several blocking clips, whether you are solo blocking or assist blocking.
• SETTERS: This is an important position to throw in some situational plays. Coaches do not want to see you setting balls only from a perfect pass, they want to see how well you can set when put in a bad position and if you can still make a great play. Include some aggressive setter attacks as well as blocking and defensive plays.
• DEFENSIVE SPECIALISTS: Show serve receive, cover plays, and defensive plays. Include long rallies that showcase your ability to make reads. Also, include back row attacks and taking a second ball.
• ALL POSITIONS: Include footage of you serving. Show you hitting as many zones as you can.

4) End with unedited game film. It is important to showcase the fact that you are a great all-around player and do not just have some lucky plays. This is a great way to showcase your skills in the position you are in. If you are a hitter, show long rallies that highlight your transition kills and blocking footwork. For setters, this is a great opportunity for coaches to see your decision-making skills. For defensive specialists, this is a great way to show coaches your ability to make reads.

Keep the highlight film simple by using footage from one or two games and not adding any background music or crazy transitions in-between plays. The simpler, the better. Make sure the video is decent quality and not producing a grainy image. 5-7 minutes is a great length to show both highlights and unedited game film. These highlights can come from both game film and any court time that you are able to record whether it be before practice or during a practice.

Another great resource when producing a highlight video is to search YouTube for example content to get ideas on how to format your film. The purpose of highlight footage is to entice the college coach to come watch you in person, so make sure the video showcases who you really are as both a player and a person!