Committed Athlete transition to Collegiate Volleyball advice....

 Hi Coach! Back in September 2017, you answered a question that I had about the value of sending my then 14 year old daughter to combines and showcases. I also got your book and followed some of your recruiting tips. Well since I posed that question to you, I want to let you know that she‘s committed to play next Fall at DI -  It was a long hard journey, but without your tips and advice I’m not sure where we would be or how we would’ve made it up to this point.

Now that she has committed, what should she be focusing on as a HS senior between now and the day she reports next summer to campus for her team practices?Any specific things she should be working on as L/DS to prepare for D-1 volleyball?  Thanks again and I wish you continued success.

P.T.

Thanks for the update and congrats on the DI commitment; glad I could help contribute to this great news.

Three main areas that all incoming athletes need to stay focused upon as they transition from HS/Club to Collegiate Volleyball:

1. Steady improvement of skills - College coaches recruited the current talent levels of their incoming athletes, but they also expect their recruits to continue to get better.  All players should keep their strengths strong and their weaknesses less weak.  Keep touching a ball, keep focusing on fine tuning skill sets and for Liberos, make your serve receive as good as it possibly can be.  Collegiate coaches need passers more than they need defenders.

2. Enhanced Fitness - Collegiate athletics is physically more demanding than HS/Club.  The incoming freshman will be competing with/against athletes that are 2 to 5 years older and have been deeply involved in a collegiate level strength and fitness program.  While it can be a challenge for a HS/Club player to mimic these collegiate workouts, all incoming players can do cardio, pushups, situps, stairs, lunges, sprints, body weight strengthening, etc.  More often than not, the difference between a successful freshman year and a freshman year spent shagging balls is how fit does the athlete arrive?

3. No lingering Injuries - Incoming athletes should not arrive to pre-season practice with a big or small injury.  This means not showing up with knee tendonitis, or a sore shoulder, or a twingy back, or pulled muscles, or the flu or mono, etc.  Again, collegiate athletics is physically challenging and if you are not injury/pain/discomfort free, then you will not be on the court long into preseason.  Take time during your Senior spring to make sure you are physically good to go - If something is sore, rest and strengthen to make it better.  If something hurts, go see a doctor to find out exactly what is wrong and address it.

If you are able to focus on those three things, then you can set yourself up for an enjoyable first season of being a collegiate volleyball player!

How to Get Recruited by Florida State University

Hello,

I found your email in a forum that is a few years old. So I hope it’s still ok to reach out. My daughter is in 8th grade. Second year of club. 1st year with a new club team which she is a starting middle for and she is the setter for the middle school varsity team. Her dream is playing for FSU. 

So I was wondering if you could tell me or point me in the right direction as to what I or she needs to do to start to make that happen?! I saw you mention sending video in emails. Would that be best if it were video during games? Or practices? Or both? When should we start sending out emails? Once she reaches high school? Junior year?? Or sooner? Also, is there a format to use when emailing college coaches? 

I appreciate any info you have for us and thank you for taking to time to read this email.


B.A.

Thank you for your email - I am just getting back up to speed with helping families with recruiting answers and advice.

In reviewing your email, there is some information missing which would guide my answers better.  For instance, is "FSU" Florida State University?  Probably so, and I will use this upper Division I school as the reference point.  Also, how tall is your daughter?  What position does she want to play in college, middle or setter?  What region of the country are you in, which determines the relative strength and reputation of the club teams.

Generally speaking, college volleyball recruiting is height and ability driven with regards to the age.  The taller and more talented you are at a younger age, the earlier your recruiting efforts and management will commence.  If you are tall and limited or developing abilities, or you are shorter with good abilities, then your recruiting efforts would start later.  If you are short with limited abilities, then golf might be your better sport!

For those blessed players which are tall at a young age (and tall in volleyball means 6'+ in 8th grade) and talented (which means playing up in age groups or clearly the best player on the court for her age) the recruiting management efforts can start in 8th grade.  While the NCAA has enacted recruiting rules meant to limit college coaches from recruiting younger players, it is still going to occur.  

Those athletes which are average sized and average talent for their age (when I say average, I mean normal or traditional which has zero negative connotations), the recruiting management process will move forward in their sophomore and/or junior year.

As to your questions:

• If she is going to play Middle Blocker for Florida State University, then she needs to be 6'3"+; the shortest Middle Blocker on the spring roster is 6'2" and we don't know if that is a walk-on player or scholarship.  
• As a setter, she has a bit more leeway with height - Taller is better but coaches will trade a few inches for great hands and brains.  But, no amount of talent can grab a roster sport at FSU if you are a 5'5" setter.
• In addition to height, she needs ability - Florida State is recruiting the same athletes as other Power Conference programs, so her ability needs to be at a Power Conference level.
• She should determine what position she wants to play in college.
• Two types of video is best - One video should be a skills or highlight video, where a college coach can do a quick look to get a snapshot of a player's abilities - 5 minutes max on the video and this can be pulled from practice or games or a dedicated video shoot.  The second video should be a game video; don't edit the play, but take out the down time (timeouts, side changes, substitutions, etc) so the video is easy to watch by the college coach.
• If your daughter has the height and skill appropriate for the FSU level, then start sending out video in January of her freshman year of club volleyball (obviously, the 2020 club season is a bit scrambled right now....).
• When emailing a college coach, do not be fancy - Coaches just need to know your grad year, your club information, your position and how they can contact you.  Too many families try to write the next great novel when contacting a college coach.

Thank you for the email and the world famous collegevolleyballcoach.com is coming back to full speed!

Plight of the Short Outside Hitter

Hi Coach:

    I’m an 8th grader right now and I’m 5’3. I have played outside for the last two years I have been playing but i’m not expected to grow any taller. My standing block is 8’5 1/2 and with an approach I am able to reach 8’11. 

Is there any possible way i could play outside in college or no? Do you have any tips? 

Thank you!

L.M.

You can play in college but the challenge will be your position.  Even the smallest collegiate outside hitters tend to be in the 5'6"+ range; recruiting for the attack positions is height driven.

The silver lining is your athleticism - at 5'3" and in 8th grade, it is fantastic that you are blocking a full foot above the net and over 18 inches above with your attack!  This athleticism, combined with your outside hitter experience can translate well to another position for college volleyball - The Libero.

If playing in college is your goal, then you will need to switch to the libero position - Statistically speaking, 5'3" collegiate outside hitters don't exist.  But there are collegiate opportunities for 5'3", great passing and athletic liberos!

To this end, for the next club season, your freshman year, you should move to the Libero position.  

If you are absolutely and without a doubt, only want to play Outside Hitter - Then your collegiate options would tend to be at the NCAA Division III and lower NAIA levels.

Good luck!

Libero College Volleyball Recruiting Question #896

Hey Coach
My daughter is a class of 2018, DS/L.  She's 5'5" with very a respectable vertical......I could list her numbers here but she's still growing in this arena (she can do 40" box jump easily).  Since she's a backcourt player we haven't been tracking her vertical stats too heavily....we list those on her U athlete page and Be recruited pages.
She has solid grades 3.9 GPA and 26 ACT score.....hasn't taken the SAT yet.
She wants to play collegiate level v ball, has 4 years club competition with this season being her first year at the Open level.  While she's not a top 1% player her coaches confirm that her abilities will proceed to next level opportunity as she continues to grow and practice.
What advice can you offer to her and us (parents) for her next steps in her recruiting and last two years of HS volleyball?

You are in the most competitive position for collegiate opportunities just because of the sheer volume of players who call themselves Liberos/DS.  The LB/DS position seems to be the 'catch all' position for shorter players, OH's that can't jump well or have a not powerful attack, setters who have slow hands or can't block, etc.  

I have often written and said in my NCSA Athletic Recruiting Talks that LB/DS families must be patient aggressive in the recruiting process, because they will usually be the last one's on their club team to secure their collegiate opportunity.

There should be two prime area to focus upon; 1) Your LB/DS needs to be constantly improving her skill sets. Because the position is so competitive for collegiate opportunities, the better that she is the more opportunities she will have.  2) Be consistently reaching out to college programs with video and update (both current programs and new programs).  Families must be patient, aggressive and consistent in their outreach and communication.

What kind of stats (passing and digs) do you look for when recruiting this position?

College coaches do not tend to 'trust' stats from club volleyball because we are not the ones taking the stats or establishing the rating criteria.  This opinion is applicable to all the positions, not just LB/DS.  Instead of taking stats, take video because I want to see that video and the players needs to self evaluate because stats can lie but video does not.

My contention is that if the athlete has the work ethic, grades and talent.  A college level opportunity can be earned/found.

Agreed, but that 'found' opportunity must be the correct ability fit.  For instance, an average LB/DS can have a great work ethic, fantastic grades and solid talent, but she will not be playing at Nebraska because those LB/DS's have a GREAT work ethic, GREAT grades and GREAT talent.  For families to find that opportunity, they must be realistic about the abilities of their daughter (son) and for some reason, parents have a realistic evaluation of their children seems to be a big hurdle these days. 

We are creating a video for her web pages.  What are your thoughts on that?  Highlight cuts vs. full match vids....what's most desirable?

Video is the key outreach tool for any volleyball recruiting situation.  College coaches use video as the 1st evaluation, and this video will determine if a coach moves forward to see the player in person.

I have always suggested 2 types of video for a player's recruiting effort - 1) Highlight/skills video - Show me in 3-5 minutes as many repetitions as possible of the player's skill sets specific to her position.  2)  Game video - Show me  2 to 3 sets (not full matches) of her  most recent play, which is unedited except for cutting out the dead time or when she is not on the court.

Lastly, video must always be updated. Older video (older than 3 months) hurts a player because college coaches are constantly recruiting in real time.

We have an open mind in this process and no expected target for play/school level (NCAA/NAIA) for her path of opportunity.

Having an open mind is a critical component for finding the best fit for any player, and especially within the hyper competitive position of Libero/DS!

Thanks so very much for what you do here. E.W. 

As one of my favorite recruits said, "It is all good".

Coach

Recruiting Services Question

Coach:

Thank you so much for your blog, your advice and mostly your insight as a coach who sees these PSAs day in and day out.

Here's my question. There are a number of "free" websites where players can register. Some are really free, others are free for bare bones info, and not free for "premium" levels. I used only free sites except for one month when I paid the monthly fee just to have access to mass email to coaches.

I wondered how coaches view those sites, if they think they are useful in the recruiting process, and if coaches really do go and surf looking for players. Some of the sites track who was there and how many times someone views your profile. That is sometimes helpful to the athlete, i.e. knowing who looked so they can follow up with an email if the athlete is interested in the program.

I also wondered if it's irritating to coaches to get those "mailers" from the sites. Because we don't see what they look like, I assume they have advertising of some sort and it's probably pretty obvious that the letter came from University Athlete or BeRecruited, etc. Is that a turn off or are these truly viable tools for the athletes to use? Thumbs up or thumbs down from the coaches out there?

I personally used the mass mailer to ask a very general question about the possibility of sand/beach volleyball at 100 colleges. I prepared the letter, added 100 coaches to the addressing and sent it. I did not get even one response which made me wonder if the same thing happens if you're addressing a great athlete vs. a question about their program.

At any rate, I wondered if you could give your opinion of these sites and whether it's worth the time and effort to set up, update often, prepare and post video, and post photos. Do the coaches use these sites and would you encourage PSAs to use them or don't bother?

Thanks again for your great willingness to lead us through the labyrinth of college recruiting.

VB Mom


Thanks for the compliments on the site and I am glad you enjoy reading.

As you indicated in your question with regards to recruiting services or companies, there are numerous options. Some are basic, while others are comprehensive. In addition to those companies that actively promote the PSA's, there are other entities which act as almost an information database or conduit to put PSA's and college coaches in contact with each other.

I will say that I have seen a substantial development in the quality of VolleyServices (my newest term to serve as a catch all for any company or entity which assists or supports the endeavor of PSA's to find a college). When I first got into coaching, we would receive these packets of fliers which included missing information, no physical stats, 5'6" middle blockers when we were a Top 25 team, etc. That initial experience tended to slant my view towards negative of the athlete paid recruiting services.

By and large, coaches will put more weight upon those VolleyServices for which they pay the cost. There a number of VolleyServices that coaches pay a premium to subscribe to and as such, they will always get the attention of the coaches when they send out information. These have the attraction for the coaches of knowing that the focus and service is based upon the college coaches, as opposed to the PSA's - Almost like a real estate agent being a buyer's agent or a seller's agent.

As I referenced above, there are VolleyServices which act as the meeting place for PSA's and coaches - They do not actively contact coaches or promote athletes, but rather provide information to both sides of the aisle. If a college coach is needing an Outside Hitter late in the recruiting process, then he/she/it can go to this VolleyService to search through their database of available PSA's. If a PSA wants to get contact information for selective college volleyball programs, then they can go to this VolleyService to do research.

With the VolleyServices that actively promote the PSA's, I have been impressed with their professional development. It is routine now to have video easily accessible and updated, the information seems current, the format is easily accessed (always key with our intelligence levels!) and contact information is correct. Of course, there are still the mass mail out flier organizations and these make for great paper balls in the never ending game of trash can basketball.

It is my sense that the more elite a college volleyball program, the less they might use a VolleyService. That is not to say Penn State does not look at information or need to access contact data, but PSU has a small group of candidates because of their recruiting talent demands and probably has been tracking Stupendous Sally since she was 12 years old because of their staffing and support. The further down the recruiting food chain one would travel, the more I believe college programs use the VolleyServices. All too many of us are working with one assistant and just enough budget for a couple of recruiting trips - We don't have the ability to film every possible player, or to chase down accurate contact information via the club/high school coach and we can't get to the other side of the state much less country to see a whole new set of players.

In summary, here is my bullet feedback on VolleyServices:

* Postal mail outs are a waste of trees.

* If a family is paying for a VolleyService, then absolutely make sure you provide accurate physical, club/high school and contact information, along with being able to upload/present current video. I have no idea how much these type of pay VolleyServices charge, and I don't want to know, but just make sure the information is correct, the video is current and know who they are contacting.

* Be active in your VolleyService management - For example, if you are a 5'9" OH with a 20" vertical jump, along with average passing skills and the VolleyService is contacting the Top 25 NCAA Division I programs repeatedly, then they are not doing a good job. You should be active in your 'conversation' with them to make sure they are promoting you to the correct levels.

* Everything a VolleyService does, you can do. The question becomes do you have the time, energy, equipment and desire to do it yourself? A VolleyService will not make you better than you are, they will not magically get you a scholarship to Stanford, but they can be a tool to help you with you future - Like all tools, it is up the the person holding it to make it work, not the other way around.

* College coaches will always look at video via an e-mail or link; we may only look for 10 seconds but we will look. With this in mind, good video is better than good words. You can have a bio sheet that says you are next Olympian with your unreal stats, but I will still want to see video - Or you can have a bio sheet that says, "jump high hit ball hard" and I will look.

* It is still your job to interact with coaches, to do research on the potential schools and programs, to follow up with requested information - College coaches do not want to work solely through a VolleyService, they are not your agent or manager (which is illegal per NCAA rules); the VolleyService is the entity which got me to contact you and now it is up to us to figure out if this is your future.

I believe the best thing about the VolleyServices is that they provide another available resource for all of us in the great game of college volleyball.

Ask The Coach a Question

College Volleyball can be a confusing thing at times - Recruiting, NCAA Rules and Definitions, Playing Divisions, Coaching Changes, Rule Changes. Oh, by the way, it changes every year!

If you are a player, parent, high school coach or hopefull college coach and have questions about College Volleyball - drop me an e-mail at collegevolleyballcoach@gmail.com

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