Club athletes gravitate to great coaches. Equip your coach with the best video tools to draw in the best talent.

The biggest influence on a player’s choice in clubs is the coach.

We surveyed nearly 1,000 players across four sports to understand what they want from a club. When we asked them to rank the most important factors when choosing their club, coaching came in first — by a lot. Players depend on their coaches to make smart decisions, help them improve and get to the next level.

Just like athletes, coaches are constantly developing. It’s essential to equip them with the best possible tools to help them grow and succeed. Video empowers your coaches’ improvement in ways no other tool can.

Provide Clarity

Video gives coaches a new perspective on things they might have missed live. In addition to providing a second angle, it allows coaches to relive the contest in a no-pressure environment and make level-headed decisions.

“Sometimes in a fast-paced game, it’s very, very difficult to understand what you could have done better,’ Jonny Burns, the technical development director for Florida Celtic Soccer Club, said. “To have that ability to go back and watch those scenarios that evening or the next day, it really gives a knowledge of what could have been done better. We make sure the games are analyzed as quickly as possible so the coaches can go back and evaluate.”

The human mind is affected by the misinformation effect. Previous experiences, mood, biases and others opinions warp our memories and cause us to incorrectly recall what actually happened.

Video snaps the mind back to reality by providing a clear, unbiased account that gets everyone on the same page.

Develop Athletes

Players count on their coaches to identify weaknesses, help them improve and put them in the best position to further their careers. No individual plays a more important role in an athlete’s growth, and players seek out leaders to drive their development.

Video is the best teaching tool because it shows the player exactly what happened. It’s one thing for a coach to tell an athlete what needs to improve, but actually showing the action brings a higher level of understanding and helps them pick up concepts much quicker.

“Sometimes you just need to sit down in a video session with a player and show them the things we’ve been telling them,” Chris Leonard, director of the Pilipa`a girls volleyball team, said. “You can kind of see that moment where the light bulb goes on for players and they go, ‘Oh, that’s what you mean.’”

Club coaches don’t get much time with their players, but video gives them a chance to develop on their own time. Coaches can create playlists of clips, complete with comments and drawings, and share them with athletes to study when they’re away from the team.

Add Depth to the Data

Stats have become an essential part of the evaluation process, but relying solely on the numbers limits their power. When stats are linked to video, they take on new life.

With Hudl, simply click on a stat to create a playlist. The review process is easier and less daunting when you can quickly jump to the exact moments in the game you want to see. It also speeds things up for athletes with shorter attention spans.

“Stats show a lot of different things,” Brendan Smith, the director of ASA Hoops, said. “It’s not just how many shots did you hit and miss. You’re getting rebounds and you’re getting assists. You’re getting charges taken. Someone can feel a real sense of worth on a team that may not score a lot of points. Now they have other ways to prove their value.”

Athletes want strong coaches and they recognize clubs that employ the best. Recruit the top talent to your club by giving your coaches the tools they need to improve their athletes’ experiences. Find more insights on the current club culture in our full survey report.

Coach Brandon Gilliam used video to recreate game situations in practice, fix mistakes quickly and reinforce positive behavior.

Sometimes it hits Brandon Gilliam during a game and he makes a mental note to himself. Sometimes the realization comes later, when the BYU head coach is reviewing his team’s performance on video.

While Gilliam contends last year’s squad was one of the most connected groups he’s coached during his nine years as part of the staff, he still noticed instances of players momentarily falling out of the team’s cohesive nature. BYU’s teamwork was key to winning the national title, so Gilliam worked quickly to smooth out any loss of focus.

“A lot of times a player is going to concentrate on his role and forget how his role impacts the guy in front of him,” Gilliam said. “But during those early-season sessions when they’re all engaged and they’re in a room together and you’re talking about who needs to slide where and the purpose behind where they need to move and how it affects others, now they start thinking more about how the whole back line together connected to the midfield.

“Changing your shape by a couple steps can make a massive difference between preventing a shot or a goal, and that’s the mindset we got them in early on.”

Gilliam ironed out mistakes by recreating game situations in practice. He would watch a game, cut it into a few key clips, then send them to the player(s). At the next day’s practice, he’d put the players in a very similar situation to what he saw on the video, walking them through what should have transpired.

Because the athletes had watched the video Gilliam sent them the night before, they came in with a base knowledge of what needed to be corrected. Cracks in execution were quickly sewn up.

“You’ll explain something to them and they think that they get it, but then they go out and they make the same mistake because they just can’t visualize the information you’ve given them,” Gilliam said.

But Gilliam doesn’t only use the video to call out players’ errors. He also finds clips of positive moments and shares those with his players as well. Not only does this boost the athletes’ confidence and reward positive behavior, but it helps create a mutual respect between player and coach.

Catch a recording of our live class with Gilliam to learn more about using video to maximize practice and create game-like scenarios.

Coach Brandon Gilliam used video to recreate game situations in practice, fix mistakes quickly and reinforce positive behavior.

Sometimes it hits Brandon Gilliam during a game and he makes a mental note to himself.

Sometimes the realization comes later, when the BYU head coach is reviewing his team’s performance on video.

While Gilliam contends last year’s squad was one of the most connected groups he’s coached during his nine years as part of the staff, he still noticed instances of players momentarily falling out of the team’s cohesive nature.

BYU’s teamwork was key to winning the national title, so Gilliam worked quickly to smooth out any loss of focus.

“A lot of times a player is going to concentrate on his role and forget how his role impacts the guy in front of him,” Gilliam said.

“But during those early-season sessions when they’re all engaged and they’re in a room together and you’re talking about who needs to slide where and the purpose behind where they need to move and how it affects others, now they start thinking more about how the whole back line together connected to the midfield.

“Changing your shape by a couple steps can make a massive difference between preventing a shot or a goal, and that’s the mindset we got them in early on.”

Gilliam ironed out mistakes by recreating game situations in practice. He would watch a game, cut it into a few key clips, then send them to the player(s). At the next day’s practice, he’d put the players in a very similar situation to what he saw on the video, walking them through what should have transpired.

Because the athletes had watched the video Gilliam sent them the night before, they came in with a base knowledge of what needed to be corrected. Cracks in execution were quickly sewn up.

“You’ll explain something to them and they think that they get it, but then they go out and they make the same mistake because they just can’t visualize the information you’ve given them,” Gilliam said.

“Then you send them the video and talk to them about it again, and they’ll immediately understand exactly what you’re trying to get at.”

But Gilliam doesn’t only use the video to call out players’ errors. He also finds clips of positive moments and shares those with his players as well. Not only does this boost the athletes’ confidence and reward positive behavior, but it helps create a mutual respect between player and coach.

Catch a recording of our live class with Gilliam to learn more about using video to maximize practice and create game-like scenarios.