Average Player to D1 Starter & Captain (For The Player Who's Not The Star)

This episode is for the players who aren't the stars of their team, aren't the best on their team, aren't the most talented on their team. There is a path forward for you to play at the next level if you are willing to work. And I can say that confidently because I was that player. I was never the best on any team that I actually have ever played with. There was always somebody better than me on my team. And that is okay, right? Let those guys inspire you to work and to get better and to chase as you go. But you have to be willing to work. And I'm going to talk about some key things of what to focus on as you go and a little bit about this recruiting process, the recruiting pyramid, if you will. I'm going to go over some steps with you and go through that pyramid. And if you're new to my channel, my name is Alex Swinson. I'm A former Division 1 college coach, scout and recruiter with 11 years of experience. And now what I do is help high school baseball players and their parents navigate this college recruiting process. And if you're interested to learn more, you can go down in the description to go to my website and just to learn more about me as we go. But it's very important. All right. So kind of rewinding to my career and what was so important for me and through my path of this, looking back and reflecting on this. In high school, I was an average player to below average player. Freshman year in high school, I had a lot of work to do to go on and play at the Division 1 level because there are certain skills that we do have to have to play at the next level, and that is okay, especially if you're below. I was below average on my metrics, if you will, but I can tell you I was way above average on working and knowing how to work. And how did I get to that point? It's all right. Some of us do have it just like in us. And then other people, people learn. And I had a mixture of both. There was always kind of, hey, I knew how to work, but environment is really important. And the people that you surround yourself with. I'm always and have always been a very observant person. And my parents would always tell me, it's like, hey, watch people, watch how they work and take the good, take the bad. Learn from both, learn from the bad. Like what not to do and learn what to do from a good source. Always watch people. And I learned to watch people that really worked hard and Try to emulate them. So I say this as, hey, surround yourself with people that know how to work and observe them and learn from them. You're going to also have other people that you don't want to learn from. But as far as taking away their qualities, you can learn from in the aspect of what not to do, there's sometimes, in some cases, I learn more from. From people of what not to do than to do. Right? It's like certain things, like laziness and all of that stuff. But put yourself around people that know how to work, that will raise your level, and you ultimately start becoming that person as well. Well, you raise other people, especially as you grow and get older and you have a younger crowd, a younger generation under you. Be that shining example. All right, for. From a recruiting process standpoint, I'm going to bring up this pyramid right here. And the foundation of this recruiting process, okay, is skill development, weight training, academics, and mental work, right? So when we're working and we're trying to reach the next level, we have to continue to work on our skills, right? This road to the next level is not easy. All right? Everything good in life that we're trying to pursue is hard. And that is the beautiful thing about it, the challenge of it, because ultimately, once you get to that level and get to that goal, you're at the top mountain. It's like, now what. And when you look back, what was really enjoyable was going through those experiences, going through those challenges has helped you grow. So try to put yourself and understand that the challenge and the work is really what you want to do and what you want to focus on. Okay? So. So skill development. Work on your skills at your position. Weight training, all right? Get in the weight room. Live in the weight room. There's so many sources, whether it's in my program or within the platform that I have, the premier ethics platform, or just out there, you can learn how to train and get stronger academics. Keep your academics up. And if you're lower, you need to motivate yourself and you need to focus in on the classroom because this can help set separate you. And then mental work, right? Mental work. You should always be working on your mental game and working on perseverance and discipline. And don't be so reliant on motivation. Motivation is very fleeting. You might be motivated after this video, right? Like, hey, I'm going to get into it, but in an hour or two, you're not going to be very motivated. But you need to stick to a plan and you need to stay Disciplined to the plan, but this is the foundation. Skill, skill development, weight training, academics and mental work. From there, creating a school list of realistic schools, of safe schools, fit schools, reach schools. Make sure you have all of your bases covered from a school targeting standpoint, then creating a good skills video is huge in this process. Then exposure and engagement with college coaches and going after schools that are recruiting. Your position in your class is going to be very, very important. Attending certain recruiting events, you. I've talked a lot about this, and I'm actually going to be having a meeting coming up here that it's open to everybody about specific things to look for. But going to the right recruiting events with decision makers there and then events that actually can help you get recruited. Not just partial. There's a lot of partial events where you do certain things and you just need to do more. Scouts need to see more from you. And those are. You want to avoid those. They can be a waste of time. And as we go visiting schools, and eventually you guys are going to visit schools and you maybe want to start locally with visiting schools, right? You could do this on your own. And then eventually you're going to do this with a college coach and they're going to walk you around and then you're going to start receiving offers. Okay? This is the pyramid of recruiting here. And then ultimately you're going to commit to a school that's a good fit for you overall, not just athletically. All right. But academically, geographically, socially, culturally, financially, all those factors. This is a big decision. But I wanted to create this video to say, like, hey, guys, there is a path for players that aren't the stars of the team. We see it every single year of guys making a huge impact on their team and playing at the next level that weren't the best on their team. And those guys are so important. Of course, the best players and the stars are very important, too. But be the guy that is known for their work ethic, right? Known for being a team guy, knowing for going after and wanting to win and doing whatever it takes for the team to win. Be that guy. That's who you want to be. And if you happen to become the star, great. But know that is the foundation of what you want to be as an athlete, to play as at the next level. But if you get anything from this video, please smash that thumbs up and that like, button down here and I'll see you in the next video. Take care.