Standout at your tryouts (here is how)

Let's talk about eight tips for your high school tryouts. That's going to help you stand out. And there's a lot of correlation with tryouts and recruiting, trying to play at the next level, play in college, and whether you're a recruited and committed athlete. This is going to help you with day one of college as well, whether you've already made the team or you're trying out for college. And if you're new to my channel, my name is Alex Swenson. I'm a former Division I college coach, scout and recruiter with 11 years of experience. And now what I do is help high school athletes and their parents reach the next level and put them in the best possible position to play at the next level. So if you get anything from this video or you want more information on the recruiting process, please subscribe and like it right here. And if you're listening on the podcast, please leave a review. So let's dive into tip number one, Dress the part. First impressions are massive. All right? College coaches love looking at an athlete that looks the part. And whether you're in high school, whether you're in college or professionally, look at professional players. Right? That's a good example. It's where a lot of us strive for and look up to those guys. Dress the part. They look good. And there is something with, hey, looking good, playing good, all right, that is massive in this. So dress the the part. That first impression for a coach that is evaluating you and this is for all these tips, or whether you're for freshmen or a sophomore that's trying to make the team or juniors and seniors trying to be a leader and set a good example. That is really important. Number two is show up early and move with some energy. Showing up early is key. And you need to put in to your planning purposes of showing up early that, hey, stay. You could hit traffic, right? So you going and trying to get there 15 minutes early and say something happens, right? You do hit traffic and there's about five to 10 minutes of traffic. Well, now you're five minutes early. There's a saying that I had in college and our coach is saying if you are on time, you are late because the college coaches are definitely starting on time and usually they're ahead of time seeing like, hey, who is there? And then just moving with energy. Right? Right. Hey, there is something again, similar to seeing a player that's dressed the part, moving with some energy. Now, you don't have to be a maniac, but moving around, obviously hustling wherever you are going, we don't like players that are slouched over and that just look frankly lazy. You want to stay away from that move with some energy. Number three, think ahead so you are prepared. Anticipate what is coming at the tryouts, whether you're an infielder, an outfielder, a catcher, a pitcher, obviously. And if you've done this before, some of you have done this before, you can visualize what is coming. You can practice this prior to tryouts. Obviously you should be practicing and not just going into tryouts completely cold. And if you have no idea, you're going to probably likely have a pro style workout, which is you're going to run a little bit, you're going to run a 60, you're going to run bases, you're going to take ground balls. If you're an infielder, outfielder, you're going to throw to a third base and you're going to throw to home catchers. You're going to receive, you're going to block, you're going to catch bullpens, you're going to throw to bases. These are things that you need to prepare for. Obviously pitchers, you are going to be throwing bullpens and flat grounds and stuff like that. But you need to anticipate what is coming so you are prepared and run that visually through your head. Now, number four, think about what needs to be done prior to tryouts. When I'm talking about prior to tryouts and even post tryouts is like when you get there early, okay, what do you need to do to help the coaching staff and the team get tryouts ready? And there'll be times where you need to ask coach or you should ask coach, what can I do to help you prepare for tryouts? All right. And there's sometimes that you don't need to, especially if you're an older guy or junior or senior, you just get it done. Do what you need to do to put the balls out, to put the machine out. Think ahead. All right, clean up the dugout, of course, before and after. Ok? There's things that you can do and probably assignments as you go. But for tryouts, a lot of this stuff is just going to be on the coach. But if you can help the coach out with what needs to be done, that goes a long way. Number five, properly warm up. This is massive. You're out there trying to perform, trying to show coach that you can compete and help the team win. And if we are not properly warmed up, especially in, usually tryouts are in colder climates, just because we're getting out of the winter, we're frankly still in winter, and we are working into the spring. You being tight does not help your performance. So properly warm up. Always like to think you should be sweating in your warmups. That means you are ready to go and ready to perform. Number six, lead by example. My juniors and my seniors, hey, have high expectations, one for yourself and then also your teammates, all right? Your other juniors and seniors around them maybe come together and talk about, hey, what are you guys goals for the team this year? And then also helping the freshman and sophomore along. That can help this team progress and win a district, win a state title. And my freshman and sophomore, same with you. You can lead by example by, hey, putting your head down and working. That is leading as well, observing what is going on. The good, the bad. Number seven, maintain positive body language. This is massive. I've talked about this on number two is just having some good energy, but this is really, really important with just moving with energy, positive body language, and it's amazing. Just running around with your shoulders back and your head up. It goes a long way, not only for yourself, but just other teams seeing, especially the leaders. It rubs off on the team. That is massive. Move with positive energy. Number eight, play aggressively. Hey, do not be afraid to make mistakes. Coaches love that hustle environment. But making sure that we're not tentative out there, whether we're fielding a ground ball and we're stiff and almost plain nervous going through that, all right? And whether it's pitching, whether it's catching, play aggressive, play fast, play aggressive. Play like you have nothing to lose. College coaches love that. We much rather have that and try to maybe need to dial you back a little bit than, hey, you're really, really super tentative. And somehow we have to get you to be really aggressive. So play fast and play aggressive. If you have any questions or you would add anything, comment down below and I'll see you in the next video.