As the season closes out, many athletes’ minds shift gears.
During the offseason, there are endless options when it comes to camps and combines.
There are 7-on-7 tournaments, prospect camps, development camps, combine after combine, and All-Star games.
There are costs and there are benefits to every one of these.
Many athletes focus heavily on how these opportunities will increase their exposure in the hopes of earning their scholarship.
In reality, the exposre
Too often, an athlete is so heavily focused on these extracurriculars, he loses sight on the things that will actually make a difference.

There are a number of developmental camps that are run throughout the country, some better than others.

These camps range from a single day camp to up to a week and are generally run by a group of coaches/former players.

Sometimes, a university will host these types of camps.

These camps generally consist of a range of position specific drills to teach the fundamentals as well as 1on1s and 7on7 segments.

Pros

The benefits of these programs are highly variable. Some can be great, others, not so much.

In our opinion, the biggest takeaway from these camps are really the fundamental drills.

These drills, practiced at repetition for much longer than the length of the camp, can be great to hone in the muscle memory to help with your technique.

Also, the insights of a great coach are always valuable.

Cons

At big camps, there are generally far more athletes than there are coaches. This can lead to quite an impersonal experience.

These camps rarely cover the "big picture" of the game of football.

It is very difficult to coach scheme and strategic thinking with a camp of individual athletes rather than teams implementing a playbook.

These camps, on average, will cost about $50/day. Add that to the cost of travel and these camps can get pretty pricey.

It is tough to get $50/day worth of pure coaching out of these short term camps.

Prospect camps are hosted by a single university or a group of universities.

They are a way for the university to evaluate their prospective recruits as well as market their school.

A huge misconception is that these camps are used heavily by a university to identify potential recruits.

In general, that is not true.

These camps are more often used by a university to invite athletes it has previously identified as good candidates in order to evaluate them.

If you are not one of these athletes that has been previously identified, it can be hard to stick out.

If that team wants you there, they are likely going to be willing to waive your entry fee.

It is also important to ask oneself…am I a camp athlete?

The things that can help you get identified at these camps are really size and speed.

If you are an athlete with great height/weight measurables or are noticeably faster than the competition, you have a shot at standing out at these camps.

Else, you may be in for a disappointing time.

Text element