This post was written by Dan Tudor. He is the founder of Selling for Coaches, a training program that teaches advanced recruiting and communication skills to college coaches and athletic departments around the country. He will be blogging about recruiting training for Double-A Zone. Click here for more information about the company.

In my line of work I hear lots of recruiting stories. It doesn't matter what sport or Division you coach, recruiting within the rules is essential.

Here are some recruiting tips:

Stick to the rules on contacting recruits. The truth is, our studies show that the frequency of contacts plays no major bearing on a prospect's final decision. Regular contact is important, but it's what you say in those contacts that counts the most. Weekly contact is just fine in the eyes of today's teenage prospect.

When you do talk to them, keep it short. This has nothing to do with NCAA rules. But it has everything to do with the effectiveness of your phone calls. Most recruits we talk to say that most coach calls can be (and should be) kept to ten minutes or less. The worst thing you can do is extend the call needlessly by asking the general "chit chat" questions. Stop doing it, unless it's a natural part of your conversation with them, or if they are the ones that bring it up.

Log every contact, every time. The array of contact management recruiting software available to coaches at every level makes it almost inexcusable to not track every communication with every recruit.

Assume that every step you take in the recruitment of athletes will be made public at some point. When you think it won't, it will. You can win the recruiting battles by staying in-bounds and playing by the rules. Mark my words, the first time you step outside the lines will be the time you get caught.

Coaches who follow the rules always come out ahead.