Filming guide
How to film a sprint for analysis
A phone is all you need, and the whole thing takes about ten minutes at the track. Get these seven right and the analysis is clean.
Sprint capture setup
Side-on & perpendicular to the lane, hip-height tripod. Film the athlete's top-speed zone at a high frame rate. 240 fps is recommended, 120 fps minimum.
- 1
Film two runs, one each way
Run past the camera once in each direction. One camera cannot see both legs equally well, and this is how each leg gets its own clear view. If you only send one run, half the report comes with a warning on it.
- 2
Stand side on, not in front
Put the phone level with the running lane and film from the side. Filming from an angle or from behind hides the joint positions the whole assessment is built on.
- 3
Hold the phone landscape
Sideways, not upright. Upright is too narrow for a sprinter and you end up swinging the phone to keep them in shot, which is the one thing that ruins a clip.
- 4
Film at full speed, not the start
We are looking at top-speed mechanics, so film the middle of the run once the athlete is upright and flying, not the first few steps out of the blocks. A run in of 25 m to 30 m before the camera is about right.
- 5
Turn on slow motion
Slow motion on any modern phone is enough. 120 fps works, 240 fps is better. Without it the fast frames blur and the checks get harder to call.
- 6
Keep the phone still and frame the whole body
Rest it on a fence, a bag or a tripod and let the athlete run through the shot. Do not pan or zoom. Head to feet in frame, with a bit of room either side.
- 7
Keep it short
A few strides is plenty. Two clips of about three seconds each is all we need, and short clips are much easier to send.
- 8
Send the clips as a document
On WhatsApp, attach them under Document rather than under Gallery or Video. Sent as a video the file gets shrunk on the way, and the detail we are looking at is the first thing to go. Email works too.
What ruins a clip
- Filming from the front, from behind, or at an angle
- Panning or zooming while the athlete runs
- A jog or a submaximal run: it has to be full speed
- Long lens shake from far away, or standing so close the feet leave the frame
- Filming into the sun, which silhouettes the athlete and hides the joints
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