Most jump videos are filmed for the athlete's face. The phone is held at chest height, the camera follows the body up, and the feet leave the frame right when they matter most. That clip looks good on Instagram. It is not much use for measuring a jump.
Jump height from video comes down to two moments: the frame where the feet leave the floor and the frame where they touch it again. The time in between is the time in the air. The longer the athlete stays up, the higher they jumped. So the camera's real job is to show the feet and the floor clearly at both of those moments.
That is how the SpeedTrackr vertical jump tool works. You film the jump, or import a clip you already have. You step through the video frame by frame, mark take-off and landing, and get the jump height. It is not live analysis on the camera screen. You record or import first, and the result comes after.
Normal 60 fps video works. Slow motion is the most precise option when your phone has it, because there are more frames to choose from around take-off and landing.
Here is a filming setup you can repeat every week.
Put the phone down. Rest it on a bench, a box or a tripod rather than holding it. A moving camera makes it harder to see the exact frame the feet leave the floor.
Keep it low. Around knee or shin height, side-on to the athlete, a few steps away. You want both feet and the floor line in the frame for the whole jump.
Film from the same spot each time. Mark it with tape if you can. Same side of the athlete, same distance, same light.
Then keep the jump itself the same.
Pick one version and stick to it. Hands on hips and a jump with an arm swing are different tests. Both are fine. Mixing them week to week is not.
Land the way you took off. If the athlete tucks their knees or lands with bent legs, they stay in the air longer on the video than the height they actually reached. Ask for straight legs at take-off and at landing.
Do three jumps and keep the best. One jump can be a bad one. Three gives you a fair look at what the athlete has today.
Mark the same way every time. Take-off is the first frame with the feet clearly off the floor. Landing is the first frame they touch it again. If you mark one jump loosely and the next one strictly, the number moves even when the athlete did not.
Read the athlete against themselves. Jump height is most useful as a trend for one person. Their first saved result is a baseline, and the question each week is whether they are jumping higher, holding steady, or dropping off.
If you want jump power as well as height, the app asks for the athlete's body weight once when you pick them for a jump test, so the power figure belongs to that athlete and not to the coach holding the phone.
For a group, turn on Coach Mode. It works on the web app and on Android. Save each jump to the right athlete from the Squad tab, or by typing their name when you save the result. Every athlete gets their own page with records, progress and every result.
A simple way to start this week:
- Tape a spot on the floor for the phone, low and side-on.
- Choose one jump version, hands on hips or arm swing.
- Film three jumps per athlete and save the best.
- Repeat from the same spot next week and compare.
The Android app is on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedtrackr.reactionpro
On an iPhone or a laptop, use the web app: https://www.speedtrackr.com/auth/login
There is no native iPhone app. iPhone users use the web app.
A jump video is only as good as what it shows at take-off and landing. Film the feet, keep the jump the same, and the height you save this week becomes a number worth beating next week.
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