What a camera can see in a clean & jerk
A clean and jerk takes the bar from the floor to the front rack, then from the rack to overhead. Scoring both halves from one clip means anchoring each criterion to the frame it belongs in: the elbow angle at the very end for the jerk lockout, the elbow angle at the catch for the front rack, and the largest hip angle for the extension. The identity gate requires substantial vertical wrist travel and a finish overhead — a clip that stops at the rack is a clean, and is scored as one.
How ScoreRep scores a clean & jerk
The rubric declares 5 scored criteria. The strongest single camera angle is the left side view. From that angle 80 of the 90 declared points are available; the rest need a different view and are removed from the total rather than scored as zero.
The score is the points earned divided by the points the recorded angle could support, so a clip filmed from a limited angle is never quietly marked down for what the camera could not see. At least 60% of the applicable weight has to be measured before a result is ranked at all.
| Criterion | Points | Measured from the athlete’s pose | Full marks when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead lockout on the jerk | 30 | elbow angle in the finish position | 165° or more |
| Hip extension | 25 | largest hip angle in the rep | 172° or more |
| Front rack on the catch | 15 | elbow angle at the catch or bottom position | 95° or less |
| Explosiveness | 10 | time taken by the lifting phase | 0.8s or less |
| Left-to-right symmetry | 10 | largest left-to-right difference in knee angle | 5° or less |
Criteria that depend on the camera angle
These criteria are excluded, not estimated, when the recorded angle cannot support them. That is why the same set filmed twice from different positions can produce two valid scores out of two different totals.
- Hip extension — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
- Front rack on the catch — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
- Left-to-right symmetry — needs a front and back view.
Does this clean & jerk rep count?
ScoreRep answers that in two separate steps. First, the clip has to read as a clean & jerk at all: every check in the table below has to pass, and a reading the camera could not take counts as a fail, never as a pass. A clip that fails is returned unranked with the reason attached, rather than scored low against the wrong rubric, and no template can override a failed check.
Second, the scoring criteria award points. Falling short of a full-marks threshold costs points, not the rep. Every number here is read from version 2 of the clean & jerk rubric, the same file the scoring engine runs.
- Compare the clean & jerk standard with the other 29 movements on the movement standards page.
- How the rep counter decides between a valid rep and a no-rep, station by station.
| Reading | Has to be | Otherwise rejected because |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical travel of the hips across the rep | 0.1 or more | range of motion too small for a clean and a jerk |
| Whether the hands finish above the shoulders | yes | the movement does not finish overhead, so the jerk is missing |
| Vertical travel of the wrists across the rep | 0.2 or more | the bar did not travel from the floor to overhead, so the range is too small |
| Smallest elbow angle in the rep | 100° or less | there is no front rack position, so the clean was not detected |
| Elbow angle in the finish position | 155° or more | the elbows are not locked out on the final jerk |
What the recording has to contain
Eligibility decides whether a result can enter a leaderboard. Failing it does not block the feedback — the clip is still scored and returned, but marked unranked with the reason attached, so a bad camera position never silently becomes a bad score.
- A pose has to be detected in at least 50% of the frames.
- The camera angle has to be one of: left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique.
- At least 1 complete repetition has to be detected.
What is deliberately not scored
Identity, repetition counting, eligibility and the score are derived only from the athlete’s pose. Measurements that come from tracking an external object — the path of a barbell, for example — are drawn on the review overlay but are deliberately outside the scoring contract, so they never affect the number.
For this movement that applies to Bar path. It is listed in the rubric so the exclusion is visible rather than silent, and it earns no points.
Reading the result
Most clean and jerk scores are decided by the jerk, because it carries the largest single weight and it is the half that fails first under fatigue. A front rack score that is low while the jerk score holds usually means the clean is being caught with the elbows down, which makes the jerk harder than it needs to be. Fixing the rack often raises the jerk score without any change to the jerk itself.
A technique score is educational feedback about visible movement. It cannot tell you whether a load is safe for your joints, whether pain means something, or whether a programme suits you. Those judgements need a coach or clinician who knows your history.