What a camera can see in a handstand push-up
The rubric scores the smallest elbow angle on the way down — how close the head came to the floor — and the largest elbow angle at the top. Because the athlete is inverted, the identity gate has to establish that first: it requires the hands to stay below the shoulders and the body to be extended into a handstand. Without those checks, a badly angled clip of a push-up would satisfy the same elbow criteria.
How ScoreRep scores a handstand push-up
The rubric declares 4 scored criteria. The strongest single camera angle is the left side view. Every criterion below is available from that angle.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full range, head to the floor | 40 | smallest elbow angle in the rep | 50° or less |
| Full extension | 30 | largest elbow angle in the rep | 165° or more |
| Control | 20 | ratio of lowering time to lifting time | 0.8 or more |
| Consistency across the set | 10 | drop in rep speed between the fastest and the slowest rep | 15% or less |
Does this handstand push-up rep count?
ScoreRep answers that in two separate steps. First, the clip has to read as a handstand push-up 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 handstand push-up rubric, the same file the scoring engine runs.
- Compare the handstand push-up 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest elbow angle in the rep | 90° or less | the elbows do not close far enough for a complete handstand push-up |
| Whether the hands finish above the shoulders | no | the hands do not stay below the shoulders in the inverted position |
| Largest hip angle in the rep | 160° or more | the body is not extended into a handstand |
| Vertical travel of the shoulders across the rep | 0.05 or more | the shoulders do not travel far enough up and down |
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, right oblique, front and back.
- 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.
Reading the result
Range falls faster than lockout in this movement, which is the opposite of most pressing. Athletes keep locking out and stop coming all the way down, because the descent is the part that requires control. A falling range score with a stable lockout score across a set is the standard picture, and it identifies the rep after which the set stopped meeting most competition standards.
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.