What a camera can see in a overhead squat
An overhead squat asks the athlete to hold a locked-out bar above the head through a full squat. Two things decide whether it counts: the arms stay straight, and the hips pass below the knees. Both are visible from the side or an oblique angle, which is why those views carry the most weight in the rubric. The engine also checks how far the wrists travelled vertically during the clip, because a bar that rises a long way did not start overhead — that is a squat snatch, and it is scored under a different rubric.
How ScoreRep scores a overhead squat
The rubric declares 4 scored criteria. The strongest single camera angle is the left side view. From that angle 80 of the 100 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 | 30 | largest elbow angle in the rep | 165° or more |
| Depth | 25 | smallest knee angle in the rep | 95° or less |
| Upright torso | 25 | largest torso lean away from vertical | 20° or less |
| Left-to-right symmetry | 20 | largest left-to-right difference in knee angle | 4° 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.
- Depth — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
- Upright torso — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
- Left-to-right symmetry — needs a front and back view.
Does this overhead squat rep count?
ScoreRep answers that in two separate steps. First, the clip has to read as a overhead squat 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 1 of the overhead squat rubric, the same file the scoring engine runs.
- Compare the overhead squat 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 | 0.08 or more | no squat was detected |
| Whether the hip crease passes below the knee | yes | the hip crease never passes below the knee |
| Whether the hands finish above the shoulders | yes | the bar is not overhead at the end of the rep |
| Elbow angle in the finish position | 155° or more | the elbows are not locked out overhead, so the bar may not have started overhead |
| Vertical travel of the wrists across the rep | 0.15 or less | the bar travelled too far vertically, which reads as a squat snatch rather than an overhead squat |
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 55% 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
Overhead squat scores tend to be honest about mobility in a way that other lifts are not. If the lockout score falls at the same moment the depth score falls, the limitation is usually shoulder and thoracic range rather than the legs, and adding load will make the picture worse rather than better. Film the same lift at the same camera position across a block; a gradual recovery of both scores together is a clearer signal than any single session.
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.