What a camera can see in a power clean
A power clean pulls the bar from the floor to the front rack and receives it above a full squat. The rubric scores hip extension at the top of the pull, the knee angle at the moment of the catch, and how high the elbows are once the bar lands. Filmed from the side, all three are visible. The identity gate uses the catch depth in both directions: dropping into a full squat makes the clip a squat clean, and a torso that is already upright at the start means the bar did not come from the floor, which makes it a hang power clean.
How ScoreRep scores a power clean
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hip extension | 25 | largest hip angle in the rep | 172° or more |
| Catch in the rack | 25 | knee angle at the bottom of the rep | 140° or less |
| Front rack elbows | 15 | elbow angle at the catch or bottom position | 95° or less |
| Timing | 10 | time taken by the lifting phase | 0.8s 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.
- Catch in the rack — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
- Front rack elbows — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
Does this power clean rep count?
ScoreRep answers that in two separate steps. First, the clip has to read as a power clean 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 power clean rubric, the same file the scoring engine runs.
- Compare the power clean 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 | 0.06 or more | the hip pull is not strong enough |
| Largest hip angle in the rep | 160° or more | the hips do not extend, so the pull is incomplete |
| Whether the hands finish above the shoulders | no | the movement finishes overhead, which reads as a clean and jerk rather than a power clean |
| Elbow angle in the finish position | 100° or less | there is no front rack position at the finish, so this does not read as a clean |
| Smallest knee angle in the rep | 100° or more | the bar is received in a full squat, which reads as a squat clean rather than a power clean |
| Torso lean in the starting position | 20° or more | the torso is too upright at the start, which reads as a hang power clean rather than a power clean from the floor |
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 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 First pull and Bar path. They are listed in the rubric so the exclusion is visible rather than silent, and they earn no points.
Reading the result
The catch criterion is the only one in the library that scores a middle band highest. A quarter-squat catch earns full marks; both a rigid, straight-legged catch and a full squat catch score lower, because each means something different went wrong. Read the catch score together with hip extension: a low catch score with strong hip extension usually means the bar was heavy enough to need a squat, which is a loading decision rather than a technique fault.
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.