What a camera can see in a pull-up
The rubric measures the smallest elbow angle in the rep as the range criterion, the largest torso lean as body control, and the lowering-to-lifting ratio as control. Elbow angle is used rather than chin position because the chin and the bar occupy nearly the same pixels from most angles, and a measurement that depends on which side the phone happens to be on is not a measurement. Grip width appears in the rubric but is explicitly not scored: two-dimensional landmarks cannot resolve it.
How ScoreRep scores a pull-up
The rubric declares 3 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 of motion | 35 | smallest elbow angle in the rep | 55° or less |
| Body position | 25 | largest torso lean away from vertical | 15° or less |
| Control | 20 | ratio of lowering time to lifting time | 0.8 or more |
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.
- Body position — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
Does this pull-up rep count?
ScoreRep answers that in two separate steps. First, the clip has to read as a pull-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 pull-up rubric, the same file the scoring engine runs.
- Compare the pull-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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical travel of the shoulders across the rep | 0.05 or more | the shoulders do not travel far enough vertically |
| Smallest elbow angle in the rep | 90° or less | the elbows do not close far enough for a complete pull-up |
| Whether the hands finish above the shoulders | yes | the hands do not stay above the shoulders, so this does not read as a pull-up on a bar |
| Smallest hip angle in the rep | 90° or more | the hips flex too far, which reads as toes-to-bar rather than a pull-up |
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: front, back, 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 Grip. It is listed in the rubric so the exclusion is visible rather than silent, and it earns no points.
Reading the result
Kipping is measured as torso lean, so a kipping set will score lower on body control than a strict set of the same range. That is a description, not a judgement — both are legitimate, and the two should be compared against sets of their own kind. If the range score falls while body control holds, the athlete is shortening the pull; if body control falls first, the kip is getting larger to keep the range.
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.