How to film yourself running for form analysis
Where to put the phone, how far away, which angle and how long to record so a running form app can actually read your stride. No tripod or helper needed.
Film yourself running from the side, with the phone at hip height, about 6 to 8 metres from your path, in landscape, for 10 to 20 seconds at your normal easy pace. That one clip is enough for an app or a coach to see landing, knee bend, lean, arm swing and cadence. Everything else on this page is detail.
Where to put the phone
Height. Level with your hips. A phone on the ground looking up makes every runner look like they lean back. A phone held at chest height by a tall friend makes you look hunched. Hip height keeps the angles honest.
Distance. Far enough that you fill about a third to a half of the frame height when you pass the middle. On most phones that is 6 to 8 metres. Closer and you leave the frame after two steps. Further and the joints get too small to track.
Angle. Square on. The phone should point straight across your path, not diagonally. If the camera is angled, your stride looks shorter on one side.
What to prop it on. A water bottle, a rolled jacket on a bench, a fence post, a kerb with the phone leaned against a shoe. A cheap phone tripod helps but is not required. Landscape orientation, always.
Which view to film
| View | Phone position | What it can measure | What it cannot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | Beside your path, hip height | landing reach, front and back knee bend, torso lean, arm angle, head position, cadence | Hip drop, knee caving in |
| Front | On your path, you run toward it | Hip line, shoulder line, side-to-side sway, knee tracking | landing reach, lean |
| Behind | On your path, you run away | Same as front, plus heel whip and crossover | Same as front |
| Treadmill side | Bench beside the treadmill, hip height | Same as side | Outdoor stride length |
Start with the side view. It shows the things most runners want to fix: overstriding, heel reach, lean and arm swing. Add front or behind later if you are working on hip stability.
How long and how fast
Ten to twenty seconds is plenty. That is 25 to 60 steps, enough to average out any single odd stride.
Run at the pace you normally train at. Most people tense up for the camera and run faster and prettier than usual. Do a warm-up first, then film the third or fourth pass, not the first.
If you are filming on a path, run past the phone three or four times. Pick the pass where you were most relaxed.
Light and background
- Sun behind the phone, not behind you. A backlit runner is a silhouette, and pose tracking struggles with silhouettes.
- Plain background if you can. A hedge, a wall, an empty track. Busy backgrounds with other people confuse the tracker.
- Wear clothes that contrast with the background. Black tights against a dark fence is hard to track. A bright top helps.
- Avoid filming into low sun or under strong shadows that cut across your body.
Common mistakes
- Portrait orientation. You run out of the frame in one step. Turn the phone sideways.
- Filming from the ground. Everything looks like you lean back and lift your knees.
- Following you with the camera. Panning blurs the joints. Keep the phone still and let yourself run through the frame.
- Filming one step. One step can be a fluke. Give it ten seconds.
- Filming a sprint. Sprint form and easy-run form are different. Film the pace you actually run at.
- Two runners in shot. Trackers lock onto the wrong person. Film alone.
How to do it in Caden
- Open Caden and tap Run a new analysis. The next screen shows a framing guide with an outline where the runner should appear, filmed side-on.
- Prop the phone at hip height, 6 to 8 metres from your path, in landscape. Tap record, then run past at your easy pace. The recorder accepts 5 to 20 seconds.
- If you already have a clip in your camera roll, tap Import instead. It needs to be 5 to 20 seconds, filmed the same way.
- Caden checks the clip before analysing. If the runner is too small, too dark or out of frame, it tells you what to change instead of guessing a score.
- On the results screen, tap Breakpoints to see the frames at foot strike, midstance and toe-off. If the skeleton overlay tracks your joints cleanly, the clip was good.
FAQ
Can I film myself running without another person?
Yes. Prop the phone at hip height against a bottle, a bench or a post, press record, walk back 20 metres and run past it. Use the third or fourth pass.
What angle is best for running form video?
Side view, square on, at hip height. It shows landing, knee bend, lean and arm swing, and it is the view Caden analyses. Front and behind views are useful for hip and knee alignment in other tools. Caden is side-view only for now.
How long should the running video be?
Ten to twenty seconds. Shorter than eight seconds gives too few steps to trust. Longer than twenty adds nothing and takes longer to process.
Does it work on a treadmill?
Yes. Put the phone on a bench or tripod beside the treadmill, level with your hips, and film side-on just like outdoors. See running form analysis on a treadmill.
Should I film in slow motion?
Not required. Normal 30 or 60 frames per second is enough to catch foot strike. Slow motion files are larger and take longer to process with no gain for form analysis.