How to record your squat for a depth check
You can watch your squat video fifty times and still not know if you hit depth. It's not because you're bad at judging. It's because the video was probably filmed from an angle that makes accurate depth assessment impossible.
Camera position determines everything. Get it wrong and a deep squat looks high, or a high squat looks deep.
Camera at hip height, directly to the side
When you're at the bottom of your squat, the camera lens needs to be at the same height as your hip crease. Not your belt line. The hip crease, the fold where your thigh meets your torso at the deepest point.
For most people, that means the camera needs to be about 16 to 22 inches off the ground. Lower than you'd think. Way lower than chest height on a tripod.
The camera also needs to be directly to your side, perpendicular to the way you're facing. Not slightly in front, not slightly behind.
If either of those is off, you're introducing parallax error and the depth you see in the video won't match reality.
Setups that don't work
Phone on the floor leaning against a plate: too low. Makes your squat look deeper than it is. You'll think you're at depth when you're an inch high.
Phone on a bench: depends on the bench, but most put the camera too high. Makes your squat look shallower.
Training partner holding their phone: unless they're crouching at your hip height, the angle is wrong. People naturally film from their own eye level, which is too high for this.
Wall-mounted camera or gym security angle: almost always near the ceiling. Useless for depth.
Setting it up properly
A small tripod at the right height is the best option. Do a bodyweight squat and measure from the floor to your hip crease at the bottom. That's your camera height. A cheap mini-tripod works fine.
Position it about 8 to 12 feet away, directly to your side. Further away means less parallax distortion but you lose detail. Somewhere in that range is the sweet spot.
No tripod? Stack some plates to the right height and prop your phone against them. Not elegant. Works.
Film in landscape. Portrait gives you a narrow field of view and you might cut off part of the squat if you shift during the set.
Lighting matters more than you'd think
Bad lighting is the second biggest problem after camera angle. Light behind you silhouettes your body and the hip crease disappears. Light directly above creates shadows that obscure landmarks.
You want light in front or to the side. Standard overhead gym lighting is usually fine. If you're in a garage gym with one bulb behind you, you'll have trouble.
Clothing matters too. A loose t-shirt draped over your hips hides the crease. Singlet or fitted shorts make things much clearer.
Evaluating the footage
Scrub to the frame where you're at the absolute deepest. Not where you think you were deepest, the actual deepest frame. This is usually one or two frames before the ascent starts.
On that frame, find the hip crease and the top of your kneecap. Is the crease below the knee? If you have to squint and zoom in and argue with yourself about it, you're right at the line and need to go deeper in training.
How camera height changes what you see
| Camera position | Effect on depth | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Too high (chest height+) | Squat looks shallower | False alarm. Most common mistake. |
| Too low (floor level) | Squat looks deeper | False confidence. Dangerous for meet prep. |
| Hip height | Accurate | What you see is what the judge sees. |
Video vs. photos
Video is better because you can scrub frame by frame to the exact deepest point. A photo might catch you an instant before or after max depth.
If you're shooting video, 60fps is worth it over 30fps. Twice the frames means you're more likely to catch the actual bottom position. Most phones can do this. When you're right at the depth line, one frame can make the difference.
That said, a well-timed photo from the right angle beats a video from the wrong one.
For meet prep
In the weeks before competition, film your working sets from the correct angle. Review them. Know where your depth actually is at your competition weights.
Consistently right at the line? Adjust technique to get a little deeper. Clearly below depth every rep? You might have room to cut it a touch higher and save some energy.
You want to walk onto the platform knowing your depth is good, not hoping it is.
Skip the guesswork
Squat Eye analyzes your video frame by frame and identifies the exact moment of deepest depth. AI does the measuring so you don't have to.
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