How to Give Video Feedback on Athletes' Lifts Remotely
To give video feedback on lifts remotely, ask each athlete for one short clip of the set that matters, usually the top set of the main lift, filmed side-on at hip height and trimmed to the lift. The clip should sit on that exact set in the athlete's programme, next to the load and the reps. Reply on the set within 24 hours with one cue tied to a moment in the video and what to try next session. More angles, more clips and longer voice notes add work for both of you without making the athlete better faster.
What should athletes film?
Film less, but film the right thing.
- The set that tells you the most. The top set or the first working set of the main lift is enough for most weeks. Back-off sets and accessories rarely need video.
- Side-on, camera at hip height. Three to four metres away, the whole body and the whole bar in frame. For squats, deadlifts and the Olympic lifts this angle shows bar path, depth and where the hips go. For the catch in the snatch or the clean, a second angle at about 45 degrees from the front helps once in a while.
- Trimmed to the lift. One rep or the full set, without the walk-in and the 40 seconds of chalk. A trimmed clip uploads faster, loads faster and gets watched.
- Same spot every week. If the camera sits in the same place, this week's clip and last week's can be compared frame by frame.
How many videos a week is enough?
Set a number per athlete and keep to it. Two or three clips a week covers most programmes: the main lift of each heavy day. More than that and two things happen. The athlete spends sessions filming instead of training, and you spend evenings watching instead of coaching. A fixed weekly number also makes your own time predictable: ten athletes at three clips is thirty clips, roughly an hour of replies spread across the week.
Where should the video live?
On the set it belongs to. That one rule removes most of the friction.
When clips arrive in a chat app, they are separated from the numbers. You see a squat, but not that it was the third set at 85 percent after a bad night of sleep. You scroll to find last Tuesday's clip. Chat apps often compress video, so the frame you need to pause on is blurry. Shared cloud folders keep the quality, but every file has to be named and filed by hand, and the reply lives somewhere else again.
When the clip sits on the set in the programme, the load, the reps, the athlete's notes and the video are in one place, and so is your reply.
How should you reply?
- One cue per clip. The athlete can apply one thing in the next session. Three corrections at once usually means none of them stick.
- Point to the moment. Give a timestamp or a freeze frame, or draw the bar path if your tool allows it. "At 0:03 the bar drifts forward as it passes the knee" is something the athlete can see.
- Say what to do, not only what was wrong. "Keep the bar over the middle of the foot until it passes the knee" is more useful than "your bar path is off".
- Reply within 24 to 48 hours. After that the athlete has trained again without your input.
- Close the loop next week. Compare the new clip with the old one and say whether the cue worked.
How do the common options compare?
| Option | Video quality | Next to the set | Where you reply | Limits to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat apps (WhatsApp, Instagram DMs) | Often compressed | No | In the chat | Clips get lost in the conversation |
| Shared folders (Google Drive, Dropbox) | Original file | No | A separate message | Naming and filing are manual |
| TrueCoach | Uploaded in the app | In the workout | In the app | 200 MB per file, about a 60 second phone clip; clients are asked to trim on their phone or split the set (TrueCoach help centre, checked 20 October 2026) |
| Strength Academy | Uploaded in the app | Yes, on the exact set | On the set | 250 MB and 45 seconds per clip; the athlete trims to the lift inside the app before uploading |
Whatever you use, the test is simple: can the athlete find your reply next to the lift it is about, before their next session?
A simple weekly routine
- When you write the week, mark which sets need a clip, usually one per heavy day.
- The athlete films, trims and uploads on that set, the same day.
- You reply in one block, twenty minutes once a day or three times a week, never in between sessions of your own.
- At the end of the week, compare the clips with last week's and let what you saw shape next week's loads and cues.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a feedback clip be? One rep to one set, trimmed to the lift. Most clips end up under 30 seconds.
Should athletes film every set? No. The top set or the first working set of the main lift is enough for most weeks. Film more only while you are fixing something specific.
Is a voice note better than a written reply? Either works if it carries one cue tied to a moment in the clip. Long voice notes are hard to apply in the gym.
What if the video is too big to upload? Trim it to the lift first. In Strength Academy the athlete can trim inside the app before uploading, so a longer recording works as long as the file is under 250 MB and the lift itself fits in 45 seconds.
If you want the clip, the set and your reply in one place, you can see how it works in Strength Academy on a short call: book a free 15 minute call.