Smashspeed estimates speed from the video you give it, so the recording matters more than anything else. A few minutes of setup is the difference between a trustworthy number and a wild one. Here is what to do.
Film from the side, straight on
Stand to the side of the court, roughly level with the player, and film perpendicular to the direction of the smash— not from behind and not at an angle. The court lines should look parallel to the edges of your frame. A side-on view is what lets the app measure the shuttle’s true travel distance.
Hold the phone in landscape
Record in landscape(phone sideways, wider than tall). Portrait videos are not accepted. Zooming out to your camera’s 0.5× lens helps fit the whole rally in frame so the shuttle stays visible from contact to landing.
Use a normal video mode
- Frame rate: 30 FPS works, but 60 FPS is better — more frames means more points to track and a smoother, more accurate speed.
- No slow-motion and no filters. Slo-mo changes the frame rate and throws off the calculation; filters can hide the shuttle.
- Keep the shuttle visible. Avoid glare, busy backgrounds, and low light — the AI has to see the shuttlecock in each frame to track it.
Trim to the moment of impact
After you pick your video, trim it down to just the smash. Aim for about a quarter of a secondaround the moment of contact; clips longer than roughly 0.7 seconds are rejected. A tight trim keeps the analysis focused on peak speed and avoids extra, confusing motion. As you drag the trim handles the view zooms in so you can place them precisely.
What to do next
Once your clip looks good, you will calibrate it (set a real-world reference) and then review the detection. Both steps build on a clean recording, so it is worth getting this part right first.