Using video

[Sponge]

Folks,

Since I am often down the range, all by myself, I am finding it hard to spot any changes in my shots.

I have a video camera and tripod and was thinking of setting it up to monitor things like my anchor position and head position, two things that I have been told I am moving.

Anyone tried this or can suggest good ways of doing it. Does it actually help?

Sponge.

[silver streak]

Have used video to good effect sponge and especially if you can slow it down on computer afterwards. You should set up the video from both sides and from behind. I found it very telling on my posture.
If you want some video doing on saturdays let me know

[Max]

Very useful - even if you are under coaching supervision. GNAS performance coaching courses use video a lot and it is very telling. Ideally you need a way to get the video onto a comuter for frame analysis, but just the tape is good if you can't do this. Try taking your shirt off and shoot some video from the back to show your shoulder positions and which muscle groups are working (or not in my case!). There are planty if pictures in taxtbooks as to o how posture and draw should be executed - you can compare yourself to these even if you have no coaching support.

Originally Posted by Max

Very useful - even if you are under coaching supervision. GNAS performance coaching courses use video a lot and it is very telling. Ideally you need a way to get the video onto a comuter for frame analysis, but just the tape is good if you can't do this. Try taking your shirt off and shoot some video from the back to show your shoulder positions and which muscle groups are working (or not in my case!). There are planty if pictures in taxtbooks as to o how posture and draw should be executed - you can compare yourself to these even if you have no coaching support.

Like the Avatar Max...

[Tony Stickland]

I've used the video to great effect... i've slowed myself down, and given myself a better pre-shot routine and I'm in more control of myself and the shot, and without realizing that i'm doing it. All this just by watching yourself on the video...
By the way are you allowed up the range by yourself.......... you know health and safety and all that??

[Max]

Originally Posted by Tony Stickland

By the way are you allowed up the range by yourself.......... you know health and safety and all that??

No way Tony! - That's a job for the Wife!

[Rik]

A couple of things occur to me;
If you can't spot things other people are doing wrong, then watching yourself on video isn't likely to help. So you need to have a reasonable ability to spot problems in others, first. You can mitigate this a bit: if you're looking for something specific, take the video, ask someone who knows what it is to point it out to you so you can recognise it.

You need to take a lot of video.
You can't expect much from taking film of a few shots. I always had a quirk with video cameras - as soon as I knew I was being filmed, my problems would fix themselves (but unfortunately, not for long ). Likewise, you don't want to end up agonising over some "error" which happened while you were filming, but isn't a normal part of your form. Which brings me to the awkward bit about video: analysis. You have to spend a fair amount of time trawling through pictures of yourself shooting, and paying attention to them. Not an interesting passtime for any but the most narcissistic of us...
If you can log the results of the shots and match them up against the film footage, that can help with analysis (focus on what worked and what didn't).

[LineCutter]

Seems that I'm another narcissus. I'll own up to videoing myself, hey I've even done it while I've been shooting

If you have a particular element of the shot in mind then I've found it to be useful, but I tend to find the viewing angle too small for detail at the same time as a global view. If you want a good view of, say your loose, then you need a cameraperson. Similarly, if you want a view from the back you'll get more useable video if someone aims the camera for you.

What is useful is a digital video & a PC to play it back, slow down etc. The frustration then is that your loose can quite easily fit into 1/25 of a second (the frame rate of the video) & you need a lot of shots to get a feel for what's actually happening.

One more thought - if you do this as a "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" then you have to be prepared to listen to the coaching from your partner

[Little Miss Purple]

One more thought - if you do this as a "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" then you have to be prepared to listen to the coaching from your partner

Check out your partner can handle this!!!!

[cliveanne]

I have used video to good effect. I set up a mirror (Full length) so I could see both sides of the shot at the same time. I used the freeze frame on the player to watch the action, frame by frame. Had no PC then. I would set the camera at various angles. top, side(s) also front (Shoot over the camera).
I found it helped me a lot.