Fill the frame.
Does it look nice?
Hit record, walk away.

For most of you: your video is the problem.

This isn’t magic — if a human would have a hard time figuring out who is who, so would the computer. Be kind: shoot great video, get great stats. Any phone from this century can do it. Five rules below, then real club and college examples of what it should look like.

The one picture to remember

This is what right looks like. Everything else on this page follows from this.

Bay to Bay 16-1✓ Good

Bay to Bay 16-1 vs Beach Cities 16 Black at SoCal Cup, filmed from a tall tripod behind the end line, centered: the players fill most of the frame, the image is clear and well-lit, net, both antennas and the far end line in frame.

Players fill the frame. Clear and well-lit. Up high behind the end line.Convention floor, no balcony — just a tall tripod, dead center. The near corners are off the bottom of the frame and nothing is lost.

The Big 5 Rules

Do these five things and the film works. Skip one and it works worse. The first two are where most film goes wrong.

RULE 1

Fill the frame.

The most common miss we see: the players are too small. Make the players big. The court should fill your screen, not float in the middle of it. Stay at normal 1x — no 0.5x, no ultra-wide, no zooming out to catch the near corners. Get the far end line up near the top of the frame and let the near corners fall off the bottom; nothing is lost. The net, both antennas and the far end line are what matter. More volleyball, less empty floor.

RULE 2

Does it look nice?

Look at your screen before you hit record, the way you would for a photo. Bright, well-lit, sharp? Your phone is really, really good at this — please use it. 1080p at 30 fps minimum, and the highest quality setting you have storage for. In the Skyball app 4K is the default on any phone that can hold it, and the recording is deleted from the phone once its upload lands. If it looks dark or blurry to you, it looks dark and blurry to us too.

RULE 3

Higher is better.

Height is what lets the camera see over the near players to the far court. A balcony beats bleachers, bleachers beat a tall tripod, a tall tripod beats a short one. Shoulder height on a tripod is the floor, not the goal.

RULE 4

End line, centered.

Stand where the server stands, then back up until you are out of the way. Ten feet behind the line is plenty. Point it straight down the court at the far end line. Not the sideline, not the corner, not the bleachers along the side.

RULE 5

Hit record, walk away.

Landscape, on a tripod, one file start to finish. No zooming, no panning, no following the ball, no stopping between sets. Turn on Do Not Disturb first — a phone call ends your recording. The best camera operator is nobody.

Where the phone goes

Rules 3 and 4, from above.

Where the phone goesTop-down view

Behind the end line, dead center, a few steps back.Point it straight down the court at the far end line. Not the sideline, not the corner, not the bleachers along the side.

More of what it should look like

Real frames from real matches, all five rules followed. Notice the near corners are cut off in some of them. That is fine. Notice the net, both antennas and the far end line are in every one. That is the point.

Club

Bay to Bay 16-1 — practice✓ Good

Bay to Bay 16-1 practice in a school gym, filmed from a tall tripod behind the end line, centered: players fill the frame mid-rally with the ball up over the net, both antennas and the far end line in shot.

Same rules for practice film.A practice in a school gym, filmed exactly like a match: tall tripod behind the end line, dead center, 1x. Drills and scrimmages break down just as well as games when the frame is filled.

College

Stanford✓ Good

Stanford home match filmed from the camera platform high behind the end line: the whole court on the red floor, net across the middle, both antennas, far end line clear.

Camera platform behind the end line.The angle every college program already films from, and the best one there is. High enough that nobody hides behind anybody.

Wisconsin✓ Good

Wisconsin home match filmed from high behind the end line, dead center: net and antennas centered, far end line and both benches in frame, near corners cut off.

Dead center, from the upper level.Net across the middle, both antennas, far end line clear. Near corners gone, and it does not matter.

That's it. Go film one.

Record a match this weekend, drop the file on the upload page, and see your own gym broken down.

Upload film

Not sure about your spot? Send us a photo of the setup with the feedback button up top. We'd rather look before than after.

Fill the frame.Does it look nice?Hit record, walk away.