Slow-Motion Landing: Film It and Line Up Your Knees

In groups of three, students film jumps and landings head-on in slow motion with a tablet to see whether their knees cave inward, a common way knee injuries happen. They fix it with simple cues and compare before and after.

How to play

1. Explain with a sketch: a safe landing has knees lined up over the feet, hips back and a soft, quiet touchdown (3 min).
2. First recording: a vertical jump in place and a step-down from a low gym bench onto the mat, filmed head-on in slow motion (6 min).
3. Trio analysis: pause the video at the deepest point and check knee alignment (4 min).
4. Practice with cues: 'knees toward your pinky toes', 'land like the floor is glass', with two-leg and one-leg landings (7 min).
5. Second recording and comparison with the first; delete the videos at the end (5 min).

Rules

• Only film people who give permission, and only for class analysis.
• Videos aren't shared and are deleted at the end of class.
• Low benches, always with a mat underneath.
• Comments are about technique only, never about bodies.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with visual impairments: the partner describes the video and places the student's hands on their knees to feel the alignment.
• Limited mobility: be the camera operator and analyst, or analyze a transfer movement from the wheelchair.
• Students who don't want to be filmed: a classmate watches live from the front and gives the same feedback.

Learning goals

• Recognize a landing with aligned knees.
• Correct landing technique to prevent knee injuries.
• Use a tablet responsibly as an analysis tool.

Equipment for a class of 25

• tablets: 10
• mats: 10
• gym benches: 4
• cones: 10

Teacher tip

The built-in slow-motion camera on the school tablet or phone is enough, no outside apps. Common mistake: filming from the side; to see knees caving in you need to film head-on at hip height.

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