Triple Hop Test – VueMotion

Why it matters

A tape measure tells you how far. VueMotion shows how.

Every triple hop gives you three layers. Together they turn two trials, one per leg, into decisions for performance, injury risk, return to play, benchmarking and scouting.

DST

Distance

Total distance and the distance of each hop: how much power the leg produces, and whether it holds up across three hops.

TME

Timing

Ground contact between hops and flight time: how the athlete strings the hops together, fast and springy or slow and heavy.

Left vs right & landing

Limb symmetry index, joint angles at each landing and, from the front, knee valgus and trunk tilt.

Performance monitoring

Is each leg getting more powerful?

Distance Total distance per leg vs the athlete's baseline and cohort norms.
Timing Shorter contacts between hops at the same distance mean a more reactive, efficient leg.
Trend Track both legs every session to see the effect of a training block.

Performance improvement

Where is the distance being lost?

Per hop A short first hop points to power at take-off; short later hops point to poor reactive strength.
Contact time Long contacts between hops show the athlete is absorbing, not re-using, the landing force.
Landing angles Knee and hip flexion at each landing show how the athlete takes the load.

Injury risk reduction

Who has a leg that doesn't match the other?

Symmetry A limb symmetry index below about 90% is the common flag for a weaker leg.
Knee valgus Knees caving in on a single-leg landing is a pattern linked to knee loading.
Stiff landing Little knee flexion at landing means the joint absorbs less force.

Safer, faster return to play

Is the injured leg ready for sport?

LSI target Meeting ≥ 90% symmetry on hop tests, with strength, was linked to fewer re-injuries after ACL reconstruction (Grindem et al., 2016).
Pre-injury baseline Compare with the athlete's own earlier results too; both legs can lose function, so symmetry alone can look better than it is (Wellsandt et al., 2017).
How, not just how far Equal distances can hide different landing mechanics on the injured leg (Kotsifaki et al., 2022).

Benchmarking

How does the athlete compare with their peers?

Normative range Total distance, per-hop distance and contact times per leg against sport and cohort.
Symmetry Compare limb symmetry across the squad and by position.
Relative distance Distance relative to height or leg length makes athletes of different sizes comparable.

Scouting & talent ID

Who has explosive, balanced legs?

Objective distance Calibrated distances from video: comparable across trials and venues.
Reactive strength Long hops with short contacts mark athletes who re-use landing force well.
Both legs See whether a recruit is balanced or relies on one leg.

These metrics describe movement patterns linked to performance and knee loading in research. They support coaching and clinical judgement; they do not diagnose or predict an individual injury.

01 · Choose your camera setup

Side view, or side + front

Distances, timing and joint angles come from the side view. Add a front camera at the end of the lane to measure knee valgus and trunk tilt on each landing.

Sagittal only

Distance, timing & symmetry

1 iPhone, side-on · landscape · 1× lens

The standard performance and return-to-sport test.

Total distance and distance of each hop
Contact time between hops and flight time
Limb symmetry index (left vs right)
Knee, hip and trunk flexion at each landing

Sagittal + frontal

Full assessment

2 iPhones, synced with Controller-Capture

Everything above plus landing control: recommended for screening and return to play.

All distance, timing and symmetry metrics
All joint angles from the side
Knee valgus and trunk tilt at each landing, from the front
One synced capture per trial

Metric	Sagittal	Sagittal + frontal

02 · Setup

The 5-cone lane and camera positions

Five cones mark a 10 m lane, 1.22 m wide: three cones 5 m apart on the far side, and two on the near side at the start and finish. The athlete hops along the lane with the hop leg closest to the side camera.

ConesSide camera viewFront camera viewLandings

Sagittal camera

On a tripod, perpendicular to the lane at the middle cone, about 9 m back, landscape, 1× lens. All five cones and the whole hop path must be in frame.

Frontal camera (optional)

About 5 m beyond the finish line, facing back down the lane, portrait, 3× zoom. Sync both phones with Controller-Capture.

↔

Hop direction

Left leg: hop right to left. Right leg: hop left to right. Either way, the hop leg is the one closer to the side camera. Move the front camera to the finish end for each direction.

Capture in 4K or HD at 60 fps on iPhone (or 4K 120 fps on GoPro), Auto-FPS off, iPhone 11 or newer. The clock starts when the hop foot leaves the ground. No one else in the lane or in either camera's view.

03 · Capture

Record both legs in a few minutes

Equipment

1 or 2 iPhones (11 or newer), tripods, five 9-inch cones and a measuring tape (10 m minimum).

Lane

Lay out the 5-cone lane: 10 m long, 1.22 m wide, on a firm, flat, non-slip surface.

Cameras

Side camera about 9 m back at the middle cone, landscape. Optional front camera 5 m past the finish, portrait, 3× zoom.

Tag + record

Choose the athlete and the 3-hop test for the leg being tested, then record. With two phones, use Controller-Capture.

Upload

Upload the original files from the VueMotion app and submit the AI request. Test both legs so the report can compare them.

Athlete

Warm up, then a few practice trials on each leg
Stand on the hop leg, toes just behind the start line
Three maximal forward hops on the same leg, without stopping between hops
Hold the final landing still on one leg for about 2 s; repeat the trial if the other foot touches down

Camera settings

4K or HD at 60 fps (120 fps on GoPro)
Auto-FPS off (Settings → Camera → Record Video)
Side: landscape, 1×. Front: portrait, 3×
Do Not Disturb on, Auto-Lock never

Scene & upload tips

Start recording before the athlete moves; stop after the landing is held
Keep arm use the same every trial (free arms or hands on hips)
Clothing that shows the knees helps the front view
Upload original files from the app; avoid AirDrop or messaging apps

04 · What the camera sees

Three hops, four contacts

Markerless pose tracking follows the hop leg from take-off through each landing. VueMotion detects every take-off and touchdown, so each hop gets its own distance, flight time and contact time, plus joint angles at each landing.

Hop 1 · take-off → landing 1Power

The first hop shows how much horizontal power the leg produces from a standing start.

Hops 2 & 3 · contacts between hopsReactive strength

Short contacts that keep distance up show the leg can absorb and re-use landing force.

Final landing · holdControl

Knee flexion, knee valgus and trunk tilt show how the athlete controls the last, biggest load.

05 · Outputs

What you get after upload

Test both legs and the report compares them. Example values below.

Distance per hop

Bars stack hop 1, hop 2 and hop 3 for each leg.

Limb symmetry index

Left5.82 m

Right5.31 m

LSI91%

LSI = weaker (or injured) leg ÷ stronger (or uninjured) leg × 100. Many return-to-sport criteria use ≥ 90%.

Distances

Total distance and the distance of each hop, for each leg.

Timing

Flight time of each hop and ground contact time between hops.

Left vs right

Limb symmetry index for distance, with timing compared side by side.

Landing mechanics

Knee, hip and trunk flexion at each landing (side); knee valgus and trunk tilt (front).

AR video

Pose overlay on each trial for each camera.

Progress over time

Every metric for both legs across previous tests, and against the pre-injury baseline.

CSV / API

CSV/Excel export for Enterprise and Academy users; API access for Enterprise.

Linking hop results to performance and injury

Metric	Link to performance or injury	Evidence

Performance linked to strength or power Prospective linked to future (re-)injury in a cohort study Mechanistic linked to knee loading or function in lab studies

Metric definitions

Distance and timing

Total distance (m): Start line → the heel of the hop foot at the final landing.
Hop 1 / 2 / 3 distance (m): Distance covered by each hop, from take-off to touchdown.
Flight time (s): Take-off → touchdown for each hop.
Contact time (s): Touchdown → take-off on the ground between hops 1 and 2, and hops 2 and 3. Shorter = more reactive.
Limb symmetry index, LSI (%): Weaker (or injured) leg ÷ stronger (or uninjured) leg × 100.

Landing mechanics

Knee, hip, trunk flexion (sagittal): Joint angles of the hop leg and trunk at each touchdown, and peak knee flexion at the final landing.
Knee valgus (frontal): How far the knee moves inward relative to the hip and ankle on each landing, seen from the front.
Trunk tilt (frontal): Sideways lean of the trunk from vertical on each landing.

06 · Practitioner value

More than a hop distance

Reliable and valid

The triple hop is reliable between sessions and reflects lower-limb strength and power (Reid et al., 2007; Hamilton et al., 2008).

No tape, no mistakes

Distances come straight from the video, so there's no reading a tape measure while managing a session.

Per-hop detail

Three distances and two contact times show where performance drops, which a single total can't.

Return-to-sport ready

Symmetry, pre-injury baseline and landing mechanics together give a fuller picture than distance alone.

Landing screen built in

Add the front camera and every trial doubles as a single-leg landing screen.

Pair with CMJ and CMAS

Compare single-leg and double-leg power with the CMJ, and cutting technique with CMAS.

07 · Support

FAQs

Which camera setup should I use?

Sagittal only for performance monitoring and distance-based return-to-sport checks; sagittal + frontal when you also want to see knee control on each landing.

Which way does the athlete hop?

Left leg: right to left. Right leg: left to right. The hop leg should always be the leg closer to the side camera.

What counts as a valid trial?

Three continuous hops on the same leg with the final landing held on one leg. If the other foot or a hand touches down, repeat the trial.

How many trials should I record?

After practice, record a few trials per leg and use the same number every session, so results stay comparable.

Are CSV exports and APIs available?

CSV/Excel export is available for Enterprise and Academy users, and API access for Enterprise users.

Noyes FR, Barber SD, Mangine RE. Abnormal lower limb symmetry determined by function hop tests after anterior cruciate ligament rupture. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 1991;19(5):513–518.
Reid A, Birmingham TB, Stratford PW, Alcock GK, Giffin JR. Hop testing provides a reliable and valid outcome measure during rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Physical Therapy. 2007;87(3):337–349.
Hamilton RT, Shultz SJ, Schmitz RJ, Perrin DH. Triple-hop distance as a valid predictor of lower limb strength and power. Journal of Athletic Training. 2008;43(2):144–151.
Grindem H, Snyder-Mackler L, Moksnes H, Engebretsen L, Risberg MA. Simple decision rules can reduce reinjury risk by 84% after ACL reconstruction: the Delaware-Oslo ACL cohort study. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2016;50(13):804–808.
Wellsandt E, Failla MJ, Snyder-Mackler L. Limb symmetry indexes can overestimate knee function after anterior cruciate ligament injury. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2017;47(5):334–338.
Kotsifaki A, Van Rossom S, Whiteley R, et al. Single leg hop for distance symmetry masks lower limb biomechanics: time to discuss hop distance as decision criterion for return to sport after ACL reconstruction? British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022;56(5):249–256.
Munro AG, Herrington LC. Between-session reliability of four hop tests and the agility T-test. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011;25(5):1470–1477.