Three colours, no key
Switch speed lines on in CricCuts and they rush in around the batter's head in the beat before contact, then burst back out on the strike. Watch a whole reel, though, and they don't always look the same.
On one shot they're gold and long. On the next, blue. Now and then red and noticeably shorter, and once in a while plain white. It clearly means something — and anyone you send the reel to is guessing what.
Why a still head matters
Keep your head still.
Most batters hear it in their first net and keep hearing it for years, and the reasons are practical. Your eyes judge the line and length of a ball that reaches you in well under a second, and a moving head moves the picture they're working from. A still head also tends to sit over a balanced base, which helps the bat come down straight. It gets said about a forward defence and a six alike.
The key
The colour shows head stillness: how far the batter's head moved between their stance and the moment of contact, compared with their height in the frame. The stiller the head, the longer the lines.
- Gold — Still headThe head moved less than about ¾ of a head.
- Blue — Some head movementAbout ¾ of a head to 1½ heads.
- Red — Head movingMore than about 1½ heads.
- White — Not measuredThe batter couldn't be tracked cleanly on that shot, so the lines claim nothing.
There's no separate switch. Turning speed lines on is what measures it, and the Preview & Trim loader waits for the reading, so a colour never changes after it appears. A readout in the top-left of the video names the band for the shot you're on — Still head, Some head movement, Head moving or Not measured, and Measuring… while it works. Tap it for the same key.
I'm deliberately not going into how the measurement is made — this is about what the colours mean and what to do with them.
What the colours can't tell you
A colour is one reading from one shot. It doesn't know what the ball did, which shot you meant to play, or what you're working on. Three things to keep in mind:
- Some movement belongs in the shot. Striding into a drive or riding the bounce moves the head too, so a blue or red line there can be exactly what the ball asked for.
- Watching the ball can count. Turning your head to follow the ball can register as movement, even though following it is the whole idea.
- Compare within one session. Read them against the other shots from that session, alongside the video: which ones stayed gold, and what the red ones have in common.
When a reading looks wrong
Readings can miss. If a shot's colour doesn't match what you can see, or it says Not measured when your batter is plainly in shot, give it another go:
- Open the clip on Preview & Trim.
- Pause on the exact moment bat meets ball.
- Tap Pin. That shot is measured again.
On a Replay you can also tap Draw and drag a box around the batter — handy when the effects have latched onto the wrong player. The help guide covers both.
Put the key on your video
In the app you have the readout and the explainer; whoever watches the reel you share has neither. So the Export screen has a Head stillness section with three choices:
- Off — nothing is added.
- Legend — a small key in the top-left of every shot, HEAD ● still ● some ● moving, with that shot's colour lit up.
- Label — that shot's result in words, such as ● SOME HEAD MOVEMENT.
It never prints a number, and an unmeasured shot gets nothing rather than a guess. Turning it on measures every shot in the reel — including shots without speed lines — so the export takes a little longer.
Questions
What do the speed-line colours mean?
They show how still the batter's head stayed between their stance and the moment of contact, compared with their height in the frame. Gold means a still head: it moved less than about ¾ of a head. Blue means some head movement: about ¾ of a head to 1½ heads. Red means the head was moving: more than about 1½ heads. White means that shot couldn't be measured, so the lines claim nothing. The stiller the head, the longer the lines — and there's no separate switch, because turning speed lines on is what measures it. Some movement belongs in the shot, though, so a colour is a prompt for a second look rather than a verdict.
Why are the speed lines white on some shots?
White, shown as Not measured on the Preview & Trim readout, means the batter couldn't be tracked cleanly on that shot, so the lines make no claim either way. It isn't a judgement on the shot. To have it measured again, pause on the exact moment bat meets ball and tap Pin; on a Replay you can also Draw the batter's box.
Can I show head stillness on my exported video?
Yes. The Export screen has a Head stillness section with three choices: Off, Legend and Label. Legend adds a small key in the top-left of every shot with that shot's colour lit up; Label writes the shot's result in words, such as SOME HEAD MOVEMENT. It never shows a number, and a shot that couldn't be measured gets nothing. Turning it on measures every shot, even ones without speed lines, so the export takes a little longer.
Read your next session
Switch speed lines on in Preview & Trim, then watch the gold shots and the red ones side by side.