Add coaching voiceover to a sports video

How to record coaching commentary

1. 1. Open the attempt you want to explain

   Save a replay after the action, then open it in Review and choose Trim / Edit. You can also open an already kept ReplayR video from the day-grouped kept-video wall, then edit it. The Home shortcut appears when the phone’s photo library contains kept ReplayR videos. Start with one clear attempt rather than a long sequence of unrelated movements.

2. 2. Set the useful range first

   Use the trim handles to choose a start and end that include the movement and enough preparation to understand it. You can tap a displayed time to enter an exact boundary, or use Use playhead. Set the range before speaking: the trim boundaries determine what survives in the final video, including which part of your narration can be heard.

3. 3. Move to the commentary’s starting point

   Seek to the place in the selected range where your explanation should begin. Voiceover starts from the current video position; it does not automatically restart at the beginning of the whole clip. For narration from the first selected frame, move the playhead to the trim start. For a brief note at contact, move to a little before that moment.

4. 4. Tap Voiceover and allow the microphone

   The control sits in Video & Sound alongside Rotate, Mirror and Sound. A Free user sees the Pro offer when tapping it. With Pro, ReplayR requests microphone access before recording. If access is declined, it displays Microphone needed and does not start a take. Allow access in the phone’s app permission settings if you want to record.

5. 5. Speak while the video plays

   Tapping Voiceover starts the microphone and plays the video from your chosen position. The control reads Stop while recording. The video’s original sound is temporarily muted to avoid echo, so you can watch the motion and speak without the phone replaying the original sound into the microphone. This recording-time muting is different from choosing to remove the original audio from the exported video.

6. 6. Stop and preview the take

   Tap Stop when you have said enough. Recording also stops when playback reaches the selected end, or when the video is paused. ReplayR then pauses the video and makes the take available for preview. Play the relevant part of the clip again to hear the commentary against the action. Listen to the words and watch whether their timing matches the movement.

7. 7. Re-record if the explanation needs work

   After a take is recorded, the control reads Re-record. Move the playhead back to the place where the new explanation should begin, then tap it and speak again. ReplayR keeps one current commentary take, not a collection of selectable layers. A successful new recording replaces the previous take. Re-recording from a later position does not append a second note to the old one.

8. 8. Confirm, then share the edited video

   Stop recording before saving. Tap Confirm Changes and wait for the edited output. Previewing a take alone does not bake it into the video. When you return to Review, Share sends the selected confirmed edited MP4, with commentary included. If you edited an already kept clip, the app saves a new video to Photos or Gallery and leaves the original kept video intact.

Keep the original sound, or share only your voice?

Temporary silence while recording does not mean the original audio has been removed permanently. With Sound on, the confirmed video mixes your commentary with the original clip’s audio when that audio exists. A ball strike or landing can help explain the movement, but sideline chatter or loud music can compete with your words. Preview the combination before sending it.

Choose Sound removed if the athlete should hear only your commentary. With a voiceover present, this removes the original clip audio from the final mix while keeping the recorded narration. If the source video has no audio track, the narration can still provide sound. A silent capture therefore does not prevent you adding an explanation afterwards, provided you allow microphone access for the new take.

The editor offers this original-sound choice, not separate volume sliders for the two tracks. If background sound overpowers a clear take, remove the original sound and preview again. If the take itself is too quiet or unclear, re-record closer to the microphone in a quieter place. Do not try to fix a muffled recording by adding more words.

What happens if you change the trim afterwards?

The take is attached to its starting position in the source clip. If you move the trim start later, commentary recorded before the new boundary is cut from the output. If you shorten the end, narration beyond that end is cut too. The final video follows the selected video range; recording a longer explanation does not extend it.

For example, you might record “Here is the setup, then watch the front foot” across an eight-second attempt. If you later keep only the final four seconds, the setup explanation may no longer be included. That can leave an incomplete sentence or a reference the athlete cannot understand. Preview from the new start to the new end after every trim adjustment, and re-record if the explanation no longer makes sense.

An unconfirmed take belongs to the current editing session. Finish and confirm a take you want to keep before leaving the editor. Do not rely on it returning as an editable audio draft after closing the screen. Once confirmed, the voice is part of the resulting MP4 rather than a separate note the recipient must synchronize.

Write a correction the athlete can act on

Use a three-part explanation: name the moment, describe the visible detail, then give one cue for the next attempt. For a tennis serve, a useful note might be: “At the toss, watch where the ball is relative to your front foot. On the next attempt, keep that position more consistent.” The clip supplies the context, so the narration can stay short.

For a lift, explain the point where the setup changes rather than narrating every second: “Look at the start position here. Keep the bar closer as you begin the next rep.” For golf, name the view and the part of the swing you are discussing. A face-on clip and a down-the-line clip show different things, so say what is actually visible instead of making a claim the camera angle cannot establish.

Watch the attempt once before recording and choose one correction. You can stop a take early; there is no need to talk until the video ends. Leave the athlete enough attention to see the movement. If a precise position is hard to explain aloud, an annotated still frame may make the point faster than a longer recording.

Compare the result with your intended message. Does “here” clearly refer to something on screen? Is the cue stated before the important moment disappears? Does the explanation depend on hearing original audio that you removed? A short re-record usually takes less effort than answering several follow-up questions after sharing.

Single-clip narration and comparison are different outputs

Record this commentary in the editor on an individual replay. The two-clip comparison workflow produces a paired JPEG or a muted side-by-side MP4. The comparison video export does not include the original clips’ sound or the editor’s separate voiceover workflow.

For a before-and-after correction, you can send a comparison to show the visual difference and an edited individual clip with commentary to explain the cue. Label the files or your accompanying message so the athlete knows what to open first. The voiceover guide does not promise narration over the combined comparison video.

The editor confirms an ordinary-speed edited replay. Playback speed used in frame analysis is a viewing setting, not a promise that the narrated video will export at that slow speed. Check the confirmed file itself when timing matters. Use the comparison guide for the separate export workflow that includes a chosen comparison speed.

Share the confirmed output, not the original

Before sending, play the edited file and listen for your commentary. For a pending replay, the confirmed edit becomes the selected output when you return to Review. Use its Share action. For an edit of an already kept video, look for the new output in Photos or Gallery; the old kept clip is still there and will not acquire the narration retroactively.

The athlete receives a standard MP4 containing the explanation and does not need a ReplayR account or app to hear it. Your sharing destination controls transfer and compression. A messaging service may upload or compress the file; ReplayR keeping footage on the device before sharing does not change that service’s behavior. Follow the athlete sharing guide for selecting a destination and checking the receiving file.

When recording youth training, include only the relevant attempt and appropriate feedback. Check names, bystanders and background conversations before sending. Removing the source audio can reduce unnecessary sound in the file, but the recorded commentary is still part of what you share. Follow the club’s recording and sharing arrangements.

FAQ

Related

• Share feedback with athletes →
• Compare two kept clips →
• Draw on a still frame →
• Review a clip frame by frame →
• Golf coaching workflow →
• Free, Pro and device support →

Explain the next attempt, with the clip in view

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