Überkopf

Überkopf is a German term meaning overhead or above the head. It functions as an adjective and in compound nouns to describe position or action relative to the head. In everyday language, phrases like über dem Kopf denote something located over the head, while the standalone form appears more often in technical or sport-specific terms.

In sports and fitness, überkopf appears in terms describing movements performed with the arms raised overhead. For example, Überkopfpass (overhead pass) is used in ball sports to describe a pass delivered from above head height. Überkopfdrücken (overhead press) refers to a weightlifting or strength exercise performed with the arms extended overhead. In these contexts, the compound is typically written as a single word or as a closed compound in German.

In other domains, the concept of overhead is usually conveyed with descriptive phrases rather than a single fixed term. In photography and film, for instance, overhead shots are commonly described as Aufnahmen von oben (shots from above) rather than a universal one-word translation.

Orthography and usage: German compounds built from über and Kopf tend to retain a single-word form when used as fixed terms (for example, Überkopfpass, Überkopfdrücken). The spelling follows standard German rules for compounds and adjectives, with capitalization determined by its syntactic role in the sentence.

See also: overhead, overhead pass, overhead press.