Sprint timer app: 40-yard dash and flying sprints with one phone

Solo, or with a start phone

Solo mode is for the athlete training alone or the coach with one phone. With a second phone at the start, the gun phone hears a real starter's pistol and starts the clock, which is how a meet runs.

Speed gates are the third mode: two phones any distance apart, each aimed across its own line, giving metres a second and miles an hour for a flying segment.

• Solo 40 with the bang from the phone's own speaker
• Flying 30 with two phones as gates
• Every run can be saved as a clip into the Film Room
• Times to the frame, kept on the phone or posted to the website

What it is honest about

A solo sprint is timed from the bang to the line, so reaction time is inside the number, the way a hand-timed 40 is. The speed gates give the flying speed the gates saw, not a top speed the athlete never reached between them.

What you will compare it with

Said plainly, because you will find out anyway.

Freelap

Transponder gates, the standard for flying sprints. Accurate and expensive, and the athlete wears a chip.

Timing-gate kits

Beam gates on tripods. Accurate, a bag to carry, an afternoon to align, and a cost per pair.

Phone stopwatch apps

A thumb at each end. Fine for an easy run, not for a number you want to compare next month.

Questions

Read more

• How to time a flying 30 without buying timing gates
• Where does your sprinter actually hit top speed?
• Speed training, and how to tell whether it worked