At Photon Sports, we believe that clinging to outdated tools hinders progress and innovation. Timing gates served their purpose, but that era is over.
In today’s high-performance environment, measuring speed alone is not enough. Photon believes measuring athlete development has progressed beyond traditional timing gates.
1. Reduced Setup Time
- Timing gates often require precise alignment, calibration, and significant amounts of hardware that’s time-consuming to set up and impractical for training environments.
- Photon saves practitioners time with a fully mobile 3D tracking system that deploys in under one minute.
- No cables. No calibration. Instant setup on any surface.
2. Increased Data Points
- Unlike timing gates, which provide a limited number of data points, Photon captures a high-resolution sampling rate of 60Hz.
- With this level of resolution, performance staff gain a complete view of a range of KPI’s including Max Speed and Acceleration.
- Other KPI’s include Speed Intervals, Avg. Deceleration, Reacceleration and +75 more.
3. Repeatable Start Time
- Timing gates can be susceptible to false triggers (e.g. swinging arms), and accuracy depends on consistent measurement.
- Timing gates typically trigger when the first limb crosses a laser.
- Photon anchors time measurement to the centre of mass, via a reflective vest, enabling precision from the moment the commencement of a sprint is detected.
4. Quantify Acceleration, Deceleration and COD
- Photon believes linear sprint metrics matter, but it’s only part of the picture.
- We also believe elite performance depends on how athletes accelerate, brake, cut, and transition between movements.
- Photon measures Acceleration, Deceleration, Change of Direction, and Movement Quality – key indicators of performance and injury risk.
5. Automated Video Analysis
- Timing gates operate in isolation. They don’t automatically integrate video and biomechanical feedback. Without visual context, performance staff may lack the insights needed to make informed decisions.
- Photon’s proprietary video module delivers automatically synchronized visuals alongside performance metrics.
- No manual athlete identification or time coding is needed. Within seconds, you have video clips and kinematic data to review and analyze your athlete, including C-MAS and S-MAS.
At Photon Sports, we deliver what timing gates can’t.
Ready to take your performance program to the next level?
