Evaluating the VALD SmartSpeed Plus Electronic Timing System

When I started coaching sprinters over 30 years ago, the best piece of technology you would have on your person was a digital stopwatch that fit nicely in the palm of your hand. I remember owning a wind-up, analog Tag Heuer stopwatch in high school, but I knew the accuracy might not be up to speed. A digital stopwatch that recorded split times and stored them in the memory for transcription later was considered a high-tech luxury item.

But the most important thing for a coach back in the day was developing the skill to consistently and reliably start and stop that watch to track the progress of their athletes. Together, your eye and your thumb comprised a precisely tuned data collection system that didn’t need to be recharged or synced via Bluetooth to another device.

However, hand times were always considered to be inaccurate or biased, with credibility in doubt whenever anyone quoted a hand-timed result. Thus, it was imperative for coaches to get their hands on a “reliable” and “accurate” electronic timing system. We also knew we could not afford the big, clunky, and expensive timing systems often provided by Omega or Timex for elite track and field competition. It had to be a system that was practical, portable, and affordable.

The Early Days of Portable Electronic Timing

Shift to approximately 20 years ago, when I finally got my hands on a Brower Timing system package. It included three pairs of optical timing gates that allowed me to capture the start, one interval time, and a finish time. It also had a remote display that connected relatively reliably to the timing gates.

The system was generally stable, with the occasional dropped time and some irregularity with the start mechanism if you were breaking a beam to start the timers. I was never a fan of the touchpad start mechanism, as it would typically record much slower times and also confused the athletes on how to make it work. But if you didn’t mind recording times on a clipboard, it was a relatively simple and reliable means of incorporating electronic timing into your monitoring and testing protocols.

While the system was generally stable, the worst part of the old Brower system was the cheap and easily breakable tripods that came with the timing modules, says @DerekMHansen. Share on X

The worst part of the old Brower system was the cheap and easily breakable tripods that came with the timing modules. The telescoping legs on the tripods are often dislocated and could easily be bent with the slightest contact. On a windy day, it wasn’t uncommon for the timers to get blown over and give you a heart attack, thinking your timers would be shattered. Needless to say, it wasn’t unusual to have more than half of your tripods held together with duct tape.

A quick search revealed that Brower continues to sell a similar system with the same tripods. However, they seem to have upgraded the system with the ability to connect to a smartphone or mobile device via Bluetooth. Aside from the tripods, Brower does provide a relatively robust system with options for mobile device connectivity that would likely satisfy a lot of coaches.

More Competition in the Electronic Timing Market

Since my old Brower timing days, I have crossed paths with several other electronic timing systems. While I could go into an exhaustive critical review of these systems, my intent is not to malign companies trying to provide affordable solutions for coaches and athletes. I will say that every timing system I’ve used since Brower made me long for the days of simple, remote, basic timing gate modules, crappy tripods, and a clipboard for recording results by pen and paper.

The main culprit in my disdain for modern timing equipment is the smartphone—it doesn’t matter which system I used; I would always have some problematic connection issues with my phone. Either the system would take an agonizing amount of time to connect with the phone during setup or within the midst of testing athletes, times would be dropped, or the system would freeze up for no apparent reason. And heaven forbid someone tried to call you by phone during the testing session.

The main culprit in my disdain for modern timing equipment is the smartphone—it doesn’t matter which system I used; I would always have some problematic connection issues with my phone. Share on X

The worst scenario ever for a coach with a timing system is having an athlete put in a maximal effort for a sprint test—such as a 40-yard dash as part of a testing combine—with recruiters or scouts watching and having the system fail to record a time for that effort.

You feel absolutely horrible because the athlete may have produced their best time ever, and you were unable to document that performance. In addition, you may have spent thousands of dollars on a system only to feel betrayed because it couldn’t accomplish the basic task of switching on and off at the correct time. This has been the case with optical and RFID systems I have used in the past.

I know I’m not the only one who has experienced this combination of disappointment, helplessness, and disgust. Although over 20 years had passed since my Brower timing days, I didn’t feel as though technology had appropriately progressed to reliably record times on a consistent basis.

A New System Enters My Radar

This past year, I’ve been experimenting with some jump protocols using VALD ForceDecks force plates in an attempt to correlate sprint segment performance with various jump types. The VALD system had been recommended to me by multiple clients who have used a number of different products in combination at their professional team or university.

I wanted to look at concentric jumps, countermovement jumps, and reactive hops to see if they corresponded with performance in starts, early acceleration, late acceleration, and maximum velocity with my athletes from various sports. I did not have a lot of experience using force plates. I was hoping to find a system that made data collection relatively simple while at the same time providing robust data that could be easily analyzed.

VALD Chief Commercial Officer Chris Rowe connected me with a local VALD representative—Ryan McLaughlin—and I was on my way with basic jump profile testing, thanks to his support. At the time, I was unaware that VALD also provided a relatively new sprint timing system. Because I was already using an electronic timing system I had purchased last year, reviewing a new one was not on my radar. It wasn’t until I had to use my existing timing system with a large group of athletes that I found myself pulling my hair out.

The unnamed timing system would not connect with the phone application, even after four separate times of re-downloading and installing the app and restarting my phone each time. We wasted more than 30 minutes of session time troubleshooting the app and timing system. On top of that, the timing system occasionally wouldn’t recognize a gate module, and we had to restart the whole system and reassign all the gates once again. The dread you feel while fully warmed-up athletes wait in the hot sun to test is profound and defeating.

Using the VALD SmartSpeed Plus System

Ryan from VALD was extremely supportive and didn’t push the VALD SmartSpeed Plus system on me. Instead, he suggested we run some trials in a future session with the new timers with his help so that I could complete my sprint and jump profile evaluations with the athletes before they moved on to their university summer training camp commitments. He volunteered to do all the setup and recording while I focused on shooting videos of the athletes that we could later correlate with the performances in our athlete summaries. 

Hardware

The hardware for the SmartSpeed Plus system follows a similar design concept to most electronic timing systems, with a light beam reflecting to a timing sensor to detect an athlete crossing the beam. Other systems may use RFID chips to detect an athlete via proximity. The SmartSpeed Plus kit comes with individual sprint gate modules that pair with a reflector unit.

The optical system used to detect movement for starts, splits, and finish times is comprised of LiDAR (Light Detection and Radar) technology. The pulsed laser is reflected back to the optical sensor in much the same way technology is used in self-driving cars to detect objects and hazards. The system records accurately to 1/1000th of a second.

The cylindrical optical units for each gate are approximately 900 grams (2 pounds) in weight and measure 23 centimeters (9 inches) high and 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter. But the units also serve as display devices, with a revolving LED display providing info on individual athletes, including names and resulting times in real time. These units are powered by a removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can supply power to the individual unit for up to 10 hours of regular use.

The individual timing gate units can be separated over a maximum 120-meter distance, with the primary transmitting unit needing to be within 30 meters of a recording mobile device. The individual gates can be placed a maximum of 4 meters’ width apart from the reflecting unit, depending on lighting conditions. A regular track setup may only need 1.22 meters (4 feet) of width that corresponds to an official lane width, while ice hockey players or larger athletes may require 2–3 meters of spacing to prevent athletes from running into the tripod legs.

The general build quality of the VALD SmartSpeed timing system is on the high side. The tripods provided are much more robust and sturdier than I’ve experienced with other systems, says @DerekMHansen. Share on X

The general build quality of the system is on the high side. The tripods provided with the system are much more robust and sturdier than I have experienced with other systems. The total weight of a travel case, including equipment for four pairs of gates, can exceed 50 pounds (23 kilograms), allowing for an acceptable air travel size and weight. Unboxing the system is an impressive task, as you feel the weight and solid construction of individual components. Assembly is fairly intuitive for any coach who has previously worked with timing gates.

Software

The hardware for the VALD SmartSpeed Plus system is run by the SmartSpeed Plus app operated through a mobile device. The VALD platform supports both iOS and Android devices, although I prefer to run the app through an iPad because of the larger form factor for viewing times and managing team lists. You can create and organize team lists in advance using the VALD Hub application with easy import of spreadsheet files. I recommend creating team lists in advance, and it is easy to add athletes to the roster if they show up at the last minute for a testing or training session.

The SmartSpeed Plus app is very easy to navigate, and you can order athletes through a simple sort or drag-and-drop method. Similarly, timing gates can be detected and assigned a position—whether it is a start module, split timer, or finish module. Once individual timing gates are detected, you can easily move them around with the drag-and-drop method to correspond with their order and function. All in all, the system app is straightforward to operate and provides enough support prompts to walk the novice user through the process.

All in all, the SmartSpeed Plus app is straightforward to operate and provides enough support prompts to walk the novice user through the process, says @DerekMHansen. Share on X

Practical Operation

The hardware setup is similar to other systems where sprint distances must be measured accurately using a measuring tape, with tripods and sensors assembled and then aligned appropriately. I did not find that the SmartSpeed Plus setup took any longer than any other electronic system I have used previously. In fact, the LED display units help with the setup process by displaying the module number that correlates with the designation on the app so you can determine if the correct timing gate is assigned at the correct location.

Aligning the optical gate module with the corresponding reflector is very easy, particularly if all tripod heights are equal and you do your manual setup and eyeballing of the pairing before turning on the units. The alignment laser allows you to visually pinpoint the middle section of the reflector, and both the app and optical module let you know when the system has been aligned correctly.

The only shortcoming I encountered while using the SmartSpeed Plus system occurred when we used the system for athlete testing during a few evening sessions with the sun setting on the horizon. The horizontal projection of the sun’s rays created confusion with the beam sensor and disrupted the readiness of the system by giving a misalignment error. This was remedied by relocating the sensors to an area that did not receive direct sunlight at such a low trajectory. Sometimes, we even had a coach stand alongside the gates to cast a shadow over the tripods and block the sun. However, this situation is rare and possibly due to the long summer days found in the Canadian North. Needless to say, the precise siting and scheduling of your testing session is a significant consideration if you use any timing system with a light detection beam mechanism.

Once the system was up and running, the testing process moved ahead quite smoothly. The LED display on each timing gate displays the name of the athlete to be tested and then immediately displays the time result once the run is complete. The starting method can be designated as either an “in-beam” start—where the athlete blocks the beam and the reflector, only to start the timing process once the athlete leaves—or a “break-beam” option, where the athlete starts behind the timing beam and breaks it with a portion of their body to start the timing sequence. With a static, three-point start, we chose to use the “in-beam” start method, as it yielded a more consistent start sequence with all athletes and less probability of prematurely tripping the start beam.

A practical consideration of any technology is the price of buying and maintaining a system. The VALD SmartSpeed Plus system is subscription-based, covering hardware, software, and customer support. Share on X

Another practical consideration with any technology is the price of purchasing a system as well as maintaining it. The VALD SmartSpeed Plus system is priced under a subscription-based model, covering the inclusion of all hardware, software, and customer support. The minimum term for the subscription is three years, with the units approximately priced (at the time of the writing of this article) as follows:

• Two-gate system – CAD 2,600/year or USD 2,210/year
• Three-gate system – CAD 3,200/year or USD 2,860 /year
• Four-gate system – CAD 3,800/year or USD 3,510/year

Payment frequency is flexible based on a client’s needs, with smaller facilities deciding to pay monthly or quarterly and larger organizations adopting an annual payment plan. The arrangement includes a full warranty for the term with a complete replacement at no cost if any part of the system malfunctions or is damaged. For a private operation that is testing, training, and rehabilitating new clients all the time, there is a significant ability to recover costs right away. An organization may simply identify these fees as operating costs that could be deducted as a business expense every tax year, as opposed to a one-time capital expenditure.

Video 1. The whole process of setting up and executing a session using the VALD SmartSpeed Plus system.

Recommended Users

Because the VALD SmartSpeed Plus system may be priced outside the means of many individuals, private coaches, small businesses, and public schools, it may only be an attractive solution for larger organizations that can afford the subscription fee but also justify its use with a large number of high-performance athletes or teams on hand.

A professional sports team with significant financial resources may only have 12–20 athletes at any given time but may not be deterred by a higher price point, given the reliability, accuracy, and ease of use of this system. A university athletic department could easily justify the investment in this type of system, given the large number of athletes for testing as well as the diversity of sports teams that could be tested and monitored throughout the year. The system may also be attractive to private training facilities that constantly evaluate athletes but also want to show clients (and parents) that they use the latest technology that provides instant, visible feedback.

Another potential user of this system could be a privately run physical therapy or rehabilitation group that focuses on return to play for athletes of all ages and abilities. A private healthcare-based operation would be able to justify the use of this timing system to manage a running-based return-to-play process. Being able to accurately record running times with direct feedback being presented to the athlete would allow them to manage output at safe levels. I have used this monitoring approach with soft-tissue injuries, guiding athletes to run consistent acceleration reps in a “safe zone” of output. The accumulation of submaximal reps at a low risk of reinjury helps to build overall strength and confidence in repeat sprint scenarios.

Data management through the VALD Hub can make long-term tracking of athletes and patients more efficient, particularly for larger organizations collecting hundreds of thousands of data points weekly. Share on X

In both cases presented above, data management through the VALD Hub—their proprietary data management platform for all of their testing systems—can make long-term tracking of athletes and patients more efficient, particularly for larger organizations collecting hundreds of thousands of data points in a typical week. The Hub also allows you to correlate data between other testing modalities, such as with my interest in jump performance and sprint outcomes. These larger organizations can also justify the subscription rates for multiple testing devices to create greater efficiencies and reduce overall labor and data management costs. Rehabilitation centers could easily import and integrate data from RTP patients into their EMR (electronic medical record) system to track rehabilitation progress.

Final Observations

I’m always hesitant to recommend products that may be out of the price range of many coaches because I understand how resources can be limited for equipment and technology purchases, especially at the high school and sport club levels. I don’t want coaches to feel as though equipment and tools define their coaching, credibility, and reputation. It should be about coaching expertise and, ultimately, results.

My own personal decisions around using a timing solution such as the SmartSpeed Plus system go back to my original frustrations with time being wasted fiddling with connectivity and reliability with any technology. If a lesser system that you purchase fails in front of a client team with a large number of athletes, how much does that cost you personally in terms of wasted time and overall credibility? Your own cost-benefit analysis should factor into any selection of technology or equipment before making a significant capital investment.

My decision to use a timing solution such as the SmartSpeed Plus system goes back to my original frustrations with technology connectivity and reliability wasting our time, says @DerekMHansen. Share on X

The SmartSpeed Plus system is a high-quality measurement tool that does a very good job of collecting times consistently and reliably and integrating that data with your athlete-monitoring database. The system will cost you approximately $240 per month to maintain. A three-year commitment will likely run you $8,500 for that period. If you work for a professional team or university athletic department, this may seem like an easy cost to absorb if you use the system regularly to test your athletes, track the quality of sprint efforts, and manage return-to-play intensities. A private training facility or rehabilitation center may be able to justify the cost as part of a cost-recovery strategy, ensuring the system is used with a minimum number of clients and patients each month.

This timing system is also a very visually appealing apparatus that will attract attention and give athletes, clients, and parents a distinct impression of high performance and advanced technology. Seeing the split times and final time displayed immediately can motivate athletes to manage effort and mechanics, and return-to-play patients can regulate output to minimize risk while carrying out precise training. You must consider these features and benefits as part of your calculation of contribution to your business or program and weigh them against the cost of the monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription fee.

Some individuals or organizations may opt for the one-time cost of purchasing a timing system for $2,000 and live with the potential reliability, connectivity, and data management issues associated with a lower-priced system, and many coaches on a budget can live with these quirks and idiosyncrasies. I have a friend who uses a wired timing system that cost him $1,500, and he swears by it for reliability and consistency even though he has the added labor of connecting wires between each pair of gates every session, with the added headache of athletes accidentally tripping on the wires at any given time. Your decision and perception of value will depend on your tolerance for the time required for setup, implementation, and data management.

The VALD SmartSpeed Plus timing system is very visually appealing and should provide athletes, clients, and parents with a distinct impression of high performance and advanced technology. Share on X

Because I currently wear the hat of “sports performance consultant,” with less of my time dedicated to coaching athletes directly, I may not need a robust and slick-looking timing system throughout the year. However, I am always on the lookout for good products to recommend to my clients, particularly if the tools help save time, speed workflow, and produce actionable data. In the case of the VALD SmartSpeed Plus system, my own experience has shown that this product is worthy of recommendation for many of my high-performance, institutional, and private-sector clients without reservations.

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