What’s the Best Way to Time a Flying 30m?

Man doing a flying lap on a track and field

Why Flying 30s Matter

If you want to know how fast an athlete really is — not just their start, but their true top-end velocity — the flying 30 is the test.

The setup is simple:

Athletes build up speed over 20–30m
Then you time them through a 30m flying zone, already at full sprint

This drill gives you clean, focused data:

Sprinters → Tracks max velocity phase, not just acceleration
Football → Breaks down the top-speed portion of the 40
Soccer/Rugby → Measures real match sprinting, not just starts

The value? Massive — if the timing is legit.

The Stopwatch Problem

Hand timing a flying 30? Don’t bother.

The gains you’re coaching for — a few hundredths of a second — get wiped out by human error. A stopwatch has a ±0.2–0.3s margin. That’s not just noise — that’s a totally different athlete on paper.

Worse, no two coaches get the same time on the same rep. That makes your comparisons useless.

Laser Gates: Good, But Flawed

Laser systems like Dashr or Brower are a step up. But they’re not bulletproof:

A knee or arm can trip the laser before the body crosses
You never know exactly what part of the athlete broke the beam
Setup takes precision — and time you may not have

They promise accuracy, but real-world results often raise eyebrows.

Photo-Finish Systems: Accurate, Unrealistic

Yes, photo-finish timing (like FinishLynx) is the gold standard.

Certified accuracy
Used in elite-level meets
Precision down to the millisecond

But:

It’s expensive
It’s complex
And it’s not built for team practice on a Tuesday afternoon

Perfect for championships. Not for everyday coaching.

What Coaches Actually Need

You need a setup that’s:

Simple to set up
Accurate enough to measure real change
Consistent week to week

That’s why more coaches are turning to wearable timing chips — clipped to the athlete’s waist, triggering timing at the hips (not hands, heads, or knees).

How It Works

With a system like Freelap:

Mark your flying zone (30m, 20m, whatever you want)
Athlete wears a chip at the waist
The system automatically times from transmitter to transmitter
Data logs instantly and reliably

No buttons. No beams. No guesswork.

With accuracy around ±0.02 seconds, it’s more than precise enough to guide training — and easy to scale for groups.

Why Consistency > Perfection

You’re not running a national championship. You’re running practice.

You don’t need lab-grade timing. You need repeatability:

Same distance
Same zone
Same feedback
Week after week

That’s how you know if an athlete’s actually improving. If your setup’s shaky, the data doesn’t mean a thing — and neither does your feedback.

Real-World Use Cases

Sprinters
Track velocity gains across training blocks — when top-end speed matters most.

Football Players
Zoom in on the top-speed portion of the 40 — especially helpful for athletes who accelerate well but top out too early.

Soccer / Rugby
Pair flying 30s with 10m splits to build a full sprint profile.

S&C Coaches
Test if the work in the weight room is showing up on the field.

Bottom Line

So… what’s the best way to time a flying 30m?

Stopwatch → Too inconsistent
Lasers → Better, but still questionable
Photo-finish → Ideal, but unrealistic

Wearable chip systems like Freelap hit the sweet spot:
Accurate, consistent, and built for real-world coaching.

If you want data you can trust — that shows athletes their real progress — you need a timing system that works every day, not just on test day.

Click here to see how Freelap can help you track max speed with confidence.