Cheap Speed Gates I like

Quick shoutout to the SKLZ Speed Gates – cheap, cheerful, and honestly one of my favourite pieces of kit.

I use them constantly with both students and athletes. Are they dual-beam or hyper-accurate? Definitely not. But they drive intent, and that’s what really matters – when kids know they’re being timed, they actually sprint hard.

For tools that are less accurate (like these, or even just a stopwatch), you can still get solid data. A little hack I use: run 6 sprints, discard the fastest and slowest times, and average the middle four. Over time, that gives a really useful performance snapshot.

I cannot stand Bluetooth-based speed gates – always finicky, battery-hungry, and awkward in group sessions. These ones have been surprisingly solid. The built-in screen is super handy too – the athletes can check their own times instantly, and I just log the numbers into Excel later.

Pro tip: the cones are too low by default, so raise them up on chairs or mini hurdles – otherwise your athletes might overstride and miss the sensor line.

I’ve got two sets already and I’m seriously thinking about grabbing a third for my speed training classes.