2010 NFL Combine

[ollie]

@James_Smith

Those individuals who provide the ‘unofficial’ times that you’ll notice on TV, if you watched the combine footage on NFL network, are using stop watches.

There are two different individuals manually starting a Brower system and an older system (can’t remember the name). So even the electronic systems are started manually.

A touch pad would pose much too great a logistical problem due to the sensitivity of the pad.

I speak from experience regarding teams I’ve coached at the high school level as well as this one.

My preferred method of timing is an electronic timing gate system in which the starting gate is wired as a ‘reverse gate’. In this way, the system does not start until the beam is connected. The athlete starts in the gate, breaking the beam, and when the athlete leaves the gate the beam connects and the timer starts.

I don’t actually have a system like this; however, I spoke with a company that makes various timing systems and offers such an option.

This would provide for fully automatic times, void of human error; although reaction time is not a factor so these times could not be accurately compared to T&F times.

Wouldn’t the fact that the timers have to react to the athlete’s first movement negate the reaction time recorded in a T&F sprint?

I’m having a hard time grasping the fact that Jacoby Ford and Trindon Holliday, both 6.55 or faster for 60m, didn’t record faster times.