Sports Ball Applications

Almost any ball or object can be timed with a radar gun using a few general principals. The first being that the radar unit is in a direct line of the object being projected. This means the object is coming directly at or directly away from the radar unit in as straight a line as possible. Any angle with decrease the speed read by the unit. Be it a baseball or bottle of mustard, most likely your application can be timed. Below are the most common ball applications but keep in mind the general principals apply to any object

Baseball/Softball Timing Notes

The biggest factor in renting a unit for baseball/softball training applications is how far will the unit need to measure. In other words is the unit used for practice or game situations. In a practice environment the unit has the option of being setup behind the thrower or behind the catcher so range proximity is not an issue and almost any unit would be applicable in this situation. In a game environment the unit would need to be at the very least behind the backstop or potentially in the stands so both extended range and an ability to filter through the backstop are an issue. Finally, if used in a professional application like college, farm league or pro stadium you also need to factor potential outside interference from broadcast signals, background movement and a host of other problems that could lead to misreads. Control of both the range of the unit and setting a Hi-Lo speed control is essential. In all situations you must keep in mind the radar unit picking up the ball in a straight line is the only true accurate read so that limits the placement spots for the unit

Bat Speed Timing Notes

We do offer rentals for bat speed timing. It's a specially made unit that can record not only the swing speed but store data in the unit for comparative study

Soccer Ball Timing Notes

Application concerns are almost identical to Baseball/Softball however it's rare there would be a use for soccer kick speeds in a game. A more likely use would be leg strength applications in practice or a controlled environment or for fun and curiosity. Most soccer rental are used in speed kick booth applications as a concession at soccer tournaments or carnivals.

Hockey Puck Notes

Hockey adds a few wrinkles to timing a slap shot. The back swing stick movement can easily relay a false read to the radar unit, A radar gun must have filtering features to achieve a high percentage of accurate reads. Also water and ice can potentially refract a radar signal. This means when the signal hits the ice prior to reading the puck the signal instead of bouncing directly back to the radar can refract or break up the beam in all different directions. Most radar units of the past few years are built in a K band frequency, however we do have Ka band units which are designed to reduce the chances of refraction.

Tennis Serve Notes

see our special page for Tennis Serve Applications

Golf Ball Notes

We have equipment that can time both golf ball speed and calculate distance. To learn about both methods see our special page for Golf Distance Applications.