Never Enough Time: Using timing systems to maximise BMX racing performance

It’s sometimes taken for granted how seamlessly live timing is integrated into BMX racing events, providing results down to the millisecond within moments of a race finishing.

But timing mechanisms are useful for more than just knowing who is first across the line.

By focusing effort and maximising performance, timing systems play an important role in training scenarios, while also potentially adding a layer of professionalism and engagement that can help drive participation at clubs.

Why is timing so essential for BMX riders?

Race times provide seedings, gate selections, and even team selection at events, but one area where timing is potentially underutilised is in rider development.

This may be because a club doesn’t implement timing systems outside of race events, or when it is available, riders aren’t sure what to look for, often just watching their gate times and hoping they improve.

However, by focusing training efforts, monitoring times can improve performance, and also help riders and parents answer two of the most common questions when it comes to racing:

1. What is the right gearing?
2. What is the right crank length?

Let’s break each of these down, beginning with focusing training efforts to improve performance.

Start and Hill Times

Start and hill times can help riders monitor their power and reaction time, and develop their external training regime accordingly.

For example, faster and more consistent start and hill times may be the result of putting in time at the gym and getting stronger off the bike.

Gearing, crank length, and bike set-up can also be adjusted to see if this improves a rider’s time.

First Straight Time

First straight times can help riders monitor their acceleration. This area is particularly useful for riders who may have a strong gate but find it hard to keep up with other riders from the bottom of the hill to the first turn.

Again, gearing options can be adjusted to improve the time, while first straight times can also show if external sprint training is working for the rider.

Importantly, analysis of hill and first-straight times in training means riders don’t need to wait until the next race to see if they are improving, and as with all timing, getting the most accurate feedback relies on riders training regularly and repeating efforts consistently.

Coaching

Timing systems provide real-time feedback, adding interest to training sessions and motivating riders to train harder each week. Timing information also provides coaches with hard data about any physical, technical, or psychological differences between training and racing.

Coaches can also use timing to analyse how a rider responds to various tracks and hill sizes, and it can assist in mental preparation, as posting faster times during training will build a rider’s confidence heading into race day.

Finally, riders can train on their own and still push themselves to reach pre-determined goals if timing is available, whereas without timing, coaches and riders often rely on feel or visual inspection to identify weakness, without knowing if a rider is actually improving their time.

Timing systems such as Our Sqorz by Eventsoft can collect the following types of data to assist in rider development:

• Live data for full and partial laps;
• Times from start, or sector times between timing points;
• A count of the number of starts per rider;
• Simultaneous timing records from multiple tracks.

BMX Sport Manager, Pathways Luke Madill said the value of timing systems was difficult to overstate.

“Timing systems allow us to identify areas that need attention, like a start hill or a second straight, so we can develop training programs to address them. At the other end, timing systems allow us to measure results to see if the training program is working. Without it, we’re relying on guesswork,” Madill said.

“Sometimes we also see riders develop bad habits because they are not motivated at training, or they don’t know what to work on. While timing systems won’t fix all the problems riders and coaches face, they can definitely improve what we get out of training, which makes a big difference in a sport where fractions of a second matter.”

Clubs

While timing systems benefit coaches and riders, they are also a valuable asset that can be used by clubs during training sessions, gate nights, and club days to improve rider experience and drive participation levels.

Aside from making training sessions more engaging for riders of all levels, timing systems also allow clubs to identify those riders showing major improvements in their development, other than just recognising and rewarding those who come first across the line.

Timing also provides an incentive for riders to train at different clubs where they can effectively monitor their performances on various hills and tracks, and modern timing systems are developed with user-experience in mind, with rich interactive training data easily available on mobile devices.

Live timing systems can be a key tool in improving athlete performance and rider experience, and in Australia, Sqorz is the only timing system available that allows individual riders to collect their data while training. For more information about the timing options available, please contact Eventsoft: [email protected]

Main image: AusCycling