The most accurate:

Because the Dashr electronic timing system uses lasers, this system has the potential to be the most accurate. That depends though on what is being measured and how.

If a baseball coach lines the lasers up right before 2nd base so that the plane of the laser is only broken by a hand or foot just as it reaches the base, then it is incredibly accurate. If, however, a coach is measuring time in a fly 40m sprint and one athlete leans and breaks the plane of the laser with their torso while the other runner swings their arm out to break the plain, then it is not that accurate.

Thats the big difference between FAT systems and these training systems is that FAT captures an image that a timer can look at to evaluate when the torso breaks the plain and not another body part. These systems are meant to provide accurate timing for training and tracking improvements in performance but not to replace FAT systems like Finish Lynx, Flash Timing or Eagle Eye.

Times... one at a time:

Although the Dashr system is less expensive for timing one athlete, its limitation is that is can only time one athlete.... at a time. Breaking the plane of the first laser starts the timer and breaking the plane of the second laser stops the time. The next athlete can go immediately after the first finishes so in that way it can be very fast to time a whole group of sprinter but they can't be timed together. Which means getting multiple times at the same time, like when a coach has 8 athletes running 400s, is not possible. But the low cost and high quality of their next generation lasers makes Dashr the right choice for things like fly 30s, 40 yard Combine-style, LJ/TJ/PV approach work, and much much more!

Dashr is ideal for timing athletic movements in segments. The Elite package of 4 lasers allows coaches and athletes to see each part of their performance. For example, one laser could be at the starting line, one could be 2 meters before the first hurdle, another could be 2 meters after the hurdle and the final laser could be after the 3rd hurdle. As these times are compared each week, athletes and coaches can see the area of weakness that needs to be focused on in training.

The easiest to use:

With nothing to align and no device to synch with, Free Lap is definitely the easiest system to set up. The Free Lap system has the bluetooth capability in each chip (Fx BLE). A chip is worn by each athlete (usually clipped to his or her waist band). When the athlete gets within a few feet of the yellow cone, the time is stopped.

There is a second Free Lap option that involves a non-bluetooth chip and a receiving device ("relay" unit) that keeps track of the results. Because this system uses "dummy" chips (FxChip), it becomes less expensive when timing more than about 10 athletes. So if a team has more than 10 athletes and doesn't want to hand chips from athlete to athlete and keep track of who is wearing which chip, getting 20 or 30 FxChips would be the way to go.

Less than 10 athletes recommendation.

More than 10 athletes recommendation.

Times multiple runners at a time:

Probably the greatest advantage for FreeLap is the ability to time 2,3,4, ... even 20 athletes at a time. But remember, the athletes have to come within a few feet of the yellow cone so a coach could not have athletes in lanes 1 through 8 and get times for all of them. Only a FAT system could do that. For FreeLap, timing multiple athletes would work out incredibly well timing 400s, 500s, 600s, etc., where the athletes all cut-in and finished in the same lane. The coach could also put the Tx Junior Pro Transmitter 'cone' on the lane line between lanes 1 & 2 allowing athletes to finish in either lane because both sides would pass within a few feet of the cone.

Simulated starts:

A newer feature is a FreeLap Transmitter 'cone' that emits a sound telling runners when to start. So not only can coaches time athletes speed but also their reaction to that stimulus.

Speaking of REACT, Dashr also has a whole system to time reaction, but theirs is to lights; which would be ideal for so many sports like football, baseball, soccer and basketball.

Timing reaction to a sound and timing reaction to lights are different from using the TX Touch Pad from FreeLap. The touch pad starts the timer when the athlete's hand loses contact with the pad. This means that the coach is getting the speed of the athlete but no feedback on reaction time.

Think 3 or 4 Point stance. When coaches want to time acceleration/speed, but not necessarily reaction time, this device is perfect!