A coach retests a squad of twenty. Afterwards there is a pile of numbers: sprint times, jump heights, RSI, bar speeds. The question everyone actually cares about is simpler. Compared with last time, did this athlete get better, stay the same, or get worse?
That is three answers, not twenty numbers. Improved, held or dropped.
In the SpeedTrackr Android app, each athlete's page in Coach Mode now shows this. For every test, the page says whether the athlete improved, held or dropped since their last session. Here is how to use those three answers well.
Start with a baseline, not a verdict. An athlete's first result in a test has nothing to compare with. It is the baseline. The second session is the first one that can say improved, held or dropped. Do not read anything into week one beyond "this is where we start".
Improved means the athlete beat their last session in that test. Good. Now check that the test was the same: same distance, same start, same surface, same point in the session, same box height for drop jumps, same load for bar speed. If the setup changed, the improvement may be the setup. If it did not, write down what the athlete has been doing and keep doing it.
Held means the result sits close to last time. Coaches often read this as "nothing happened". It is often the best result in a hard training block. If the athlete is in a heavy week, carrying fatigue, or coming back from a knock, holding their sprint or jump means they are coping with the work. Held across three or four sessions in a row, during a block meant to build speed or power, is the time to ask whether the programme needs a change.
Dropped means the result is worse than last session. One drop is a question, not a problem. Ask the boring questions first. Did they sleep? Did they test after a lifting session instead of after the warm-up? Was it windy, wet, or a different surface? Did the finish phone move? A single dropped result with an obvious reason can be noted and left alone. Two or three drops in a row, with the same setup, are worth a conversation with the athlete.
Read the squad, then the athlete. Scan the athlete pages after a testing day. If most of the group improved, the block is working. If most held during a hard week, that is expected. If one athlete dropped while everyone around them improved, that athlete is the one to talk to this week. The three answers let you find that person in a minute instead of after an evening with a spreadsheet.
Keep each test comparable with itself. The trend only means something if the tests match. For drop jumps, the Android app has you pick the box height before you mark the jump, and RSI is compared box by box, so a jump from a 40 cm box is not judged against one from a 30 cm box. For sprints, keep the same distance and the same lines. For bar speed, compare the same lift at the same load.
Use one test per quality. You do not need every test every week. Pick one for speed (a 10 m or 20 m sprint with Timing Gates), one for reactive strength (drop jump RSI), and, if you lift, one bar speed check at a fixed load. Fewer tests, done the same way each time, give cleaner answers.
A few product facts so nothing gets oversold. Timing Gates gives a practice-grade start-to-finish time. The second gate can be an Android phone, an iPhone or a laptop. There are no split times and it is not fully automatic timing (FAT) for meets. Jumps and bar speed come from video you film or import, and the results come after the analysis, not live on camera. Coach Mode works on the web app and on Android, and you add athletes in the Squad tab or by typing a name when you save a result.
The Android app is on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedtrackr.reactionpro
For an iPhone or a laptop, use the web app: https://www.speedtrackr.com/auth/login
There is no native iPhone app. iPhone users use the web app.
After your next retest, do one thing before you look at any single number. Go through the squad and sort each athlete into improved, held or dropped. Then spend your time on the dropped list and on anyone who has held for too long. That is where the coaching is.
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