Speed is a vital factor in becoming successful in any sport. In hockey, the ability to move quickly helps athletes rapidly cover ground in a defensive play to prevent the other team from scoring. It also allows them to accelerate and drive past an opponent to cover bases. If you want to measure and track the speed performance of your athletes accurately, radar guns are your best choice.
How They Work
Hockey radar guns can measure the speed of an object that crosses its field of vision. They send out radio signals that hit the object and then bounce back toward the radar device. From there, the radar gun calculates the object’s speed by measuring the difference between the initial signal and the signal received.
How Radar Guns Are Used in Hockey
Like any other radar devices, hockey radar guns consist of a transmitter and a receiver.
The coach aims the device at a moving puck. The gun will then produce a burst of radio waves at a set frequency and hit the moving target. Upon impact, the signal bounces back to the gun and measures the frequencies of the returning signal. It then measures the speed of the target and calculates the difference between the emitted frequency and the reflected frequency.
Radar guns are especially helpful in slapshot training, where they can be used to test whether a player’s form and technique are effective in increasing slapshot speed. Slapshot is a shooting technique that requires great speed, power, and accuracy. The move is difficult to master but can serve as a player’s winning shot when perfected and used at the right moment.
In hockey, speed is a crucial component in athletic performance. By enhancing their speed and agility, players can perform moves like ducking into spaces between other players and escaping the opposing team’s defense.
Hockey radar guns are beneficial in training as they help athletes become more aware of their speed and identify critical areas that need improvement. For coaches, radar guns provide useful insight into whether their current training strategy is effective for each player or needs a revamp.
There are three types of speed that radar guns can measure:
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Speed of Ball
This refers to the ability of the player to move, pass, and receive the puck quickly and effectively with a stick. At the NHL and the International Hockey Federation, hockey radar guns are used for skills challenge competitions. They are utilized to accurately measure the speed the puck travels in miles per hour (MPH).
The gun is activated at the moment of the shot, and the radar follows the shot to the goal. The device deploys electromagnetic waves that strike the puck as it travels. These waves return to the radar gun. Measuring them produces the MPH reading.
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Speed of Foot/Hand
Radar guns can efficiently measure an athlete’s overall quickness, explosive power, speed over short and long distances, foot agility, and hand speed.
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Speed of Thought
This refers to an individual’s ability to respond to the ball and other players’ movement through anticipation, cue reading, and the use of depth and width. While speed of thought involves mostly mental processes, radar guns can be utilized to measure how quickly an athlete was able to react to a stimulus by recording their peak velocities.
Trusted Hockey Radar Gun Provider
Whether you’re an athlete, a coach, or a sports team administrator, check out our high-quality radar guns at Radar Sports, LLC. We carry a wide range of sports speed guns suitable for hockey, baseball, tennis, softball, and more.
Browse our inventory and contact us for more information.