Where should I place gates?

This is an interesting question. The Test Designer in SYNCRO assumes a point half way between the gate and reflector as being the point of interest in your drill. You will see the dot in the gate representation.

You will also see that after drawing the path your athlete is required to take, SYNCRO estimates a spline curve through these points.

Interestingly, if we take a simple L drill we often see people putting the gates on the corners of the drill . Clearly this would mean your athletes are running more distance. Even when placing cones on the ground, it is evident that the athlete certainly covers more than the 30m prescribed by the test  due to the fact that an athlete cannot turn at 90 degrees, and nor does the athlete run in straight lines.

We recommend you place cones at the appropriate locations, and position your gates in locations that can measure the athletes movement.

I essence the SYNCRO test designer shows you where you might place the gates assuming the black dot is where you would put a cone.