Practice round logger

What the round logger is for

The practice round logger tracks how long each speech actually took versus how long it was allowed to take, across a complete debate round. At the end of the round it produces a summary table plus a CSV export — concrete feedback for the debater about which speeches consistently run long, which run short, and where the timing discipline needs work.

Most debaters know they sometimes go over, but few have data on which specific speech positions are the problem. The logger turns vague "you ran long today" feedback into specific "you were 47 seconds over on the 2NR and 12 seconds over on the 1AR" feedback.

Supported formats

Eight formats are built in, each with the correct speech order and allowed time for every position:

• Lincoln-Douglas — 7 speeches plus two CX periods (AC, Neg CX, NC, Aff CX, 1AR, NR, 2AR)
• Policy (CX) — all 12 speeches plus 4 CX periods
• Public Forum — 8 main speeches plus 3 crossfire periods (including Grand Crossfire)
• Parliamentary — 6 speeches (PMC, LOC, MG, MO, LOR, PMR)
• World Schools (WSDC) — 6 main speeches plus 2 reply speeches
• British Parliamentary — 8 speeches across 4 teams (OG, OO, CG, CO)
• Asian Parliamentary — 6 main speeches plus 2 reply speeches
• Canadian Parliamentary (CUSID) — full CUSID speech order

How to use it

1. Pick your format from the dropdown.
2. Click Start round. The full speech list appears with each speech showing its allowed time.
3. When a speech starts, click Start on that row. The active header at the top shows the current speech, allowed time, and a live running clock.
4. When the speech ends, click Stop. The actual time is recorded and the row turns green / yellow / red based on how it compares to the allowed time.
5. If a speech was not given (e.g. a side waived), click Skip instead of Start.
6. When every speech is done or skipped, the round summary appears automatically with a full table and stat breakdown.
7. Click Export CSV to download the round data for review or sharing.

How the timing colours work

• Green (on time). Within 10 seconds of allowed. Judge tolerance is comfortably within range.
• Yellow (warning). 10 to 30 seconds over. Most judges allow this as natural grace time, but it adds up across a round.
• Red (over). 30+ seconds over. Past most judges' tolerance and likely to affect speaker points, especially in tight rounds.

The same colour scheme applies to the diff badge per row and to the three stat boxes in the round summary. A round with all green is exceptional timing discipline; a round with several yellows is normal; a round with reds is where coaching attention is needed.

Common use cases

• Practice round timing audit. Coach runs the logger during a practice round and shares the CSV with the debater afterwards. Specific numbers replace vague "you ran long" feedback.
• Self-coaching. Solo debater giving practice speeches at home runs the logger to spot which speeches they consistently undershoot or overshoot.
• Pre-tournament drilling. Run a logger session a few days before tournament to check whether timing has drifted since the last competition.
• Cross-round tracking. Export CSVs from multiple practice rounds and compare across weeks to see whether timing discipline is improving.
• Identifying speech-position weaknesses. Over many rounds, debaters often have one specific speech (commonly the 1AR or 2NR in Policy, or the Final Focus in PF) where they consistently struggle with time. The logger surfaces this pattern.

What the data does not include

The logger tracks time only — not content. There is no flow recording, no argument tracking, no quality assessment. It answers a single question: how long did each speech take? Pair it with a flow sheet or a coach's notes if you need to correlate timing problems with content problems (for example: "the 1AR was 47 seconds over because the debater spent too long on theory and never got to the disad turns").

Other practice tools

For single-speech timed practice, the motion timer combines prep countdown and speech timer in one flow. For structured multi-interval practice sessions, the flow timer handles work-and-break cycles. For random motions to use in your practice rounds, the motion generator pulls from a curated pool of 150+ real tournament motions.

For real competition rounds with full prep-pool tracking and judge sync, the two-device timer supports all major formats including Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, World Schools, and British Parliamentary.

Frequently asked questions