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 By: Roger White When I played college football, it amazed me at how many of my teammates had no clue how to optimize their sprint times. Their technique is poor, their starts are awful, and they think they are ok! And their high school coaches are "know-it-alls"! While I was a player, several teammates approached me to help them improve their 40-yard dash (one was a legitimate draft pick). The situation was a quick fix for speed. I had no time for a training program so I had to look at their technique. I have found with most football players untrained in sprint technique, they make four common mistakes.
The starting stance and "set" position of the athlete is crucial. Having improper form here will result in a super slow time. To begin, the athlete needs to decide which first goes in front. A simple test is to have the athlete stand upright with both feet together. Moderately push the athlete in the back and watch which foot moves first. The foot that moves first should be their rear "quick" leg. The other leg will be called the "drive" leg, or "power" leg.
For athletes less than 6 feet tall, place their "power" leg just millimeters from the start line. Athletes more than 6 feet tall should play with their stance for the best time. Most athletes at this height place their "power" leg about 4-6 inches behind the starting line. The front foot is placed close to the starting line because this places the body's center of mass (about the belly button) almost over top of the starting line. Since the idea of the sprint is to get the body's center of mass from point A (start line) to point B (finish line), you would want to eliminate as much distance as possible without sacrificing power and speed.
Bend the opposite knee to the ground so the front of the knee is almost touching the starting line. Take the hand that is to the "quick" leg side and place it on the ground (I have seen college athletes do this backward!). Place the opposite hand near the hip so that it is "cocked" and ready to "fire!" The coach should view the athlete from the side and make sure that the athlete's hips are above their shoulder height. The athlete's eyes should be focused on a spot on the ground about 2-3 feet in front of them. If the athlete's hips are not higher than their shoulders, their legs need to be re-adjusted. Most athlete's feet are too far back because its "comfortable." In the "set" stance, the athlete should feel cramped for maximal "recoil." Some athletes cannot achieve this position because they have flexibility issues. If time permits, this should be a focus of the training. If you have little time, do the best that you can with what you have to work with!
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A poor first step is the result of a poor stance. Having your feet too far back will result in a step that may not pass the starting line which results in one extra step to run the sprint, which could add 0.1 seconds to your time! If flexibility (addressed above) is not an issue, practicing the start from the new stance is the next step.
Setting a hoop or line of tape on the floor for an aiming point is very helpful. How far should the athlete step? I was pretty flexible and was able to get a large first step without sacrificing body angle. This is up to the coach to decide. A good starting point is to measure the athlete's femur length and use that as the optimal distance. This keeps equilibrium for the athlete's height (taller athletes have longer legs and vise versa).
Practice several starts and get an idea of where the first foot contact is. A short step means the rear foot is too far back and too long of a step results in an over stride which decreases force potential. The best way to be sure if the stride is too long is by using a video camera. It doesn't have to be a fancy set up. You just need a VCR that plays in slow-mo. Pause the tape when the athlete's foot contacts the ground. You can even use a protractor to measure the leg angle. An optimal leg angle would be about 45 degrees.
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 Click To Enlarge.
This is a great picture for teaching basic start principles. Notice the front leg's angle relative to the ground. That angle is what helps the athlete accelerate. A leg angle that is perpendicular to the ground would result in lost speed. Notice the front arm exploding. The body angle is forward. The back arm should be bent, not straight.
The 40-yard dash is a test of acceleration and top end speed. Research suggests that top end speed can be maintained in elite sprinters for about 2 seconds and occurs around the 50-meter mark. Knowing this fact, timing top end speed is critical. Since most 40-yard dashes by elite football players are less than 5 seconds, the athlete should try to reach top end speed about one second from the finish. This normally occurs around the 30-yard mark.
The final common mistake is that player's take way too many steps. The 40-yard dash should be over in about 18-20 steps for high school players and older (If you have seen programs to reduce 40-yard time by 0.2 seconds, they take 20 strides and try to reduce ground contact time but 0.01 seconds x 20 strides = 0.2 seconds). However, counting an athlete's strides is not an easy task.
Improving the athlete's 40-yard dash time in a matter of minutes is possible. The amount of improvement may only be 0.1 seconds but that could be the difference between being drafted and being on the couch in the fall.
Understanding that each athlete is unique is very important. Also, focusing on the weakest part of the sprint should be the coach's focus. Over teaching may result in a worse time. Roger White BS, CSCS, SSC, is the Head Speed Coach for Sport X Training. For questions, e-mail Roger at Roger@SportXTraining.com. For more tips like this, visit www.SportXTraining.com. Roger White Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here! Visitor Reviews Of This Article!
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