How to Run a Faster 40-yard dash

Perfecting your starting position

Getting stuck on your 40-yard dash time can be frustrating, especially when you're doing everything you can think of to get faster. You're running harder and longer, but it seems like you've hit a wall. Running a faster 40-yard dash is often a key to unlocking your athletic future. For this very reason, it can be very daunting when it seems like the clock is ticking faster than it normally does. However, you can improve your 40-yard dash time without setting one toe in the gym. You won't need to log more miles during your work outs either. The key to running your fastest 40-yard dash lays before you even take your first step. The starting position for the 40-yard dash is tremendously important to the final time, yet it is often overlooked in the name of strength training and speed drills. While those things are important, proper starting form will cause you to shoot off the line and help you rack up those precious hundredths or even tenths of a second. Here are a few tips to perfecting your starting position that save you time in the end.

Before you start working on the details of your form for your starting position, be sure you're starting out on the right foot, or what's known as your strong foot. If you're not sure which leg is your strong leg, stand with both feet together and have a friend push you forward slightly, but hard enough that you have to step out of your stance to recover. The leg you step onto first is your strong leg and should be in front in your starting position. The strong leg is in front because it can provide the greatest force against the ground and thus the best speed in your initial burst off the line. This is crucial, as your speed in the first ten yards can greatly affect your overall time for the 40-yard dash.

To start building your stance, place your strong foot slightly behind the starting line. The strong leg should be bent at about a ninety degree angle. The other leg, or the quick leg, is bent and the knee should practically touch the ground. Your quick foot should be placed about one and a half feet behind your strong foot.

Next, your hips should be slightly higher than your shoulders. The positioning of the hips is tricky: if they are positioned too high above your shoulders, this can cause you to slightly lose balance after exploding off the line. This lack of balance can cost you your fastest 40-yard dash time. If your hips are positioned too low, this can affect your initial speed off the line as well, as too much body weight distributed to the back of your stance will make it more difficult to send your body into motion. Perfectly positioned hips will lend you the greatest balance and power when you first explode off the line.

Your hands should be shoulder width apart. Your quick side hand should touch the ground in front of you but only with your fingertips, this should prevent you from unconsciously shifting too much of your body weight onto your hand. The strong side arm is by your side at a ninety degree angle. Your head and neck should be aligned with your spine. Also, focus will prevent you from being too relaxed as well as too tense in your stance. Being too relaxed could affect your response time. If you're too tense, your muscles will have to work extra hard to set you into motion. A balance between the two states will help you achieve your fastest 40-yard dash.

If you've paused your reading to create this stance with your own body, it might feel a bit unnatural. Feeling uncomfortable and cramped is normal when you first begin implementing this form. In fact, if it does not feel cramped, carefully analyze your form to ensure you are correctly positioned. The idea is for your body to create a sense of being compressed so it can explode off the line to run a faster 40-yard dash. The more you practice it, the more natural it will feel. In the meantime, when you are first starting out, try not to adjust the dimensions of the stance so that it feels more natural or comfortable, no matter how miniscule the variation may seem. In doing so, you may compromise form and thus your potential for improving your time for the 40-yard dash.

Practice this stance during your workouts so that it begins to feel more natural. If you aren't distracted by the discomfort and awkwardness of your stance, you're able to be more clear-headed and focused on the task ahead, which is, of course, running the 40-yard dash in your fastest time ever. To feel confident that you are using the best form, have a friend or coach watch you practice it. This can help create consistency even as you become more comfortable with your stance. You can also video tape your stance and evaluate yourself. Consistency and technique is crucial when your training goal is to shave time off your 40-yard dash.

Once you've incorporated great form and technique for your starting position, you are bound to have a breakthrough on your overall time and run a faster 40-yard dash. The greatest part about this approach to a faster 40-yard dash is that you can see a change in your time very soon, if done right. It cannot replace conditioning and strength training. However, when it seems as if doing more of the same thing is not getting you the results you want, making a few slight adjustments to your existing technique can make a tremendous difference in your performance. Combining power and form is sure to set you on the path to running your fastest 40-yard dash.


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