Since it is NFL combine season, how bout a few opinions on the 40 yard dash:
How many yards/steps for the drive phase?
At what yard/step should athlete have transitioned into a tall body?
How many steps to 10? 20? 30? 40?
Stride length vs. stride frequency in terms of increasing, maintaining or decreasing for both?
Looking forward to your answers!
All your questions depend on athlete ability. The faster he is the farther he accelerates in a forward position.
A world class sprinter would not be fully up through the entire 40y distance.
Stride length depends on the athletes size and proportion (relative leg length), but the foot should land naturally and the athlete should not reach or attempt to exaggerate his stride length, especially at the start - something that is often taught, unfortunately.
To be more specific, I teach my athletes (college level) A) to try and get to ten yards in six steps (by pushing, not reaching), B) to transition to an upright position at roughly 12 yards gradually, smoothly and naturally, but to reach upright body position typically between 20 and 30 yards, C) stride frequency increases as GCT’s decrease, stride length increases as acceleration increases, D) to accelerate over the entire 40 yards, and E) to try and complete the 40 yards in 18 steps. Is any of this faulty? Thanks for your help!
I would not suggest how many steps it should take because the optimal relationship between stride length and frequency will be disrupted for the majority.
Each athlete will have a different optimal number of strides over each part, based on height weight and strength ratios, and only some will suit these numbers.
If they run automatically, they’ll suit their individual pattern and I think you’ll see better total results.
Just as an example, the athletes who’ve run under 9.80 have used between 41 and 48 strides- a big variable.
A variation like that might indicate a variation of 3 steps or so over 40y.
I’ve been coached by numerous people to emphasize the push, to be powerful rather than “quick”. I feel that although you don’t want to overstride, it is imperative to get full extension and “commit to the push”. Big ROM may feel slower than choppy strides but I feel that even a little airtime is much better than short, rather meaningless strides.
Well, the point of being truly powerful is that the ground cannot resist you making the effort feel easy. So the truly strong starters don’t feel the push as you describe it.
I agree, the stronger you are the easier the movement should be otherwise whats the point in squatting 500lbs.
Obviously the point of lifting weights is to make the sprint actions more powerful and also easier. I think the problem is that with team-sport athletes, you tend to have choppier strides and shortened ROM. As a result I think that the emphasis on pushing through the first ten yards is an effective cue as many football players tend to spin their tires during the acceleration phase of the 40. I’m not talking about consciously overstriding but rather cueing large ranges of motion and full, fluid, piston-like strides.
• 12 athletes x 8 accel x 5.5 days x 39 wks=20,592 accelerations per year!
• If I observe half of those, I am observing 10,000 accelerations per year.
• I have been coaching 24 years
• IMO, not once have I EVER seen an athlete push too hard or push for too long.
–Vince Anderson
http://www.ustfcccaconvention.com/assets/sprint-start-vince-anderson.pdf
I like Vince Anderson stuff but most of the times when you cue athletes esp team sport athletes to push they end up running tight etc…
Perhaps using sled sprints as a drill can imprint the proper position and extension of optimal acceleration for team sport athletes?
Then Vince Anderson needs glasses or all the overpushing happened in the other half of the accels!
I’ve been coaching for 33 years and have seen it every year since I started.
One of the bullet points there says that the fastest sprint coincided with the fewest steps and the slowest with the most (for the same individual). This is almost always true, if you count enough steps, because the secret is the gradual increase in the stride length throughout. Too long in the first few steps leads to shortening in later steps due to stalling out early.
“Some athletes need to push every step of the 100m”?? Oh please!!
Yes, that’s a good way to impart good form as long as you emphasize relaxation throughout. This can prevent BOTH overstriding and chopping.
I like to go the other way around. Think of it as the opposite of sex. Quick, not hard!
Rather than the harder you push the faster you go, it’s the quicker you strike the ground, the more force you apply. NB, we’re talking ground contact here, not air time!
Opposite of sex. Quick, not hard! LOL. I like to perform the power clean motion instead. Very violent action…
Interesting. I prefer women myself though.
We had a 400+lb lineman show up for camp one year. He was the only one I saw that “pushed” the entire 40 yard dash. Fascinating stuff!
Not trying to put words in Vince’s mouth, but I doubt that he really means concentrating on pushing during top speed and speed maintenance portions–of a 100m. But 40 yards is different, and in my mind, if you’re going to accelerate longer, then you need to push longer. I doubt that a lineman has the speed to accelerate for the whole 40 yards, but it does not mean becoming vertical at 20 yards if you’re trying to run 40 yards FAST, for which a good sprinter is going to stay down and accelerate the entire distance.
The idea of having team sports athletes practice accelerating with sleds seems like a good one.
We went through this in a great deal of detail in the original forum. There is a big difference between what is athlete input and perception and what is actually happening.
Sprinting is a hind-brain activity and all actions while in contact with the ground MUST be automatic.
A misperception here and a conscious effort to push will cause a shift to the fore-brain, slowing the action down with very negative consequences and Vince’s comments can be construed as encouraging this.
I have had considerable experience working with NFL players on speed issues, including testing them over 40y after technical corrections, and have seen big improvements based on my input, so I don’t accept that there is any difference between what works on the gridiron and on the track.
What are the technical cues that you have used that allow the athlete to execute without shifting to fore-brain activity?
When I think of pushing it isn’t from the mindset of grinding or trying to muscle the action, rather I am referring to ensuring complete yet quick piston like strides. Another emphasis is violent arm swings focusing on the backward motion rather than forwards. Nothing is to be forced or fabricated (something like 5 steps to 10 yards which is absurd) but I do think that each athlete should achieve maximal extension coming out of the start to run their best 40.
From personal experience the starts that feel the fastest tend to be slower and have too many steps. On the other hand the fastest runs are characterized by complete and productive ground contacts that may feel slower but yield faster times.