Get faster 40 yard dash times and improve your sprinting performance. A fast 40 yard dash time is one of the benchmarks in football. It can give a player an edge in tryouts and evaluations, and it can also be a factor in determining how much playing time they get and what their role on the team will be. It’s especially important for positions that require a lot of speed and quickness, like wide receivers, running backs, and defensive backs. But even players who need to tackle or cover kickoffs and punts can benefit from having a fast 40 yard dash time. But it’s not just about doing 3 point starts. It’s about doing them correctly.

In this post I break down the 3-point start technique step by step and points out common mistakes that may be slowing you down. By following this guidance from coach Ken Harnden, you’ll be well on your way to shaving seconds off your 40 yard dash times and becoming a faster, more efficient sprinter. Coach Ken Harnden has coached some of the fastest NFL players, including Mecole Hardman (4.33) and Jalen Ramsey (4.41s).

3-point starts are a valuable tool for 100/200m sprinters as well. They are a crucial component of the sprint training program at Auburn because they require less effort than block starts, allowing you to get more reps and still achieve many of the same benefits.

3-point starts are a staple in our acceleration progression. It’s the opportunity to do more acceleration than you would out of the blocks, because the hand that’s back aids in the movement, and it doesn’t fatigue the athlete as much. Our focus is keeping the straight line through the head and the torso. We’re going to move the hand in slightly, and then we’re going to take the back hand at 90º. So when you push, you’re pushing off that front foot. You’re getting 90% of your push there, and you’re pulling on this back foot.

3-point start focus points:

• Head & chin in neutral position
• Straight line through head and torso
• Distance from line allows 45º shin angle
• Elbow at 90º – Arm movement assists start
• 90% of push is off front foot

3 Point Start Setup

We’re going to talk briefly about setting up for a 3-point start, a 2-point start or your block start. When we do this, the main focus is to create the correct shin angle on the front foot. We understand that a lot of athletes, especially football players, like to crowd the line and put their hand right next to their foot. This shin angle is where you’re about to go. This is where all your power is going. It’s going to go straight down your shin. So, if you’re setting up like this, that means you’re pushing to the sky. It’s not going to allow you to drive to your ultimate destination, which is the end of the track. This doesn´t just go for a 40 yards, it also goes for 100 meters. We don’t see Usain Bolt crowding the line that way to run the world record in the 100 meters. Why would we do that with a football player? So, what we’re trying to do is move the front foot back, put 25 to 30% of our weight on our hand, create a shin angle that’s close to 45°, take the other hand back, and drive hard off the front foot and create a motion down the track that we can extend from that pushes us to our ultimate destination.

Don´t crowd the line

3-point start setup:

1. Move front foot back
2. 25-30% weight on hand
3. Create ~45º shin angle
4. Drive hard with front foot and arm

Front Foot – Selection & Power

In general, we want our most powerful leg up front because we’re going to create most of our power off the front leg. So if an athlete kicks a soccer ball with one leg, the plant leg is the one we want to be putting in the front because that’s the most powerful leg and that’s their balance leg.

Most powerful leg = Plant leg (front leg)

There are certain athletes that will adjust that and change just because that’s the way they’re built, but for the most part, that’s the way we work on that.

We create about 90% of our power off the front foot. That front foot is super important in those turns because it takes the pressure off the back foot. It allows the back foot to pull and move quickly as opposed to pushing and moving back before it moves forward. And it allows that step to then be nice and quick.

The Set Position – Technique & Angles

You don’t want the chin up. You don’t want the chin down on the chest. You want it in a straight line. You want the spine straight because once you get into that power position, when you get that chain of power, it allows you to make sure that line is exactly straight. Olympian sprinter Warren Frasen does a great job of this. He allows the head to be sitting on top of the shoulders and not pull up or pull down. That’s one of the first things we’re looking at.

The second thing we’re looking at is in the set position. We’re looking for that front shin angle and where we’re going to end up being. For Warren Fraser, it should be about 45 to 48º. And then the next thing is in the set position, you want that front leg to be at a 90º angle and the back leg to be at 120º. The front leg being at 90º brings us all the way back to the weight room and everything we do there. The heaviest you’ll ever squat is squatting down to a 90º angle. It’s where you get your most power.

• If you go below 90º, you lose power and you lose a lift.
• If you don’t come to 90º, generally you don’t have enough room to create power moving up.

Bibliographic references:

• Outperform. (2021). Take Your 40 Yard Dash and 3 Point Starts to the Next Level [Video file]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/SE0SEbGSA-M?si=KQy4-1c6T8oNq8Dr