Help Starting 40 YD?

Question

I need some help on my 40 starting, well heres the way I'm currently doing it:

Front foot few inches before line, back foot(right) starts at the heel of my front and my right hand is on the line while my left is ****** straight in the air behind me.

Now I'm looking for tips. I've heard some people say start front foot on line and don't c**k my arm straight up along with havign my feet further apart.

As for the running open hands and perfectly straight? At the moment I start the first 15 yards bent over to gain momentum and acceleration then burst forward and run straight up. I'm running a 4.6-4.8 at the moment by the way.

Answer 1

keep arm 90 degrees

Answer 2

Let's go through this.

Your front foot should be one foot length (not ruler foot, but your own).   Your back foot should be 2 feet lengths (your own again) behind the line.  You may go up to 2.5 foot lengths, but you want to be careful about going too far back otherwise you are just going to be pulling your leg forward versus propelling your body forward.  Your feet should be hip width apart (picture track blocks).  You go too wide and the power that you are putting into the ground will not be efficiently transferred back to push your body forward.

Left arm (since i inferred that your right foot is your back foot) should be relatively straight behind you at an angle slightly more than your back.  When you explode out, it should naturally bend and come across (almost like you are looking at what time it is).  This is natural and most people do this.

Your weight should be evenly distributed between the hand on ground and your legs.

Now you are ready for the first step.  This is one of the hardest things to train!  Both legs push to become straight.  Back leg comes up in front so that the lower right leg and your left leg are parallel to one another.  There is a straight line between your left heel through the top of your head.  You are exploding at a 45 degree angle.  Most people "pop up" from the blocks but this is inefficient.  You will not reach a standing position until 10-15 yards from the blocks.  Again this is very difficult!

When you are running, hands are loose. You don't want them clenched or straight because this can start tightening up other muscles.

Good Luck!