For a high-school athlete who wants to play in college, few numbers get talked about more than the 40-yard dash. Coaches look at it, camps time it, and athletes obsess over it. The good news is that the 40 is very trainable. Most athletes leave time on the table because of their start and their technique, not because they're slow. Here's how to actually take time off it.
Understand what the 40 really measures
The 40 isn't one skill. It's three parts in a row: the start (getting out of your stance), acceleration (roughly the first 10 to 20 yards), and top speed (the rest). For most high-school athletes, the first 10 yards are where the biggest gains hide. A clean start can be worth more than months of top-end speed work.
Most athletes don't lose their 40 at the finish. They lose it in the first three steps.
1. Fix your stance and start
Practice your three-point stance until it feels automatic. Your weight should be loaded forward onto the down hand and the front leg, with your hips a little higher than your shoulders. When you go, push hard through both legs and drive the opposite arm. Small things like where your hand sits, how far apart your feet are, and not lifting your head too early can all add up to real time. Film yourself. You'll be surprised what you see.
2. Own the first 10 yards
Good acceleration means staying low and driving forward for the first several steps instead of popping straight up. Each step should push the ground behind you. Sled pushes, wall drills, and short 10-yard sprints with full rest are the bread and butter here. Quality beats quantity: a few all-out reps with good form do more than a pile of tired ones.
3. Build strength and power
Speed comes from force into the ground, and force comes from strength. A solid lower-body strength program, with squats, deadlift variations, and single-leg work, plus jumps and bounds for power, is one of the most reliable ways to drop time over an off-season. You don't need to live in the weight room. Two or three focused sessions a week alongside your speed work is plenty.
4. Clean up your top-speed mechanics
Once you're upright, run tall, keep your arms driving front to back instead of across your body, and stay relaxed through your face and shoulders. Tension slows you down. Flying sprints, where you build up for 20 yards and then sprint 10 to 20 more at full speed, are a great way to practice top speed without the fatigue of full 40s every time.
5. Rest like it matters
Speed is trained fresh. If you're sprinting with short rest, you're doing conditioning, not speed work. Take two to three minutes between short sprints, keep the total volume reasonable, and don't stack hard speed days back to back. Sleep and eating enough matter more than most athletes want to admit.
6. Practice the test itself
Time yourself every few weeks under the same conditions so you can see real progress. Practice the full start-to-finish rhythm, run through the line instead of slowing up near it, and get used to performing when it counts. Being calm on test day is a skill too.
Our college recruiting training in Edison is built for exactly this, coached by former college and pro athletes who've been through combines and camps themselves. For younger athletes, start with speed & agility training. A first session is $30.
How much can you improve?
It depends on where you start. Athletes who have never worked on their start or acceleration often see the biggest early jumps, while athletes who already train seriously gain smaller chunks over time. Either way, a focused off-season of coached technique, strength, and proper sprint work is the most reliable path. Every tenth of a second you take off shows up on film and on the field. +2.