05:24:07
Is the 40 BS?
As much as the 40 is something we want to help you run faster, we also know that there are those that think the emphasis on the 40-yard dash as the premium measure of a great player is a bunch of hooey. Dr. Michael Yessis is one of them. He is a highly respected expert on sports performance and we’re happy to provide an excerpt from his book, “Sports: Is it all BS?”
He also has a lot of good information on speed development, so when you’re done reading this excerpt, go to his site and see how you can get faster!
Sports: Is it all BS?: You must have excellent 40 times to make the team.
A good 40-yard dash time has long been considered the golden standard for making a football team. If you are timed in 4.2 or 4.3 seconds, you are almost guaranteed to be selected by a team. The thinking among football coaches is that you can’t take a good football player and make him fast, but you can take a fast athlete and make him a good football player. Thus, when they find someone with speed, they grab him at any cost. But this is bull.
What they fail to take into consideration is that most of the best players, especially running backs, defensive backs, and receivers, need more agility and quickness rather than pure raw speed. This is why players such as Emmitt Smith, who ran a 4.7 when tested, instead of going high as anticipated, was picked 17th. Yet, he was far superior to players picked before him for this position who had faster 40 times.
Typically ignored is that players rarely run in a straight line during a game. Thus, you can find many players who have a fast 40 time, but yet are slow when it comes to playing their position. There are many players who have slow 40 times, but yet are some of the quickest and fastest for 5-10 yards in comparison to most of the “fast” players because of their stopping and cutting abilities. This enables them to be more successful in picking up short yardage and still have successful long runs when they break free.
Although coaches swear that their hand times are accurate, if you compare the times of an athlete who runs a 4.2 or a 4.3 to a world class runner, he would be faster than the fastest runners in the world. It has been proven that hand times are a far cry from being accurate and if the coaches wanted accuracy, they would use electronic timing. Doing this however, would take away some mystique from their timing abilities, and wouldn’t allow them a cushion for fudging in order to make an athlete look better. Because of this, we will continue to see analysts timing players in under 4.3, a time faster than that posted by Ben Johnson in Seoul when he covered the first 40 in 4.39.
Even though football executives are burned by their selections when they look only at speed and/or general physical performance stats, the practice continues today even stronger than ever. This is why if a player wants to ensure he will be selected, he must work extremely hard to get his 40 times respectable. There is just too much B.S. that has been built up over the years to enable young and upcoming athletes to break through the mold without the prerequisite speed.
Because of the bull surrounding the 40-yard dash coaches have a tendency to ignore a player’s playing abilities. Instead, they rely more on the numbers posted on the tests. For example, height and weight stats have become more important than playing performance. This is why draft selections are often major disappointments. For example, most receivers today are well over six feet tall and often well over 200 pounds in weight. Even when they see a “short” 5’11” or 6’ receiver catch every pass against top defenders they will not select him because he does not fit the established model.
Dr. Michael Yessis is President of Sports Training, Inc. a multi-faceted company specializing in biomechanical/kinesiological analyses, and specialized training and specialized equipment for explosive speed and quickness. Dr. Yessis is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Fullerton. He is a clinical advisor and a member of the editorial board for the American Running Association.
Dr. Yessis received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He was the first to show the relationships between muscular strength and endurance in his research. He taught on the university level for over 35 years in the areas of biomechanics (technique analysis), kinesiology (muscle and joint movements) and exercise science. In addition he was Editor-in-Chief of the Fitness and Sports Review International.
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MOLLIERE DAFFUE
Molliere,
Do you still happen to have the stopwatch device that came with your system? My son lost his when we moved to California. I would purchase yours if you happen to still have it. Thanks - philip