Proper body angle is crucial to sprinting and acceleration. If you cannot achieve a proper body angle at the start of a sprint, you won’t be able to drive your feet into the ground behind you to propel yourself forward. This means it will take you longer that it should to reach your top speed, which could leave you coming up short when you try to make a play.

Falling Starts are a great drill for building and reinforcing proper body angle during the acceleration phase of a sprint. By forcing you to use your feet to essentially “catch” yourself, you’ll get your body used to running with a good, deep body angle.

How to Perform Falling Starts

• Start with your feet roughly hip-width apart and your arms at your sides.
• Without bending at the waist, begin to lean forward.
• When you feel like you’re going to fall flat on your face, start your sprint.
• Sprint a set distance, rest for roughly 30-45 seconds, and perform another Falling Start.

Sets/Reps: 6-10 total reps of between 10 and 25 yards