Tap-Start Sprints in Threes

In groups of three, two runners wait with their eyes closed or covered and only start when the third student taps their back, sometimes together and sometimes not. Students work on reacting to touch, acceleration and trust in a partner.

How to play

1. Use cones to mark 15-yard lanes, one per group, 3 yards apart. Each group has two runners and one starter (2 min).
2. Runners take a ready position on the start line with eyes closed or a handkerchief tied as a blindfold. The starter stands behind both.
3. The starter taps both backs together, one before the other, or after a long pause. Each runner goes as soon as they feel the tap and sprints to the end cone, opening their eyes as they start.
4. The first to arrive scores a point. Walk back outside the lane and rotate roles every three starts (8 min).
5. Change the starting position: standing, kneeling, sitting facing away from the finish, or lying face down (3 min).
6. Wrap-up: how it feels to start without seeing and what helps you react faster (2 min).

Rules

• Open your eyes or pull off the blindfold as you start; nobody ever runs blind.
• Starters tap gently with an open palm, never push.
• Lanes are 3 yards apart and nobody switches lanes.
• Leaving before the tap cancels the start and it is repeated.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: starts from a stop in a wheelchair on a shorter lane.
• Autism or touch sensitivity: the starter taps a cone on the floor next to the student's foot instead of their back.
• Lower fitness: races someone of similar speed and rests one start out of three.

Learning goals

• React quickly to a touch cue.
• Improve acceleration over the first few yards.
• Trust a partner and keep them safe as the starter.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 16
• handkerchiefs: 16

Teacher tip

Ask first whether anyone prefers not to wear a blindfold; they can simply close their eyes. Remind starters to vary the timing of the taps so nobody can guess.

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