High School Football Combine: The Tests and How to Prepare

What gets tested

Besides height and weight, the combines in that study recorded eight tests. Speed: 10, 20 and 40 yard times. A companion report from the same research group, on combines over the same dates, describes the 10 and 20 as split times during the 40 yard dash, so one run gives you a 10 yard split too. Agility: the pro agility shuttle and the L-cone drill. The study says the dashes measure linear speed, while the pro agility and L-cone measure bi- and multi-directional agility.

Power: the vertical jump, measured as the difference between your standing reach and your jump height; the broad jump, measured from the start line to the heel that lands closest to it; and the power push-up, a single explosive push-up on a force plate that measures upper body power. The NFL's 3 cone drill also runs through three cones in an L. The study does not describe its L-cone layout, though another 2020 report from the same group, on combines over the same dates, lists a 3-cone test instead.

How the times are taken

Every timed test in the study was measured with laser timing gates, not by a person with a stopwatch. That matters when you compare. A stopwatch time from your own practice and a laser time from a combine are not the same measurement, and hand timed vs laser 40 explains how far apart they can be.

The researchers kept each player's best score on each test, so in that data a slower attempt did not count against a player who had a better one.

Getting ready for a combine

The NSCA's 2009 position statement on youth strength training reports that improvements in long jump, vertical jump and sprint speed have been observed in children and adolescents after resistance training. The same statement calls for qualified instruction and supervision and for beginning with relatively light loads and correct technique, then progressing gradually. A second study by the same research group compared 3,666 high school combine players with 5,537 NFL combine players: the NFL group scored 3% to 25% better on every measure, and the biggest gaps were body weight and the vertical jump. The authors suggested that strength coaches may benefit from emphasizing muscle mass and power. These are findings about groups, not a promised result for you.

440's plans already include several of the tests: 10 yard stance starts, the pro agility shuttle as the change of direction drill in five of its eleven plans, and broad jumps in the plyometric work. Its offseason runs three build weeks and then a lighter week with about 40% less volume, and its optional timed 40s sit in the third week. 440's sprint warm-up ends with two build-up runs of 30 yards at 70 to 80% effort before the first fast rep. Find your plan in the position guides.

How to read your results

Compare each number with the right group. The published high school averages pool every position and come mostly from freshmen through juniors, with only 60 seniors; juniors alone are about half the group (3,621 of 7,214). Age changes the picture: a separate study of 2,327 high school players found older, more mature players were faster, quicker and more powerful than younger ones. So a freshman or sophomore is being measured against many older players.

Put your 40, 10 yard split, pro agility and vertical jump into the free 40 yard dash calculator. It estimates a percentile against the high school group and, for every test but the split, NFL Combine players at your position. The percentiles are estimates from a normal curve built on each published average and standard deviation, not a ranked list. Retest under the same conditions in a few months and compare like with like.

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