Pro Agility Shuttle: The Test, the Rules and the Numbers

How it is run

1. 1

   Mark three lines

   Three lines 5 yards apart on a flat surface: a middle start line and one line 5 yards to each side.

2. 2

   Set up over the middle line

   NFL.com's combine descriptions have the player straddle the middle line (Gil Brandt, 2011) and start in a three-point stance (2014).

3. 3

   First leg: 5 yards

   On the start, run 5 yards to one side and touch the line with your hand. NFL.com's 2014 guide and the Houston Texans' 2020 guide both describe the combine version going right first.

4. 4

   Second leg: 10 yards

   Reverse, run 10 yards past the middle to the far line and touch it.

5. 5

   Finish: 5 yards

   Reverse again and sprint 5 yards through the middle line. Brandt wrote in 2011 that players touch the ground at each stop except the last, so no touch is needed at the finish.

6. 6

   Record the best trial

   In a published study of 7,214 high school combine players, the pro agility was timed with laser gates and each player's best score was the one used.

One test, four names

The names cause most of the confusion. NFL.com used 20 yard shuttle in 2008, Gil Brandt used both short shuttle and 20 yard shuttle there in 2011, and a 2014 NFL.com guide says the short shuttle is known as the 5-10-5. The 2023 study behind the NFL table above says 20 yard shuttle; the high school and college studies on this page say pro agility. A 2022 review searched under three of the names (pro agility, 20 yard shuttle and 5-10-5 shuttle) and describes the test as two 180 degree turns over 18.28 meters, which is 20 yards.

The long shuttle totals 60 yards: out and back at 5, 10 and 15 yards. The short shuttle is also different from the 3-cone drill, which sets three cones in an L. See the 3 cone drill guide for that one.

What the NFL numbers show

In NFL Combine data from 2000 to 2018, corners had the fastest average shuttle at 4.15 seconds, then safeties at 4.18 and receivers at 4.20. Offensive linemen averaged 4.71. For its analysis, the study kept players with results for every retained predictor at their position and Winsorized extreme predictor values. It does not say whether Table 4's averages use that analysed sample or everyone who completed each drill.

The shuttle also measures something the 40 does not fully capture. In a study of 1,136 NFL draftees, the shuttle and the 3-cone drill were so closely related that the author called either one likely sufficient, while their links to sprinting and jumping were much weaker. On NFL.com in 2011, Brandt wrote that a running back's burst can be measured through the shuttle run.

What the high school numbers show

High school players at recruiting combines in 2015 and 2016 averaged 4.6 seconds with a standard deviation of 0.3, timed with laser gates. That average pools every position, so a lineman and a corner count the same, and the group is mostly freshmen through juniors. Age matters here: a study of 2,327 high school players found 11th and 12th graders were significantly quicker in the pro agility than 9th and 10th graders.

Before you compare yourself to anyone, check how they were timed. Your plan, and 440's 40 targets for it, are in the position guides.

Reading a change in your time

In a study of 64 Division I players, the shuttle, timed by hand there, needed a 6.6% drop before the authors counted it as a meaningful improvement, a bigger margin than for the 10 yard sprint or the 3-cone drill. On a 4.60 shuttle, 6.6% is about 0.30 seconds. That threshold comes from one group of college players, so use it as a rough guide. Test under the same conditions each time and look at the trend, not one rep.

For training, a 2022 review of 20 studies found that sprint, plyometric and resistance training, and combinations of them, each produced statistically significant improvements in pro agility times. The authors cautioned that the number of studies and their sample sizes were relatively small. The stance, the turns and how 440 doses the shuttle are on the 5-10-5 drill page.

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