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Football Combine Drills – Football Training

Written By: Gridiron Elite Training

nike football camps

Football Combine Drills – Football Training

Written By: Gridiron Elite Training

Football is a highly competitive sport that requires a unique set of skills, including speed, agility, strength and conditioning. To excel in football, you need to be able to perform at your best during game time, and one way to achieve this is by participating in a football combine.

A football combine is an event where coaches and scouts evaluate players’ skills and abilities, which can lead to potential opportunities for players to take their game to the next level. However, to prepare for a football combine, players must engage in combine workouts. In this post, we will explore what a football combine is, the benefits of participating in a football combine, and the types of combine workouts you should be doing to dominate the field.

What is a Football Combine?

A football combine is an event where coaches and scouts evaluate a player’s skills, abilities, and performance in different drills and exercises. The primary purpose of a football combine is to help coaches and scouts identify talented players who may be a good fit for their team.

Typically, a football combine includes exercises such as the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, bench press, and other position-specific drills. Players are expected to perform at their best in each of these drills to showcase their potential and abilities.

Benefits of Participating in a Football Combine

Participating in a football combine can provide numerous benefits for players, including:

Exposure to Coaches and Scouts
Participating in a football combine provides an opportunity for players to showcase their skills in front of coaches and scouts from different teams. This exposure can lead to potential opportunities for players to take their game to the next level.

Evaluation of Skills and Abilities
Coaches and scouts evaluate players’ skills and abilities in different drills and exercises, which can help players identify areas they need to improve on to become better players.

Motivation to Improve
Preparing for a football combine requires a significant amount of dedication and hard work. The goal of participating in a football combine can serve as motivation for players to work harder and improve their skills and abilities.

Types of Combine Workouts

Football combine workouts are where football players can showcase their athletic ability and physicality in front of scouts, recruiters, and coaches. Football coaches measure athletes in drills such as the 40-yard dash, 5-10-5 pro agility, three-cone drill, broad jump, vertical jump, and bench press.

Football combine workouts are critical for athletes who need to perform well in front of the coaches to improve their stock. On the other hand, those who don’t train for the combine and underperform can ruin their chances of making it to the next level.

At Gridiron Elite Training, we’re here to help you master the combine and reach your goals of playing at the next level. For the six combine drills for football, we share a little bit about what each entails in this article.

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Football Training: Combine Drills

40 Yard Dash

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The 40-Yard Dash is a sprint covering 40 yards.

The purpose of testing the 40-Yard Dash is to gauge the speed and acceleration of athletes by scouts. Additionally, for high school football recruits.

A player’s recorded time will have a significant impact on a football game. This was historically solely true for the “skill” positions like halfbacks, wide receivers, and defensive backs.

Today, a quick 40-yard dash time is necessary for nearly every position.

How to Perform

The 40-yard dash is the most crucial test at the combine. No matter what position you play, coaches will rate you based on your 40-yard dash time. The 40-yard dash is about speed, an explosive start, and technique.  

5-10-5 Agility Test

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The 5-10-5 agility shuttle test is referred to as the 20-yard short shuttle.

The purpose of testing the Pro Agility Test is to gauge the quickness and change-of-direction ability of players by scouts. Additionally, for high school football recruits. 

How to Perform

The 5-10-5 shuttle run drill is a cone drill that tests the athlete’s lateral quickness and lateral explosiveness in short-tight areas.

You begin the drill in a three-point stance. Once ready, explode into a lateral run to the first cone (you MUST touch the line). Turn and sprint to the cone 10 yards away in the opposite direction to touch the line. Turn and finish through the remaining 5 yards. 

3 Cone Drill

American Football Combine Drills

The purpose of testing the 3-cone drill is to gauge the quickness and change-of-direction ability of players by scouts. Additionally, for high school football recruits. 

How to Perform

The 3-cone drill is another cone drill that tests the athlete’s ability to quickly change directions while keeping their top speed.

The drill is set up with three cones shaped like an L. You start in a three-point stance behind the first cone.

Once you’re ready, explode out to the first cone (5 yards away) touch, and turn back to touch the starting cone. Then turn and sprint around the second cone, weaving around the last cone. Sprint around the second cone and sprint through the starting cone to finish the drill. 

Broad Jump

The Broad Jump raises one’s center of mass higher and farther in an attempt to explode and jump as far as possible from a stand-still position.  The purpose of testing the broad jump is to measure and compare a football player’s speed, strength, and power.

How to Perform

The broad jump is a crucial football combine drill to test your horizontal lower-body explosive power and strength.

You begin in a standstill position on the line. Explode out as far as you can without falling or moving on your landing. 

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Vertical Jump

The vertical jump test raises one’s center of mass to explode and jump as far as possible from a stand-still position. 

It measures how high a football player will elevate off the bottom (jump) from a stand-still position—the purpose of testing the vertical jump is to assess muscular strength and anaerobic power in athletes.

How to Perform

The vertical jump is another important combine drill for football that tests your vertical lower-body explosive power and strength. You begin in a standstill position and explode up as high as possible.

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Bench Press

The bench press is the only football combine drill out of the six that tests your upper body strength and endurance.

Every athlete reps 225 pounds as many times as they can. You may test your max bench or 185 for as many reps as possible for high school football players.

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Football Training Programs

Participating in a football combine can be a great opportunity for players to showcase their skills and abilities to coaches and scouts. To prepare for a football combine, players must engage in combine workouts that focus on building strength, agility, speed, and endurance. By following a consistent training routine and working hard, players can dominate the field and take their game to the next level.

If you need more football training workouts for your speed and agility training, you can read our latest posts on the “Speed and Agility Cone Drills For Football” and “Speed Training Tips For Football Players.”

Suppose you’re a serious football player looking to play at the next level. You can access our sports performance training programs, football drills, workouts, and the Gridiron Recruiting Center inside “The Gridiron Academy” to help you with your football recruiting.

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Gridiron Elite Training was started to help educate and provide football players with a community to receive proper training and guidance.

We created “The Gridiron Elite Academy” which is an online football performance network that provides football players of all levels with sports performance workout programs, football position-specific drills, mindset coaching, mental toughness training, recruiting guidance and help, and nutrition programs.

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