What is Combine testing?

What is Combine testing?

Combine testing is the umbrella term for a standardized battery of physical assessments that measures an athlete's raw speed, jumping power, agility, and strength-endurance under conditions that are identical for every athlete on the day. The word "combine" comes from American football, where three regional scouting bureaus merged their separate camps into one event in the 1980s, but the practice now describes any structured test day built around the same handful of events: a linear sprint, a vertical jump, a broad jump, a change-of-direction shuttle, and a repetition-max strength lift.

The NFL Scouting Combine, held every February in Indianapolis, and the NBA Draft Combine are the most visible versions, where roughly 300 college prospects per sport perform in front of every team's scouts, coaches, and medical staff. The same idea runs through college pro days, private youth sport combines, military and tactical fitness testing, and the preseason and midseason testing days that college and professional strength staffs run on their own rosters.

What makes it combine testing rather than just "working out" is the standardization: identical surface, warm-up, rest between attempts, and scoring protocol, so a 4.5-second 40-yard dash means the same thing regardless of who administers it or which city it happens in. That consistency is what lets a coach compare an 18-year-old recruit against a normative database, and lets a scout compare two prospects who never trained on the same field.

How it works

Combine testing works by isolating one physical quality per test and controlling every variable except the athlete's performance. The 40-yard dash starts from a static three-point stance and is usually split at 10 yards, separating acceleration — the first phase, driven by ground contact force and stride frequency — from top-end velocity. The vertical jump and broad jump both measure the stretch-shortening cycle: you dip into a quarter squat, then extend the ankles, knees, and hips explosively, a pattern called triple extension, converting stored elastic energy and muscle force into height or distance.

The pro agility (5-10-5) shuttle and 3-cone drill add a mechanical wrinkle: the athlete has to decelerate a moving body, plant against the ground to reverse momentum, and reaccelerate in a new direction, which tests eccentric strength and coordination that a straight sprint never touches. The repetition bench press, 225 pounds at the NFL combine and 185 pounds at the NBA combine, tests strength-endurance rather than maximal strength, since the fixed, submaximal load rewards an athlete who can maintain bar speed and technique across many reps rather than one who is simply strong for a single rep.

Administrators run every test in the same order, with matched rest between attempts, because fatigue carried over from an earlier event will suppress scores on a later one. That ordering discipline, as much as the tests themselves, is what makes the results usable for side-by-side comparison across hundreds of athletes, and it is why a coach running a mini combine on their own team should copy the order and rest periods, not just the events.

How to apply it

• 40-yard dash (linear sprint): Measures acceleration from a three-point stance and top-end speed over 40 yards, usually split at 10 yards to separate acceleration from max velocity. NFL wide receivers and cornerbacks average roughly 4.4 to 4.6 seconds; offensive and defensive linemen average 5.0 to 5.3 seconds.
• Vertical jump: A Vertec device or jump mat measures how far you displace vanes, or how long you stay airborne, above your standing reach, isolating triple-extension power through the ankles, knees, and hips. NFL wide receivers average about 35 to 36 inches; offensive linemen average closer to 28 to 30 inches.
• Broad jump (standing long jump): You jump forward off two feet from a stand, and distance is measured from the takeoff line to the nearest point of contact on landing, testing horizontal explosive power. Running backs average around 10 feet; offensive linemen average roughly 8 feet 6 inches to 9 feet.
• Pro agility shuttle (5-10-5): From a three-point stance at the middle line, you sprint 5 yards to one side, touch the line, reverse 10 yards to touch the far line, then sprint 5 yards back through the start, testing deceleration and change of direction. Defensive backs average 4.1 to 4.2 seconds; linemen average 4.6 to 4.8 seconds.
• 3-cone drill (L-drill): Three cones set 5 yards apart in an L shape force you to sprint, plant, and cut through three directions in a tight space, testing multidirectional agility and body control. Skill-position players average roughly 6.7 to 7.0 seconds; linemen average 7.6 to 8.0 seconds.
• Repetition bench press: You press a fixed bar weight, 225 pounds at the NFL combine or 185 pounds at the NBA combine, for as many reps as possible without pausing at lockout, testing upper-body strength-endurance. NFL offensive linemen average around 24 to 28 reps; most skill positions average well under 15.

Worked example

Say a college wide receiver runs the standard six-event battery at his pro day. Below is one realistic set of results next to the position average, and what a strength coach reads into each number.

The sprint and jump numbers are solid, but both change-of-direction tests lag the position average. That tells the coach exactly where the next training block should focus — deceleration mechanics and multidirectional power — rather than piling on more straight-line speed work.

Combine testing vs. sport-specific testing

Use combine testing to benchmark against peers at a single point in time. Use ongoing sport-specific testing, such as a countermovement jump on a force plate, to see whether your own training is actually working week to week.

By goal

• High school and college athletes preparing for recruiting or a pro day: Build an 8 to 12 week block that trains the exact qualities being tested: sprint mechanics and acceleration for the 40, triple-extension jump training for the vertical and broad jump, and deceleration drills for the shuttle and 3-cone, rather than generic conditioning.
• Team strength and conditioning coaches: Run a shortened combine battery at preseason and midseason to benchmark athletes against normative data by position and to flag injury-risk asymmetries, such as a left-right jump difference greater than 10 percent.
• General athletes with no draft on the line: A mini combine, 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, and pro agility, is a fast, cheap way to quantify speed, power, and agility and retest every 8 to 12 weeks to confirm your training is producing real gains, not just soreness.

Common misconceptions

• "Combine numbers reliably predict pro success." Research shows only weak predictive validity overall. Teramoto et al. (2016) found the 10-yard split predicts a running back's yards per attempt and vertical jump predicts a receiver's yards per reception, but a 2023 review found no consistent relationship between most combine scores and career outcomes.
• "The 40-yard dash measures real game speed." It measures straight-line acceleration from a static start with no cuts, reads, or contact. Real game speed also depends on change of direction, reaction time, and contact balance, which is exactly why the pro agility shuttle and 3-cone drill exist as separate tests.
• "Combine testing is only for the NFL and NBA drafts." The same standardized-battery concept scales down to college pro days, private youth sport combines, military and tactical fitness testing, and everyday team strength programs that use a shortened battery to benchmark athletes and track training progress.
• "You should test every physical quality every time." Testing everything constantly wastes recovery and adds learning-effect noise to the results. Select only the tests that match your sport's demands and retest on a fixed schedule, such as preseason and midseason, so changes reflect training, not test familiarity.

Related terms

Combine testing FAQ

What is combine testing in sports?

Combine testing is a standardized battery of physical assessments, typically a sprint, vertical jump, broad jump, agility shuttle, and a rep-max strength lift, used to measure and compare an athlete's speed, power, agility, and strength under identical conditions, most publicly at the NFL Scouting Combine and NBA Draft Combine.

What tests are included in a typical combine?

A typical combine battery includes the 40-yard dash for speed, the vertical jump and broad jump for lower-body power, the pro agility (5-10-5) shuttle and 3-cone drill for change of direction, and a repetition-max bench press, 225 pounds in the NFL or 185 pounds in the NBA, for strength-endurance.

What is a good 40-yard dash time?

At the NFL combine, wide receivers and cornerbacks average roughly 4.4 to 4.6 seconds, running backs run about 4.5 seconds, and offensive and defensive linemen average 5.0 to 5.3 seconds. Times under 4.3 seconds are considered elite and are run by only a handful of skill-position players each year.

Does the NFL combine actually predict pro success?

Only weakly. Studies such as Teramoto et al. (2016) found combine scores are modest predictors overall, though the 10-yard split predicts a running back's yards per attempt and vertical jump predicts a receiver's yards per reception better than most other measures do.

What is the pro agility (5-10-5) test?

The pro agility shuttle has you sprint 5 yards from a middle line, touch it, reverse 10 yards to touch the far line, then sprint 5 yards back through the start, testing deceleration and lateral quickness rather than straight-line speed. NFL skill positions average around 4.1 to 4.2 seconds.

How is the vertical jump measured at a combine?

A Vertec device or jump mat records how high you displace vanes, or how long you stay airborne, above your standing reach from a static countermovement jump. The difference between your jump-reach height and standing reach is your vertical jump, reflecting triple-extension power.

What tests make up the NBA Draft Combine?

The NBA Draft Combine measures a standing vertical jump, a maximum running-start vertical jump, a three-quarter-court sprint, lane agility, and a 185-pound bench press for reps, alongside body measurements like wingspan, standing reach, and body fat percentage taken by team medical and performance staff over two days in Chicago.

How should you train to improve your combine numbers?

Build a training block 8 to 12 weeks out that targets each tested quality directly: sprint mechanics and acceleration work for the 40, triple-extension jump training for the vertical and broad jump, and deceleration and change-of-direction drills for the shuttle and 3-cone.

Is combine testing only used for the NFL and NBA drafts?

No. The same standardized-battery concept scales down to college pro days, private youth sport combines, military and tactical fitness testing, and everyday team strength and conditioning programs, which use a shortened battery of the same core events to benchmark athletes and track training progress season over season.

What is a good broad jump distance?

At the NFL combine, running backs and defensive backs average around 10 feet, while offensive linemen average roughly 8 feet 6 inches to 9 feet. A broad jump beyond 11 feet is considered elite and is achieved by only a small number of specialists each year.

References

1. NFL Scouting Combine. Wikipedia
2. NBA draft combine. Wikipedia
3. Teramoto M, Cross CL, Willick SE. Predictive Value of National Football League Scouting Combine on Future Performance of Running Backs and Wide Receivers. J Strength Cond Res, 2016. PubMed 27100168
4. On the predictive validity of the National Football League combine: does it forecast future success? J Sports Sci, 2023. PubMed 37150872
5. The Relationship between the National Football League Scouting Combine and Game Performance Over a 5-Year Period. NSCA
6. Assessing Agility Using the T Test, 5-10-5 Shuttle, and Illinois Test. NSCA
7. 20 Yard Shuttle Test (Pro Agility Test). Topend Sports