By Don Zoloty, www.nhsasc.com
The high school combine should represent a measuring tool for the junior-to-be-senior, along with another avenue for his/her exposure. By attending, an athlete can compare his athleticism to other top players in the region. He can also find out what areas he needs to work on - which will only help his chances for a positive senior year. Exposure is the name of the game in college recruiting: From the very beginning - when a college first contacts a players high school program to receive information - it is important that the player pursue every avenue to keep up the interest and show he is serious about playing at the next level and preparing to do so.
Over the past 7 years The National High School All-Star Combine Series has held countless combines for football players hoping to make the transition from playing high school to college ball. Our combine camps are held each year at the training complexes of six National Football League teams (and growing). Numerous college football programs (from major schools in Division I to smaller ones in Division III) request and receive the performance data from the high school players who take part in the various combines.
The high school combine usually last around 4 hours from the time a player registers, stretches and prepares to the time he completes all the stations.
Fees range at the different high school combines from free to hundreds of dollars depending on the different services that run the different combines. It is recommended that each player should research the combines with their parents and ask there high school coach what program is best for him. The National High School All-Star Combine Series has numerous recommendations from college programs around the country that can be viewed at our web site.
Because of the growing popularity of the high school all-star combines, I thought I would give readers including coaches and players interested in taking part in a future combine a rundown on what football drills take place at our events.
(Note: other combines may have other drills contact the organizer ahead-of time to find out what you should prepare for.)
The Bench Press: We ask combine athletes to lift 185 pounds as many times as possible, while lying on a weight bench and lifting in a traditional bench-press fashion.
The Short Shuttle: This tests the combine athletes coordination and lateral quickness. They are asked to first sprint sideways 5 yards they can choose whether its left or right and then touch a line. Then, they sprint 10 yards to the opposite side, again touching a line. Lastly, they sprint slightly past the original starting point.
The 10-yard and 40-yard sprints: These drills are pretty self-explanatory. We time athletes in the 40-yard sprint, but also time their speed during the first 10 yards of the sprint. While the 40-yard sprint time is considered very important for skill position players, the 10-yard time sprint time has become very useful for judging the speed of offensive and defensive linemen.
The Broad Jump: Tests the combine athletes lateral burst and leg explosion. We ask athletes to jump forward from a standing, set position on a line.
The Vertical Jump: Tests the combine athletes leg explosion while leaping up. Athletes jump straight up while standing on a black mat. A vertex mat is used to calculate how high the athletes have jumped.
All of the above drills allow the participating combine athlete to measure what areas he can improve to become the very best football player he can be which is among the many goals we try to achieve by holding our combines.
For more information on this topic, or others related to our High School All-Star Combines, feel free to visit my website: www.NHSASC.com.
Don Zoloty is the president of the National High School All-Star Combine firm.
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