Charlie and Combine

Charlie,

Have you ever trained athletes for the NFL combine? If so, with only 6 weeks to prepare what would be the periodization to ensure a peak the day of the combine?

I’ve mostly worked with players who were already in the NFL but i could.

So what would you do in this short 6 week period, i understand you dont want to give away too many secrets, or maybe other coaches can speak up?

I’ll give it a first crack…

Where does athlete currently stand in the tests based on his position…

If a lineman only does 13 reps and runs a 5.5 40, what is more important regardless of his size?

If a skilled guy does 20+ reps, runs 4.5 range and a low 4 shuttle, then what?

A sample CF-influenced weekly template might look something like this:

Day 1: (AM) sprints (pm) skill position drills, weights
Day 2: tempo
Day 3: (am) 3 point starts (5 and 10 yards for 40, 20 shuttle, and 3 cone), work on agility tests (pm) skill work or rest, weights
day 4: tempo
Day 5: jump emphasis day
Day 6: tempo
Day 7: off

Tempo days can also serve as days to work in interview skills etc.

I think some guys use a 2 on, 1 off, 2 on approach.

i know places like velocity go:

mon: linear speed/weight
tue: agility/weight
wed: massage
thur: linear speed/weight
fri: agility/weight
sat: warmup

i may go:

mon: speed
tue: upper weights
wed: agility
thur: lower weights
fri: speed/upper weights
sat: massage and pool workout

speed workout would mainly be 30 and 50’s no point in during 10yd sprints - got that from vince anderson.

Interesting about Vince. Mike Boyle does manly 10’s and has had great success with his guys’ performance.

I have found my guys (youth) got great at 10s, but struggled when they did 20s and 30s. They kept “forcing” the lean as if they were running 10s. In those who have to run at combines, this is important. If they aren’t doing combines, we stick to 10s and 20s.

I dont know why coaches would do just 10’s, most football players are big and strong and tend to me good accelerators but lack top end speed

Basically, theory is a 1% improve in first 10 yard time (~1.5-1.8) is more than in last 10 (<1.0-1.2?)

There is article about it on another site but I don’t have permission to use post it.

so why even run,to improve first 10 is easy.

What is the point in running 10s vs 20s or 30s? 10s seem way too short if you’re healthy and have had some training done. After a few weeks I don’t see why you wouldn’t be using at least 20s in training.

Who are Mike’s fastest guys at the combine? I see a lot of the fastest guys coming from programs that use track based speed training for their combine prep.

i agree whats the point in running 10’s thats two steps and dont teach the athlete how to properly drive and acc. thats why i always say, these guys want to run fast 40yds so why go to places like AP etc they should be going to world class track coaches like CF, Dan, JS. when vince was at tenn he worked with several tenn fb players for the combine one of them i believe jamal lewis.

Mike worked with DeOssie last year, who is a LB with the Giants. He ran a 4.49 last year I believe. When we was at AP Los Angeles, he did the same thing there too.

Consider that in football it is pretty rare to ever be running at top speed. Even for WR/CB. Pretty much the only time you do is on Punt/Kickoff coverage.

I don’t really see what the point of focusing on top speed for the combine would be as most guys are not going to hit top speed within 40 yards.

I agree. Pfaff worked with Romanowski for an off-season. His 40 got down to a consistent 4.45 at 37 years old. His 40 was 4.78 coming out of college.

Track coaches, especially multi-event coaches, know how to develop biomotor abilities which is what all these tests are, except for the skill tests.

Is that micro from Vince?

I got his number I need to give him a call.

The Velocity I was at: Monday acceleration, Tuesday multi directional, Wed. max velocity, Thurs multi-directional, Friday acceleration, Sat. m-d.

The following week would have max vel on Mon and Fri with acc. on Wed.

Following weeks would keep rotating the speed emphasis.

Most athletes came in 2-4 x wk.

Weights were done on speed days only.

We could easily debate the point of having a speed reserve (the faster you are, the easier it is to maintain a submaximal speed), but the reason 10s are basically worthless as the main training means is you never really go far enough to even work the acceleration pattern. Heck, your first 10 is mostly based on how well you set-up and your strength/power levels.

each center is diff.

no its not from vince also you may want to wait till after indoor to reach him better yet summer would be better otherwise he may not help you much.