Football Camp Experience

This Evaluation Experience is Different

If you have been to football combines, you are probably accustomed to the NFL format system. You may be wondering why we break rank from the traditional football workout. All of our evaluation drills are designed to ISOLATE MUSCLE GROUPS to help YOU, THE ATHLETE, get a more complete understanding of what you need to do to improve.

Athletic Area	Evaluation Technology
Explosive & Acceleration Speed	Forty yard dash, with six split times using infrared sensors
Upper Body Power	Seated medicine ball throw, using Doppler radar
Lower Body Power	Vertical jump, using electronic sensor mat
Anthropometrics / Physique	Height, weight, wingspan, body fat using bioelectrical impedance
Agility	Hexagonal obstacle using infrared sensors
Skill	Positional drills & one-on-ones guided by successful coaches
Attitudes / Character	Computer-based questionnaire
Mental Efficiency	Interactive spatial awareness assessment

“Where is the Bench Press?” This is a fair question, as you have probably been using this workout since you were old enough to lift. The fact is, the bench press is a good WORKOUT, not a good EVALUATION TOOL. How many times have you seen the guy with the best bench press be the best player out on the field? The bench press is as much about technique as it is about strength, and to be good at bench press, you use your entire muscle system to move that weight.

We want to ISOLATE UPPER BODY POWER. Power is what discriminates between performance levels in football players, not strength (or strength endurance as measured by the current NFL Bench Press Reps Test). In order to measure power we use a seated medicine ball throw. By taking away the opportunity for the athlete to use their legs and stomach to move the ball forward, we get a pure measure of how much power the athlete is able to create with their arm and chest muscles. Isolating these muscle groups we are able to understand exactly how much upper body power the athlete has, as well as give the athlete an understanding of how much they need to focus on the upper body during offseason training.

“Why does your vertical jump differ from what I have done in the past?” Good question. In the NFL Tryout, you would perform a vertical jump where you have to touch the highest point, thus giving an idea of how high you can jump, kind of… You probably realize guys are different heights, have different arm lengths, and different hand sizes. Also, in order to touch the highest point you must utilize all of the muscle groups in your body to leap. So the guy who leaped the highest can touch the highest point, we know that already, but that doesn’t really tell us much about his lower body strength.

We want to ISOLATE LOWER BODY POWER. In order to do this, we use a jump mat. By taking away the opportunity for the athlete to use their upper body to create momentum to increase their jump height, we get a very good measure of how much power the athlete is able to create using only their leg muscles. Isolating this muscle group we are able to understand exactly how much lower body power the athlete has and give the athlete an understanding of how much energy to focus on the lower body during offseason training.

“What is the difference between your 40 yard dash and other 40 yard dashes I have run in the past?” Ok, so we do have a forty yard dash. In an NFL Tryout, you would be timed by a guy with a stop watch. Imagine the error in measurement you would find in a test that lasts only 4-5 seconds.

In order to reduce this error and enhance the information you take from this exercise, EXACT has developed a 40 yard dash that is divided into 6 sections through infrared measurement. The first two split times are measured at (0-2) and (2-5) yards. These splits measure explosive power, key measurements for linemen who win or lose their battle each play in this short space, backs who have to hit holes quickly and receivers who must beat defensive backs at the snap of the ball. The next 4 splits (5-10), (10-20),(20-30), and (30-40) all help to build a profile of how well the athlete accelerates and if they are able to maintain this acceleration and their top speed once they reach it. Note: the splits are also helpful in identifying defensive standouts!

“Why did you select the hexagonal agility test as your measure of agility?” The most difficult of all athletic testing measures is agility. Sheppard and Young (2006) define agility as "a rapid whole body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus." In order to capture an accurate and fair measure of this exercise, EXACT utilizes the HEXAGONAL AGILITY TEST.

The HEXAGONAL AGILITY TEST involves the athlete standing in the center of a hexagon facing forward. Using EXACT’s Infrared Measuring System, the player will leap across each plane of the hexagon, facing the same direction at all times. The clock will start when the player crosses the first plane, and continue to run until the player crosses the last plane (one full time around).