{"id":2099,"date":"2011-12-09T11:19:27","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T16:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gridironstuds.com\/blog\/?p=2099"},"modified":"2011-12-10T22:17:33","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T03:17:33","slug":"importance-of-standardize-combine-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/importance-of-standardize-combine-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of Standardized Combine Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Combine season is fast approaching and there will be athletic testing popping up on every open stretch of grass in the major cities across the country. \u00a0With so many combines to choose from, \u00a0how do you determine which ones are a worthy endeavor and which ones are a waste of time and hamstring energy. \u00a0One major aspect that can separate the real from the unreal is the presence of standardized testing at the combine event. \u00a0By standardized I mean digital time of the 40 yard dash and other agility drills. \u00a0It’s the best way to legitimately gauge one athlete against another either at the local combine or another combine taking place at another location. \u00a0I see the implementation of standardized testing being the wave of the future on the high school level if no other reason other than the fact that so many athletes participate in these combines annually. \u00a0 Zybek Sports<\/a> out of Boulder, Colorado is taking a leadership role in bringing standardized athletic testing to the high school level. \u00a0Here is a recent article written by them on the importance of standardized testing at combine events.<\/p>\n

\"\"IMPORTANCE OF STANDARDIZED COMBINE TESTING
\n<\/strong>By: Michael Weinstein – Zybek Sports<\/em>
\nemail: mike@zybeksports.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

With fractions of an inch and two decimal places separating the top players on most teams, it is important to ensure an athlete\u2019s data is uniform and accurate.\u00a0 \u00a0Colleges and Pro teams need to ensure that the athletes they are considering are being measured consistently and accurately.\u00a0 The use of Fully Automated Timing (FAT) systems, where the time is started by the athlete and stopped by the athlete, are the first important step in ensuring that athletes are being compare fairly.\u00a0 Other important steps include: ensuring the system is setup in exactly the distance specified; providing a certificate of timer equipment accuracy, and documentation of the test conditions, including running surface type, weather conditions, etc.\u00a0 Not following these guidelines will always call into question the accuracy of the claimed time.<\/p>\n

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Zybek Sport\u2019s timing system provides a traceable F.A.T platform.\u00a0 Wires are used to connect the timer display unit to the remote sensors.\u00a0 Although wires may seem old-fashion, marks on the wires are placed exactly at the 10 \/ 20 \/ 40 yard positions, thus ensuring exact placement of the timing points.\u00a0 Also, the use of wires precludes any timing interferences \/ delays in wireless communications with the timing box.\u00a0 Another issue that needs to be considered when setting up a verified, traceable timing system is ensuring the system is configured properly.\u00a0 ZAP has designed the basic F.A.T. systems to be extremely simple.\u00a0 Whereas some timing systems have software and remote communications links, ZAP\u2019s system has two switches:\u00a0 one on \/ off and one reset.\u00a0 This makes operation easy and leaves little room for setup error.<\/p>\n

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Vertical Jump.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>To reduce testing time, many coaches have opted to use devices to measure \u201chang-time\u201d.\u00a0 The \u201chang time\u201d is then used to calculate the vertical jump.\u00a0 Although this method may be reasonable from a classic physics perspective and is fast, it often does not translate into an accurate actual vertical jump.\u00a0 The classic vertical flag stack measurement is what the NFL uses and most colleges.\u00a0 Vertec was the first to pioneer the vertical jump measurement system.\u00a0 The flag system was and continues to be the most accurate means of measuring the vertical jump.\u00a0 The use of a Vertec can often be time consuming, however.\u00a0 For example, some coaches, often a use a piece of tape placed on the pole marking the athletes reach height.\u00a0 After the athlete jumps, a tape measure is used to determine the distance between the tape mark and the bottom flag.\u00a0 Accurate, but slow.<\/p>\n

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A new system by ZAP has made the testing very fast with no math.\u00a0 The reach height is set by adjusting the mask to the height reach height.\u00a0 The jump height is then simply read from the flag.\u00a0 Although amazingly simple, this method of determining the vertical jump is very fast, easy and intuitive.\u00a0 When maximal jump height is needed, the mask is set at a scribed mark and the height is simply read.\u00a0 This is both fast and accurate.<\/p>\n

Providing an accurate, standardized and documented method of physical combine testing is important to the athletes.\u00a0 Athletes need to be very careful when selecting a testing institution for providing their numbers.\u00a0 As mentioned, it is obvious that using a hang-time measurement is not an accurate method of reporting the vertical jump measurement.\u00a0 The NFL uses a series of mechanical flags to measure vertical jump.\u00a0 The testing company reporting the athlete\u2019s score should use the same system.\u00a0 The timing system differences, however, are a little more subtle and need to be investigated before accepting times from a combine company as real.\u00a0 The most important requirement for any testing company is the use of a Fully Automated Timing system.\u00a0 As seen in most programs, the difference in times between the top athletes is so minor, that any error introduced by a hand start makes the difference between the athletes statistically the same.\u00a0\u00a0 Even giving experience coaches the benefit of repeatable hand-eye coordination, it is nearly impossible for the eye to view the start; the brain to process; and the hand to mechanically \u2018push the start button\u2019 with 100% repeatability.\u00a0 At the 2011 NFL combine, the best time in the 40 was 4.28 seconds.\u00a0 The next nine times ranged from 4.34 to 4.40.\u00a0 If you had the 4.31 second time, wouldn\u2019t you be questioning the consistency of a hand started time?\u00a0 Especially because some combine events span multiple days, the starter\u2019s actual reaction time can be influenced by fatigue and ambient conditions that far exceed a few hundredths of a second.\u00a0 So, ensuring the combine testing company has a repeatable, verifiable; F.A.T. system is of paramount importance to the numbers.\u00a0 Also, it appears the laser-style start sensor system, is a reliable start method for a F.A.T. system.\u00a0 Other systems, using a touch pad, can alter the preferred starting position of the athlete and be one additional mental distraction (e.g., am I pressing hard enough? Will I slip on the pad if my back foot contacts the pad, etc.)\u00a0 that has nothing to do with running the fastest time possible.\u00a0 Laser start systems measure and test the athlete\u2019s performance.\u00a0 Additional human errors are eliminated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Combine season is fast approaching and there will be athletic testing popping up on every open stretch of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[656,102,655],"class_list":["post-2099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-40-time","tag-40-yard-dash","tag-combine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}