THE GREEN HORNET COMBINE is an assessment of an athlete’s individual strength, conditioning and agility progress through the off-season and pre-season. Our program sets aside the last week before our final off-site camp — usually two weeks before the season begins — and the assessment process has become a competitive tradition that’s enjoyed by athlete’s and coaches alike.
The combine consists of the following 11 events:
Bench Press. Parallel Squat.
Power Clean. Vertical Jump.
Standing Broad Jump. 40-Yard Dash.
Mile Run BFS Dot Drill
20-Yard Shuttle Run Obstacle Course
800-Meter Super Laps (which consists of 2 laps around the outdoor track, including running the home side of the bleachers).
All the events in the combine, except the obstacle course, are scored using tables created for myself based on Authur and Bailey’s book Complete Conditioning For Football, as well as analysis of data collected from several years of testing our players strength, speed, conditioning and BFS (the national Bigger Faster
Stronger strength and conditioning program) records which are kept by our athletes.
The scoring tables are usually based on a 100-point scale and the players are graded on repetitions, inches or time, The bench press, parallel squat and power clean events have three “standard” tables, each designed to allow players of all physical abilities to score.
Standard No. 1: Is 115 pounds and allows the player to score up to a maximum of 50 points. This standard allows a freshman, who may not be as physically mature as his peers, to be able to score points for his efforts.
Standard No. 2: Is 150 pounds and is our 100-point scale for the event. Most of our players are expected to lift at this level.
Standard No. 3: Is designed for the very strong player and is 185 pounds. Players can score up to 125 points. This allows our larger linemen to gain points here that they would be unlikely to earn in some of the other events such as the mile run, the 800-meter super laps or the vertical jump.
The obstacle course is the only event where players earn points based on how their score ranks them versus their peers. The best score for each receives 100 points and each position after receives 2-points less. In order to make the competition equitable, we do two standings — one for linemen and the other for all other positions on the team — with each group scored separately.
How The Combines Measures Players
The Green Hornet Combine measures athletes based on their ability to do repetitions and perform in the following categories:
1. One of three different weights in our strength events.
2. How many inches they can jump.
3. How fast they can run.
The players then earn points and from that they earn their way into special “achievement clubs.” Our clubs begin at 500 points and increase in 100-point intervals from there. We currently have clubs ranging from 500 to 700 points, but we also have two players who have a legitimate shot to reach the 800-point club this year.
We have an additional stipulation for club eligibility: A player must attend 75 percent of all weight lifting or other position-specific activities in which they are expected to participate. A 7-on-7 drill, for example, is an event that backs are expected to attend, but linemen are not. We begin weight lifting usually in April while some athletes are involved in baseball or track, so they are not penalized for absences. A player who chooses other summer activities, however, such as AAU basketball or summer baseball would be penalized.
We recognized all members of the Iron Man and point-achievement clubs at a program picnic held after the last of the two-a-day practices.
Keeping Players Motivated
To help keep our athletes focused on improving their personal scores, I have created two motivational aids.
Printable Electronic Data. Data forms that shows how a player performed in last year’s combine. We’ll keep these data records on computer and we print them off and give them to the athlete prior to the start of the year’s off-season program
All-Time Combine Record Book. A comprehensive record book is kept of all the athletes who have ever participated in the combine. The book includes records for overall performance during a year and over the entire duration of an athlete’s football career, as well as performance in a given event referenced by grade and then by linemen or back. This collection of written records provides a history of measurable progress for each athlete or of an athlete’s success because it tracks him all the way from freshman to senior year.
Why Use The Combine?
When we first began using yearly assessments to measure the progress of our athletes, we, like many schools, were looking at max lifts to measure strength, the 40-yard dash to measure speed and a mile run to test a players endurance and fitness. The problem was that testing well in these events didn’t always translate into success on the football field. Plus, it didn’t give our coaching staff a very accurate picture of their basic football-related skills and abilities.
Also, the culture around the testing wasn’t good. Our athletes were more worried about what the other guys on the team were doing and whether or not Jimmy helped Billy too much on a max-lift spot. yet another problem of the old method were players sacrificing proper lifting technique for increased weight — which is both dangerous and leads to the potential of injury.
We’ve used this combine-testing method for over 2 years and the attitude surrounding the assessments is very different. Since the tables are standardized, there is no suspicion about subjectivity in scoring.
The amounts of the weights we use are also low enough that no spotters are required. In fact, if anyone else touches the bar after reps have begun, no more reps will be counted. Additionally, the lifting technique must be perfect, as determined by a supervising coach or the rep will not be counted.
Now, instead of being petty and jealous of one another, our athletes complete their assessment events in a culture of support and friendly competition. The athletes still compete to out-perform one another — that’s natural ina sport such as football — but we have eliminated the negative atmosphere that some of the players felt under the old assessment system.
How It Translates To On-Field Success
Of course one of the most important outputs of the combine assessment system is improved athletic performance on the football field. Our athletes have to train their entire bodies because you cannot do well if you ignore your running (Does this sound like any linemen you know?) or if you ignore strength training (As some of the smaller skill-positions players sometimes try to do.).
Entire body training puts our team in a better position to survive the rigors of a potential14-game season. As a result, we did see a decrease in injuries as we went 7-3 this season.
Another measure of the effectiveness of the combine assessment system is to connect success in the combine to success in actual competitions. This year’s combine tested 30 players and 17 scored 500 points or more. Of these, 14 also had 75 percent or higher in workout attendance — qualifying them as Iron Men.
Thirteen of the 14 players were varsity athletes with one junior player.
Team Honors
Our 13 varsity players combined for the following achievements and awards. 91 starts (this doesn’t include two members of our receiver rotation who logged over 100 plays in a 10-game season while playing within a 3-receiver rotation), an Honorable Mention All-Conference player, two Second-team All-Conference players, two First-team All Conference players and the League’s Most Outstanding Performer (our QB). It should also not go unreported that we had the most players selected out of any school in the conference.
In the All-Area awards we received one second-team player and two first-team players, as well as the area’s first Offensive Player of the Year (again, our QB). We also can boast about having a First-Team
All-State Offensive Linemen.
If you have any questions regarding the Green Hornet Combine System or have any further questions regarding the charts or the scoring systems, please e-mail Craig Harrison at: charrison@cms.maisd.com