It was one of my first days in the Parabolic Performance NFL prep program when the trainers took out the cones. They assembled three of them in the shape of an L. We all knew what was coming. The three-cone drill is something most of the participants had seen before. Most of us, if not all, had never actually run it before.
This is likely a common scene every year when NFL hopefuls begin preparations for the scouting combine and pro days. Like everybody else, I've watched from a distance as prospective NFL players blaze through the drills with ease.
It seems simple enough. If 300-plus-pound guys can do it, so can I. It left me wondering: How I could do in these events (sans the 225-pound bench press)? So this year, I decided to make it happen.
The good people at Parabolic took me in as if I were a real athlete and allowed me to participate in their NFL prep program along with close to two dozen prospects ranging from a safety from Valparaiso to offensive linemen from Wagner, Monmouth, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, to name a few. It wouldn't take long for me to realize how much went into the process, and how hard it was on a middle-aged body, which, while in decent shape, was not used to these types of explosive movements. I was a part-time participant (approximately three days per week) in a program designed to improve performances for what are effectively job interviews for the NFL.
"We're teaching them to move efficiently," trainer Justin Moore said.
A lot easier said than done for a 39-year-old sports reporter than a 20-something soon-to-be professional athlete. But I learned how to run, jump, breathe, set up in the proper stance, navigate turns and all sorts of minor details that help maximize your performance for pro-day drills.
Parabolic trained me for close to eight weeks in four pre-picked standard drills. Then they set up my own personal pro day last week at Sportika in Manalapan, New Jersey. The goal was to see what I had learned and how much better I had become at the drills. The results speak for themselves.
0:35
ESPN Giants reporter Jordan Raanan tests his vertical leap at his pro day.
Vertical jump: 25.5 inches (Baseline: 19.5 inches)
I made the biggest gains in this event. When I began, they tested my functional strength and asked me to do jumps off one leg. It was embarrassing.
Maybe you could fit a Jolly Rancher between my foot and the ground when I tried to soar. All the squats (something I rarely did prior to the program), jumps and deadlifts paid off. My legs were exponentially stronger by the end of the process. That was noticeable, as were the gains in my jumps, which improved steadily.
My key for this drill was to jump using my entire foot, not just off the toes. This was drilled into me for weeks by my trainer Kris Enslen. It worked. My jumps were higher when concentrating on keeping my entire foot on the ground. The other thing was to fire down and then up quickly when jumping. Don't be deliberate. Be violent.
I did well with that. I was having trouble nailing the red tile in the video for weeks. Barely nicked it a couple times during workouts. Nailed it handily on my first try at the pro day. It was good enough for a massive six-inch gain from start to finish. For a minute at least, it made me think I'm not a terrible athlete. Even if, some days, I was watching Maryland defensive lineman Kingsley Opara jump 36.5 inches before or after me.
0:28
ESPN Giants reporter Jordan Raanan runs the 40-yard dash at his pro day.
40-yard dash: 5.40 seconds (Baseline: 5.59 seconds)
This was the most worrisome event. Maybe premature. No worries. Down goes commissioner Roger Goodell on the first hand-timed run of 5.40 seconds.
We worked on technique for this event more than anything throughout the program, especially the starts. Your stance is important. At the beginning, I had no idea what to do when setting up. Actually, this seems to be the case for most guys. They're not track stars, they're football players. They see guys get in their stance on TV but haven't done it in real life. We all tweaked and played around with our stance and running techniques for weeks.
Some days, my times got worse. It was frustrating. My 10-yard split started at 2.08 seconds. It was down to 1.93 at one point, but the week before the pro day there were a few days when my times were back around 2.00. It had me concerned.
It's amazing the effect a lack of sleep can have on your body even if you don't feel it.
My focus on my official 40-yard dashes was to keep my hips up at the start and explode out of the gate. Then, make sure to keep my eyes down in order to prevent my head -- and body -- from coming straight up. This was problematic for much of the process.
I did OK with it on the final run. My times improved dramatically. It proved that even an almost-40-year-old nonprofessional athlete can cut 0.20 seconds off his time with a little practice. Not quite the same gains as Wyoming fullback Drew Van Maanen, who went from 5.02 to 4.65, but good enough.
0:22
ESPN Giants reporter Jordan Raanan tries to navigate the 3-cone (or L-drill) at his pro day.
Three-cone drill: 7.93 seconds (Baseline: 8.56 seconds)
Talk about starting from scratch. I had no idea what to do the first time we ran this drill for the baseline testing. I didn't know where to run, how to set up or what were the keys to a fast time. And there are a lot of facets involved in this drill.
Parabolic taught us how to quickly make the first two cuts because they're easy to overrun. They taught us how to draft your back foot on the third and widest turn.
My focus during the pro day was to keep my head up around the third and final disc in order to sprint toward the finish line. There were days when my legs felt like mashed potatoes and my body just wouldn't stop to circle that third disc.
An NFL combine or prep program does wonders for this drill. There were so many things to learn. I picked up some and improved by 0.63 seconds.
0:21
ESPN Giants reporter Jordan Raanan tests his explosiveness in the short shuttle.
Short shuttle: 4.87 seconds (Baseline: 5.13 seconds)
This drill is all about exploding out of your cuts. Parabolic taught me how to angle my leg and body to maximize the explosion.
I was lumbering at the beginning of the program. By the end I felt (kinda?) fast out of my cuts, at least when my hamstrings cooperated, which was sporadically.
The short shuttle, as it is called, seems so simple. Run to the right. Run to the left. Run back to the middle. Still, an improvement of 0.26 seconds after the eight weeks of practice is significant.
The College of New Jersey wide receiver Tommy Koenig cut 0.35 seconds off his short shuttle during the same time. Clearly, something worked.
Draft status: Undraftable
No scouts attended my pro day. Disappointing. Nobody will sign me. Too old, too slow, too fat is the obvious self-assessment. But not as slow and fat as prior to the program, and greatly improved in the track drills prospective NFL players go through every year.
Note: Thanks to Steve Froehlich and Matt Cifelli at Parabolic for making it happen and the trainers and physical therapists for taking care of me during my time in the program.
0 Response to "Preparing for NFL combine is harder than it looks - ESPN (blog)"
Post a Comment