Effects of Football Equipment on 40-Yard [36.5 m] Dash Times

The 40-yard Dash (40yd) is the most prevalent test used by coaches and scouts to evaluate the linear speed of athletes, especially football players across all levels of competition. In spite of its routine use, there is limited scientific support and standardization for the administration of this test, although logical validity seems apparent. This validity is challenged since the traditional timing of football players is conducted in the absence of game equipment. The extra weight of the equipment, as well as other possible factors, may increase testing times significantly when performed under game-like conditions. Given the insufficient amount of research regarding tested sprint performance, understanding possible equipment effects would be beneficial to coaches and trainers since this would better simulate game conditions. Purpose Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of football equipment on 40-yd Sprint testing times. Methods 64 high school football players (height 69.61 ± 2.82 in, weight 171.6 ± 34.1 lbs) were timed in the 40-yd Sprint, wearing either their standard football equipment (EC) or gym shorts and a T-shirt (NEC), on a natural-grass field. Sprint times were measured by Bright Flash™, an automatic timing system that utilizes a High Speed Video Camera (30 frames/sec), starter pistol, receiver, and Eagle Eye™ timing software. Each participant was randomly assigned to perform two trials under each condition and the faster of the two trials for each condition was recorded and used for analysis. Analysis/Results A dependant samples T-test was utilized to assess significance between conditions at an alpha level of .05. A significant difference was shown between EC and NEC conditions (p < .05). Conclusions Sprint times in high school football players increased significantly with the addition of football equipment. The impairment that football equipment places on sprint performance is most likely due to the added weight and increased surface area of the equipment, as well as restrictions in range of motion. Although high school, collegiate, and professional programs choose to test their current or potential players under settings that are not consistent with game-like conditions, it may be beneficial to evaluate the players' sprint performance with the addition of their football equipment, since not all players will be affected the same.