5-10-5 shuttle times: what's average and what's good
High school football players at laser-timed recruiting combines average 4.6 s in the 5-10-5. At the NFL Combine the average runs from 4.19 s for defensive backs to 4.74 s for offensive linemen. ESPN lists the Combine record as 3.75 s.
The 5-10-5 is also called the pro agility shuttle, the 20-yard shuttle and the short shuttle. It times how fast you change direction twice over 20 yards, so it tests braking and turning on top of acceleration.
How the 5-10-5 drill is run
At the NFL Combine, the player straddles a yard line, runs 5 yards one way, 10 yards back the other way, then 5 yards back through the starting line. He touches the ground at the first two turns but not at the finish.
Research protocols add detail. In a junior college football study, players touched each end line with one hand and ran once breaking left and once breaking right, keeping the faster time. A run with a missed touch was thrown out and rerun.
- Course: three lines 5 yards apart, so 10 yards from end line to end line.
- Start: straddle the middle line. The junior college study used a three-point stance.
- Route: 5 yards to one end line, 10 yards to the other, 5 yards back through the middle.
- Timing: in the junior college study, a timing gate on the middle line started the clock when the player left the beam and stopped it when he came back through.
Average 5-10-5 shuttle times by level
| Group | Average | Who was timed |
|---|---|---|
| High school football | 4.6 ± 0.3 | About 7,000 players, mostly freshmen to juniors, at U.S. recruiting combines in 2015–16; laser timing gates |
| Junior college football: wide receivers and defensive backs | 4.55 ± 0.20 | 31 players from one program, timing gate |
| Junior college football: running backs, tight end and linebackers | 4.57 ± 0.27 | 16 players from one program, timing gate |
| Junior college football: offensive and defensive linemen | 4.97 ± 0.27 | 13 players from one program, timing gate |
| NCAA D1 women's basketball | 4.72 ± 0.30 | 12 players, one team |
| NCAA D1 women's volleyball | 4.88 ± 0.19 | 15 players, one team |
| NFL Combine | 4.19–4.74 | Position-group averages, defensive backs fastest, offensive linemen slowest |
For high school players, the study reports only a mean and standard deviation, identical in large, mid-size and small states. Assuming a normal distribution, those two numbers give the estimated cutoffs below. A position-by-position report from the same combines, including 10-yard split times inside the pro agility, was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, but its tables are not openly available, so we have not reproduced them.
| Percentile | Estimated time |
|---|---|
| Fastest 10% | 4.22 |
| Fastest 25% | 4.40 |
| Median | 4.60 |
| Slowest 25% from | 4.80 |
The college numbers are small samples from single teams, so treat them as reference points. The junior college skill and big-skill groups were both 8% faster than the linemen, a large effect.
20-yard shuttle times at the NFL Combine
Averages by position for every recorded Combine shuttle from 2003 to 2025, 4,508 times in all. The last column is the 10th percentile: one in ten players at that position ran that time or faster. The median across all positions was 4.37 s.
| Position | Average | Fastest 10% | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive backs | 4.19 | 4.00 | 773 |
| Wide receivers | 4.24 | 4.07 | 666 |
| Running backs | 4.28 | 4.10 | 351 |
| Linebackers | 4.30 | 4.10 | 510 |
| Quarterbacks | 4.33 | 4.11 | 297 |
| Tight ends | 4.38 | 4.19 | 273 |
| Defensive line | 4.54 | 4.27 | 757 |
| Offensive line | 4.74 | 4.50 | 881 |
Not every invited player runs the agility drills, so these averages describe the players who chose to. Defensive backs post the fastest average shuttle even though wide receivers run a slightly faster average 40; compare the 40-yard dash by position.
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Get Sprint UniversityPro agility drill records
ESPN lists Dunta Robinson, a South Carolina cornerback, as the 20-yard shuttle record holder with 3.75 s at the 2004 Combine, a mark that has stood for two decades. ESPN's 2020 list of records since 2006 had a tie at 3.81 s: Jason Allen (2006) and Brandin Cooks (2014).
The shuttle and the 3-cone drill measure much the same thing. In 1,136 NFL draftees from the 2005–2009 Combines, the two correlated at r = 0.948, while their correlations with sprinting and jumping were generally much weaker (r from 0.250 to −0.653). See the 3-cone drill times for the other agility test.
How to run a faster pro agility shuttle
Most of the time in a 5-10-5 goes into slowing down and turning, so that is where to look for time.
- Set your weight over the foot opposite the way you'll break, so the first step is a push.
- Take short, choppy steps into each line, sink your hips and plant the outside foot past your body.
- Touch the line with the hand on the side you're turning toward, then drive out low for the first two steps.
- Run through the middle line at full speed. The clock stops when you cross it, not when you start to slow down.
- Practice both directions. Some protocols time one run each way, as the junior college study did.
- Standing up out of the turn
- Popping upright after the touch costs time on the next acceleration. Stay low for two steps after each plant.
- Overrunning the line
- Long strides into the line carry you past it. Shorten your steps over the last yard so you can stop on the plant foot.
- Missing the touch
- In the junior college study, a run with a missed touch was thrown out. Reach for the line, not near it.
- Easing up before the finish
- Lifting before the middle line is free time lost. Sprint through it.
Faster turns rest on strength and acceleration. For the training side, see how to get faster for football and acceleration drills.
FAQ
Sources
- Brandt G. What does the combine data mean? Depends on your position. NFL.com (drill descriptions)
- Gillen ZM, Shoemaker ME, McKay BD, Cramer JT. State population influences athletic performance combine test scores in high school-aged American football players. Int J Exerc Sci 12(6), 2019 (Table 1)
- McKay BD et al. Normative Reference Values for High School-Aged American Football Players: Proagility Drill and 40-Yard Dash Split Times. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2020.
- Lockie RG et al. Profiling of junior college football players and differences between position groups. Sports (Basel) 4(3):41, 2016 (Table 2)
- Banda DS, Beitzel MM, Kammerer JD, Salazar I, Lockie RG. Lower-body power relationships to linear speed, change-of-direction speed, and high-intensity running performance in DI collegiate women's basketball players. J Hum Kinet 68, 2019 (Table 1)
- Lockie RG, Dawes JJ, Callaghan SJ. Lower-body power, linear speed, and change-of-direction speed in Division I collegiate women's volleyball players. Biol Sport 37(4), 2020 (Table 1)
- nflverse, NFL Combine results dataset (data courtesy of Pro Football Reference), 2003–2025 combines
- ESPN. Who holds the record for each NFL combine drill? February 27, 2026
- ESPN. NFL combine records and the best, worst performances. February 24, 2020
- Robbins DW. Relationships between National Football League combine performance measures. J Strength Cond Res 26(1), 2012