The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

. It is most commonly seen at the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

in preparation for the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

but is also an important measurement for

collegiate Collegiate may refer to: * College * Webster's Dictionary, a dictionary with editions referred to as a "Collegiate" * ''Collegiate'' (1926 film), 1926 American silent film directed by Del Andrews * ''Collegiate'' (1936 film), 1936 American musi ...

recruiting. While not as highly regarded a test as the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

, it is still an important measure used by team personnel to compare players. It is especially pertinent in the evaluation of

pass rush On defense in gridiron football, a pass rush is charging across the line of scrimmage towards the quarterback in an effort to stop or " sack" them. The purpose is tackling, hurrying or flushing the quarterback out of his protective pocket or th ...

ers who must be able to maintain acceleration while working around

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

players. The drill was invented by football scout C. O. Brocato.

The drill

Three cones are placed five yards apart from each other forming a

right angle In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 Degree (angle), degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn (geometry), turn. If a Line (mathematics)#Ray, ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the ad ...

. The athlete starts with one hand down on the ground and runs to the middle cone and touches it. The player then reverses direction back to the starting cone and touches it. The athlete reverses direction again but this time runs around the outside of the middle cone on the way to the far cone running around it in figure eight fashion on his way back around the outside of the middle cornering cone. Athletes are timed for this whole procedure. This drill is primarily used to determine a player's

agility Agility or nimbleness is an ability to change the body's position quickly and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance. More specifically, it ...

References

NFL draft Sprint (running) American football terminology {{americanfootball-stub