Testing events

The 3-cone drill: how to set it up, run and time it

The 3-cone drill times how fast an athlete changes direction around three cones set in an L. The athlete sprints to the second cone and back, then runs around the second cone, circles the third, comes back around the second and sprints through the start [1].

By Rob Germaine, Founder, Statellite

Published May 28, 2025 · Updated October 14, 2026

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What you need

• Three cones and a tape measure.
• A flat surface with good footing.
• A timer: a timing gate if you have one, or a stopwatch. Use the same one every time.

Set it up

1. Place the first cone on a start line.
2. Place the second cone 5 yards (4.57 meters) straight ahead of it [1].
3. Place the third cone 5 yards to the side of the second, so the three cones make an L [1].
4. Test on the same surface, in the same shoes, as last time, so the times compare.

Run it

1. The athlete starts in a three-point stance at the start line [1].
2. They sprint to the second cone and touch the ground, then sprint back to the start and touch the ground.
3. They sprint back to the second cone and run around the outside of it to the third cone.
4. They circle the third cone, come back around the outside of the second cone, and sprint through the start line.
5. Run two trials, one turning right at the second cone and one turning left. The faster time counts [1].

If the athlete misses a touch or cuts inside a cone, the trial doesn't count. Run it again [1].

Time it

• With a timing gate on the start line, have the athlete start half a meter (about 20 inches) behind it, so the gate catches the start. The time runs from when they first break the beam until they come back through it [1].
• With a stopwatch, start on the athlete's first movement and stop when their torso crosses the start line. Have one person time every athlete.
• Record to the hundredth of a second: 7.62, not 7.6.

Never compare a stopwatch time with a gate time. Pick one way and keep it.

What's a good time?

These averages come from 62 junior college football players, all men, average age 20, tested at one school with a timing gate, best of two trials. A few missed a test day [1].

Use the table to see where a group sits, not to grade one athlete.

Athletes under 18

Compare each young athlete with their own last test, not with this table. Children and teenagers differ physically from adults, and the NSCA asks coaches to develop young athletes "in an individualized, holistic, and child-centered manner" [3].

Is the change real?

In a study of 16-year-old team-sport athletes, an L-shaped run like this one and four other change-of-direction tests varied by about 2% from one trial to the next (1.95 to 2.40%) [2]. So treat a change smaller than about 2% as noise. On a 7.60 drill, that's 0.15 seconds.

An example. An athlete runs 7.81 turning right and 7.69 turning left, so their time is 7.69. At the next test they run 7.55. That's 0.14 seconds faster, about 1.8%: inside the noise, so call it no change yet. A 7.50 would be 2.5% faster. That's a real improvement.

Common mistakes

• Cutting a cone. Running inside a cone saves time. Put a watcher at the cones and rerun the trial.
• Skipping a touch. The athlete touches the ground at the second cone and again at the start.
• Testing one direction. Run one trial turning each way and keep the faster.
• A rolling start. The athlete must be still before they go. With a stopwatch, start on their first movement, not on your "go".
• Mixing timers or conditions. A stopwatch time and a gate time don't compare, and neither do times on wet grass and a dry gym floor.

Questions

Is the 3-cone drill the same as the L-drill? Yes. The cones form an L, and research calls an L-shaped version the L-run [2].

How far apart are the cones? 5 yards, or 4.57 meters [1].

Which way should the athlete turn? Both. Run one trial turning right at the second cone and one turning left, and keep the faster time [1].

What's a good time? It depends on age, size and position. For junior college football players, group averages ran from 7.56 to 8.25 seconds [1]. For athletes under 18, compare each one with their own last test.

Sources

1. Lockie RG, et al. Profiling of junior college football players and differences between position groups. Sports. 2016;4(3):41. doi.org/10.3390/sports4030041
2. Stewart PF, Turner AN, Miller SC. Reliability, factorial validity, and interrelationships of five commonly used change of direction speed tests. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. 2014;24(3):500-506. doi.org/10.1111/sms.12019
3. Lloyd RS, Cronin JB, Faigenbaum AD, et al. National Strength and Conditioning Association position statement on long-term athletic development. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2016;30(6):1491-1509. doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001387