The short answer
The average 40-yard dash for a 14-year-old is about 5.5 seconds for boys and 6.0 for girls, hand-timed. A good freshman time is under 5.2 for boys and 5.7 for girls. Fast 14-year-olds run 4.8 to 4.95 and 5.2 to 5.4, and the elite for the age run 4.6 to 4.7 and 5.0 to 5.1 on a hand watch.
Key takeaways
- Typical 14-year-olds: 5.3 to 5.8 for boys, 5.8 to 6.3 for girls, hand-timed
- Freshman football testing is where most 14-year-old boys get a 40 that goes on a record
- Under 4.8 hand-timed at 14 is a time college scouts notice on a freshman profile
- A 14-year-old girl under 5.4 is usually a varsity sprinter already
- Laser timing adds 0.2 to 0.3; a hand 4.8 is a laser 5.0 to 5.1
What is the average 40-yard dash for a 14-year-old?
At 14 the 40 becomes a number with consequences. Freshman football programs test it in the summer, recruiting profiles start listing it, and a boy who runs a good one gets moved to a skill position. Among 14-year-olds who get timed, the typical boy runs about 5.5 seconds and the typical girl about 6.0, hand-timed from first movement.
The freshman number is also where the hand-time problem starts to matter. A coach's stopwatch flatters everyone by two or three tenths compared with the laser gates used at camps and combines, and a 14-year-old who runs 4.9 for a coach and 5.2 at a camp has not got slower. The tiers below are all hand-timed; the callout underneath explains the conversion.
40-yard dash benchmarks at age 14 (hand-timed)
| Tier at age 14 | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| First timed 40, no sprint training | 5.9 - 6.4 | 6.4 - 6.9 |
| Typical (freshman on a team) | 5.3 - 5.8 | 5.8 - 6.3 |
| Good (top quarter, starter at skill positions) | 5.0 - 5.2 | 5.5 - 5.7 |
| Fast (top 5 percent, camp standout) | 4.8 - 4.95 | 5.2 - 5.4 |
| Elite for the age | 4.6 - 4.7 | 5.0 - 5.1 |
Hand time versus laser time
Every number on this page is hand-timed from the athlete's first movement, the way a coach with a stopwatch at practice does it. Laser or electronic timing, the NFL combine standard, starts the clock earlier and reads about 0.2 to 0.3 seconds slower for the same run. A hand-timed 4.8 is roughly a laser 5.0.
Source: NFL Scouting Combine timing procedure; coaching practice
Ages 13, 14 and 15 side by side
Boys are in the steepest part of their curve here: two tenths a year at the typical level. Girls have mostly finished the growth-driven part of their improvement, and from 14 on their gains come from technique and strength work rather than from getting taller.
The 40-yard dash at 13, 14 and 15
| Level | Age 13 (B / G) | Age 14 (B / G) | Age 15 (B / G) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical | 5.7 / 6.2 | 5.5 / 6.0 | 5.3 / 5.9 |
| Good for the age | 5.3 / 5.8 | 5.1 / 5.6 | 4.92 / 5.5 |
| Elite for the age | 4.8 / 5.2 | 4.65 / 5.05 | 4.55 / 4.95 |
What is a good 40-yard dash for a 14-year-old boy?
Under 5.2 is good and it is roughly the line for starting at a skill position on a freshman team. Under 4.95 is fast, and under 4.7 puts a 14-year-old in the elite tier for the age, which on a laser is around 4.9 to 5.0 and is already a time that shows up on college recruiting sites. The typical band, 5.3 to 5.8, is where most freshman linemen and linebackers sit, and it improves by a tenth or two every year through high school without any special work.
What is a good 40-yard dash for a 14-year-old girl?
Under 5.7 is good for a 14-year-old girl and under 5.4 is fast. The elite 14-year-old girls run 5.0 to 5.1 hand-timed and are almost always sprinters on a track team. Because girls' speed plateaus earlier, a girl who wants to move from 5.9 to 5.5 usually has to do it with strength training and start technique; it will not happen by waiting a year the way it often does for boys.
How these numbers were built
- Population. Athletes who were timed in a 40 at a practice, combine or testing day, drawn from published youth combine results, high school testing data and coaching records. A child who has never sprinted from a stance is usually slower than the first-time row.
- Typical band. The middle 50 percent of that population for the age, rounded to a tenth.
- Good, fast, elite. Roughly the top 25 percent, top 5 percent and top 0.5 percent of the age.
- Timing. Hand-timed from first movement. Subtract nothing; if your time came from a laser, take about 0.25 off before you compare it here.
- Cross-check. The bands were checked against the same athletes' 100m times using the standard 40-to-100m relationship, so a 5.0 boy and a 12.8 100m boy land in the same tier.
What separates 5.5 from 5.0 at 14
- The stance. Hips high, front foot loaded, first step down and back. Most freshmen stand up out of the stance and lose a tenth before they have moved a yard.
- Drive phase length. The elite kids stay at a lean for five or six steps; the typical kid is upright by step three.
- Ground contact. Fast 14-year-olds hit the ground under the hips with a stiff ankle. Overstriders reach out in front and brake on every step.
- Video from the side. The pop-up and the overstride show up in the first twenty frames of one clip and are the two fastest fixes in sprinting.