Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) is one of the most important and recognized apparatus used for characterizing the dynamic behavior of materials. In the first part, the results from a series of SHPB tests on the woven composites are presented in this paper. These tests were done in two configurations: in-plane and out-of-plan compression test. It is observed that the failure strength varies with the different loading directions. The results indicate that the stress–strain curves, maximum compressive stresses and strains evolve as strain rate changes. During the experiments, a high speed camera was used to determine the kinetics of damage. The specimens are mainly damaged in a crushing and shear failure mode under out-of-plane loading, as for in-plane test, the failure was dominated by fiber buckling and delamination. In the second part of this study, numerical models without damage are developed to investigate the validity of assumptions of compression Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar technique. Abaqus software was used for the numerical simulation. The results obtained by numerical investigation (finite elements) of SHPB are compared with the in-plane and out-of-plan compression test of a woven composite. A good correlation was noted between the experimental and numerical results which allows validate the numerical approach used.