Reconsidering the Vertical Jump Test: Part 1

As a basketball player and collegiate men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach, one of the most common questions I get asked is how players can increase their vertical jump. However, perhaps the most over-rated test of athletic ability in basketball, if not all sports, is the vertical jump test. The test is primarily used to measure an athlete’s vertical explosive power and neuromuscular coordination in relationship to his or her body weight. The test is performed by first measuring the standing, flat-footed, one-arm reach for height of the athlete. Then the athlete is required to jump and touch a point as high as they possibly can. The difference between the two markers is the athlete’s vertical jump.

The initial problem I find with this test is the high amount of variance in the testing protocols; whether it be a difference in approach (no-step, one-step, running off one foot, or running off two feet), a difference in the initial measuring (two hand reach, one hand reach, full gleno-humeral flexion or shoulder resting comfortably), or a difference in the tool used to measure (Vertec, eying a tape measure on a wall, using a Vertical Jump Testing Mat to test the athletes air-time or attaching a measuring tape to the athlete’s waist belt). Not only is there not one specific protocol for testing the athletes, there is also a way to cheat regardless of which method is chosen.

Let’s use the NFL combine as an example. Players record their one-arm standing reach with flat fleet and, if they have been trained properly, a likely relaxed shoulder and overall body posture. That is considered their “standing reach”. However, without even leaving the ground, the athlete can rise up on his toes, fully out-stretch their arm and shoulder, and touch six inches above their standing reach--without even leaving the ground! When the athlete performs the vertical jump, they are in that fully out-stretched position just as they are leaving the ground. Therefore, the actual height they jump can be six or more inches less than their recorded vertical jump.

The vertical jump test is primarily used to calculate two things:  an athlete’s vertical explosive power and neuromuscular coordination in relationship to his or her body weight. But what do these have to do with sports performance? And is there a better way to test them? Be sure to catch Reconsidering the Vertical Jump Test: Part 2, next Thursday.

Tony Cates is a business management major at Edgewood College in Madison, WI.  He is a certified personal trainer, performance enhancement specialist, and the S&C Coach for Edgewood College Men’s Basketball.  He can be reached at catestony@gmail.com or (608) 852-7433.

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