Compare your jumps!
A lot of athletes and athletic programs test verticals, but usually just to see what the max jump is, and how higher (or lower) it’s gotten… which is GOOD, and you SHOULD be consistently testing different key marks to see the progress being made!
That said, there’s a lot more information hidden in jump tests if you know where to look!
First, let me cover the types of jumps below:
1️⃣ Countermovement (“Normal”) Vertical — stand straight, dip down, explode up! This measures “pure power”, making it good for almost any sport. It’s how quickly you can dip and prestretch, then explode up.
2️⃣ Seated Vertical — sit on a box or chair, aggressively stand into a jump. You can also do this from a “pause squat”, but make sure you pause long enough to kill any momentum, and go STRAIGHT UP! This measures Rate of Force Development, which is how much power you can create from a still position (think like a car’s 0-to-60 time).
3️⃣ 1-Step Jump, or any moving jump (choose something sport-specific). I have most athletes take one step, which is specific to say volleyball (approach jump). A different variation could be basketball, giving them 3–5 steps like a layup approach. This is power with MOMENTUM on your side!
4️⃣ Depth Jump (drop off a box, explode up as soon as you touch the ground). Usually using 12–18”, unless highly developed athletes. The shocker — literally, this is called a shock jump. Measures your ability to absorb impact, turn it into extra energy, and jump higher with it. This takes a great deal of strength AND power.
Seeing progress on your vertical jump is one of the top ways to know athletic performance tools are improving.
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Now, here’s where it gets good!
Here is the order you should see MOST OF THE TIME, from SHORTEST jump to HIGHEST!
💥 Seated Jump -> Normal Jump -> Depth Jump -> Moving Jump
💥 If that’s NOT the order of your jumps’ best heights, then you know your weak points and what you need to work on next. Look at the chart above, see what each jump represents and is made of, and plan your workouts accordingly!
A couple of quick notes:
💪 If they’re in the “correct” order, good — keep up training, it’s going well! Become stronger and faster anyway.
💪 If a shorter jump is less than 85% of the next jump, then it’s a weakness… make it better!
💪 Don’t bother comparing jump assessments if you haven’t strength trained for 1–2 months yet. Take them at the beginning and measure progress if you want, but give at least 4–8 weeks of strength training before making jump tests that you actually use to compare.
💪 THERE ARE SPORT SPECIFIC EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE! Examples — Linemen in football or defensive specialists (called liberos) in volleyball play directly from a partial squat position, so they will be better at Rate of Force Development. That means their Seated Jumps may match or even be better than their standing ones.
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