The vertical jump test

Power is the production of strength at speed and can be seen when we throw an object or perform a sprint start. We look here at the vertical jump test. This test of power with the aim being to see how high the athlete can jump. It is important that you find a smooth wall with a ceiling higher than the athlete can jump. A sports hall or squash court is ideal. The test is conducted in the following way.

•      The athlete rubs chalk on their fingers
•       They stand about 15cm away from the wall
•      With their feet flat on the floor they reach as high as they can and make a mark on the wall
•       The athlete then rubs more chalk on their fingers
•      They bend their knees to 90 degrees and jump as high as they can up into the air
•          At the top of their jump they make a second chalk mark with their fingertips
•      The trainer measures the differences between their two marks; this is their standing-jump score
•     This test is best done three times so the athlete can take the best of their three jumps

Rating

	Males (cm)	Females (cm)
Excellent	>70	>60
Very Good	61-70	51-60
Above average	51-60	41-50
Average	41-50	31-40
Below average	31-40	21-30
Poor	21-30	11-20
Very poor	<21	<10

Categories for power scores (adapted from Franklin, 2000 within Stafford-Brown&Rea, 200)

Name	Attempt 1 (cm)	Attempt 2 (cm)	Attempt 3 (cm)	Mean	Rating
Millie	20	19	21	20	Poor
Darby	25	27	28	26	Below Average

http://teachers.saschina.org/mspudongpe/files/2008/02/vertical-jump.jpg [Accessed online] [March 25^th 2013]