When you are training your vertical, you have to make sure, and keep track of your workouts and the progress you’re making. In this article, I have gathered a list of 7 ways you can measure, spanning from expensive methods to cheaper methods.

How to Measure Vertical Jump: 7 Methods to Test Your Vertical Jump

1- Measuring Your Vertical Jump at Home

This is the easiest and simplest to calculate your vertical jump. It requires almost nothing, and the following can be found in any household. Here’s what you need:

In order to measure your vertical jump, follow these steps:

The second mark you leave on the wall as you jump is called your vertical jump reach.

This approach has the advantage of being free and accessible to all, but in different conditions it may take some ingenuity to work.

How to Measure and Calculate Your Vertical 

To calculate your vertical jump, there are two ways you can go.

1- Use a Measuring Tape

Pull out your measuring tape and measuring the distance between the two marks you left on the wall. The number you get (in inches) is your vertical jump.

2- Use a Calculator

For this method, you will once more pull out your measuring tape and mention the distance between the bottom of the wall and the first mark, then between the first mark and the second mark separately.

Once you have the two measurements, you can enter the following onto your calculator:

Vertical Jump Reach – Standing Reach = Vertical Jump Height

This is the easiest and most doable technique as you do not need any special equipment to measure your vertical progress, and it can be done anywhere at any time.

2- Applications and Tools for Analyzing Your Vertical Jump using an iPhone

You can measure your vertical by using an app that was created by vertical jump blogger Andy (the hoops geek) called “What’s My Vertical”. The app uses your iPhone camera to measure your vertical jump.

If you do not have an iPhone, the app is also available on browser. You can film yourself and upload it to the browser to measure your take-off and landing.

Pros:

Cons:

3- Force Plate Analysis

Force Plates analyzes the land's reaction forces created by players of different athletic fields who run, leap or exercise other athletic motions. This gives analysists a very detailed and precise data on vertical jump height and the production of energy, motion acceleration, power transfer between feet and numerous other variables. For someone who’s just starting out, realistically, these plates are normally used biomechanics laboratories, and they cost a lot. I’m talking thousands of dollars.

No worries, there are more affordable options Just Jump System.

Given that gravity on earth is (mostly) constant, a person can easily and accurately measure vertical jumps.

Pros:

1- The Just Jump system is compact, simple and right to use.

Cons:

2- Athletes have to land with long legs, otherwise the hanging time would rise, and the outcomes would be inaccurate.

4- Vertec device (Mostly used by the NBA and the NFL)

This question is most frequently asked by basketball players in the basketball community as all NBA players are well-known for their high-jump abilities. The NBA measures players’ vertical leaps by holding the NBA draft combine, testing potential players for their skills and abilities. These auditions are conducted by NBA scouts prepared specifically for the NBA draft.

The tryouts done by the use of a Vertec device. The player must attempt to touch as many flags as possible at different heights. The higher flags you touch, the higher the vertical jump is.

The NBA draft incorporates two different procedures in terms of testing:

1- Standing or No Step Vertical: This is very similar to the technique above, which can be done at home, but instead, it uses a Vertec device rather than having to touch a wall.

The athletes are required to jump from a stand still with no extra moves or steps. 

The highest vertical standing reach recorded in the NBA draft to this day is 101.6 cm (about 40 inches) by D.J. Stephens.

2- Maximum Vertical Jump: This test needs a big starting jump towards the Vertec device to jump as high as they can. This leads to much higher leaps in comparison to the vertical standing and tests how big the player will leap on drive.

The highest vertical maximum in NBA is also that of D.J. Stephens at 46 inches.

On the other hand, The NFL utilizes vertical jump tests in order to see how athletic players are, and to measure the amount of jump certain techniques require (i.e. jumping after a ball).

Similar to the NBA, the NFL also holds tryouts to conduct the tests. The only difference is that they only test the standing vertical jump. The record holder for the NFL vertical standing is Gerald Sensabaugh (46 inches).

Pro:

1- It is very easy to use and will give you immediate and very accurate results.

Cons:

1- Athletes will attempt to trick the device by not achieving the maximum possible range, thereby increasing results.

2- A proper Vertec isn't inexpensive and would cost about $650 to calculate the height at home, not a light amount to pay.

5- Wearable Devices

These are very similar to force plates, but rather than measuring ground reaction forces, they calculate the player's acceleration and motion. Other than that, the calculation technique remains the same. It converts hang time into your vertical jump height. The best example for a wearable device is Vert Jump Rate monitor. It’s a small device that comes with a belt which can be clipped to your shorts and can be connected to an app on your iPhone to track measurements in real time.

Pros:

Can be carried around, gives quick and accurate results while counting the number of jumps

Cons:

If the phone is not within range of the device, it would be unable to track the athlete’s jump history.

6- Accelerometers and Linear Encoders

velocity-based training is not only used for barbell pace assessment, but also for real (linear encoder) acceleration and approximate jump level (accelerometer). I strongly advise you to evaluate the accuracy and precision of accelerometer or linear sport encoder technologies before you spend money on them.

7- Infrared Rework Stations

Similar to force place analysis, Infrared systems use jump time and touch down time to measure the jump rate in the same way as contact mats. Infrared technology is excellent to target the index or the time ratio in the air. Microgate and Muscle Lab are widely common, as they make it possible for players to use the floors as landing areas in the fitness centers and workout facilities.

Time and Space it Takes to Test a Vertical Jump

The most important thing is that you test the athletes at a time when they are feeling very energetic and fresh, that way the scores will be more reliable and accurate. At an average, every test takes about 2 to 3 minutes per athlete to an entire hour long workout, but this purely depends how well you’ve organized and put together these tryouts, along with the equipment you are using for the tests.

As for the space, the venue must be large enough to accommodate a large number of athletes, as well as observers. Once the equipment and venue are selected, everything must be set up in a safe way where the athletes cannot interfere with the testing.

How to Match Your Vertical Jump Height to Others?

There are a few methods you can go for to compare how high your jump is. The first way is to look at the average jump heights based on gender, this will help you to establish the amount of effort you need to put in that is right for the average man or woman.

And if you are an athletic basketball player, you may want to consider looking at how high the best NBA jumpers can jump.

Pros and Cons of Vertical Jump Testing

- The benefits of the vertical jump testing

The vertical jump measure is fast and easy to conduct and cheap. It is also an excellent way to evaluate the leg strength and the jumping potential.

- The downsides of vertical jump testing

Through vertical jump test procedure, the use of a chalk to measure a jump can lead to inaccuracy when scores are registered. How far you bend your knees prior to the skip and how you use your arms can influence the height of the jump. The "Sergeant" or "Sargent" check is often incorrectly registered.

How Can You Increase Your Vertical Jump?

Now that you are aware of your measurements, you should be able to compare your vertical to other athletes.

Now, what can you do to increase your vertical jump?

Here are some things you can do:

• You can follow some exercises to strengthen your legs and add to their power (i.e.  Back Squat, Deadlift, Leg Curls, Glute Ham Raise, Barbell Lunges, Split Squat, Calf Raises and Romanian Deadlift)
• Follow a polymetric training program to increase your jump
• Finally, I would totally recommend committing to a very good and proven to work training program to jump higher.

There are two programs on the market that have been proven to work well and had the most success:

• The Jump Manual Program (combines weights and plyometrics), read the review here.
• Vert Sock (no weights, includes plyometrics), read the review here.

Conclusion

Those were 7 ways of calculating the vertical jump from very costly vertical jump testing to cheaper instruments such as the Vert Jump detector to free approaches anyone can do at ease. As you are training, you want to make sure you are tracking your results just to be sure that the hard work you are putting in is paying off. It will also motivate you to keep putting in the work once you see yourself making progress.