How to measure your vertical jump
Your vertical jump is the difference between your standing reach and the highest point you can touch when you jump. Measure standing reach against a wall with one arm fully extended, mark the highest point you touch on a maximal jump, and subtract the first number from the second. That difference, in inches or centimetres, is your vertical.
Standing reach is the number most people get wrong
Standing reach is measured flat-footed with one arm straight overhead, shoulder pushed up, heels on the ground. Do not go on your toes and do not shrug with both arms. A reach that is an inch too high makes your vertical an inch too low, and every retest inherits the same error, so mark it carefully and write it down.
Step by step
- Stand with your dominant shoulder to a flat wall, feet flat, arm extended straight up.
- Mark the height of your fingertips. This is your standing reach.
- Chalk your fingertips, jump as high as you can, and touch the wall at the peak.
- Measure the chalk mark. Subtract standing reach to get your vertical jump.
The four common measurement methods
Any method that captures jump reach minus standing reach will work. They differ in cost, repeatability, and how much of the movement they capture.
| Method | What it needs | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Wall and chalk | A wall, chalk, a tape measure | Free, low-tech testing at home |
| Vertec (vane device) | Adjustable vane tower | Team combines and formal testing |
| Jump mat or force plate | Contact mat or plate hardware | Lab and performance-centre testing |
| Phone video analysis | A phone camera and an app | Frequent retesting without equipment |
Wall and chalk
The cheapest reliable option. Its weakness is the touch: people rotate, reach late, or clip the wall on the way down, all of which distort the mark. Test outdoors on a hard flat surface or in a gym where a chalk mark is acceptable.
Vertec
A tower of movable vanes you swat at the top of the jump. It removes the guesswork about where you touched, which is why combines use it, but you have to set the base height against your standing reach correctly or the whole test is off.
Jump mat or force plate
These estimate jump height from flight time or from takeoff force rather than from a reach. They are consistent and repeatable, but they measure how far your centre of mass travelled, so the number can differ from a reach-based test on the same jump. Compare like with like.
Phone video analysis
Recording the jump and analysing the footage lets you retest often without a wall, a partner, or gym equipment. PlyometricAI works this way: you record or upload a jump clip, the app returns an estimated vertical jump result and technique cues, and each assessment is timestamped into your history so you can compare reads over time.
Standing jump or approach jump — pick one and stay with it
A no-step (standing) vertical and a running approach vertical are different tests, and the approach number is normally the larger of the two. Neither is more correct; they just answer different questions. Decide which one you are tracking, note it beside every result, and do not compare a standing number this month against an approach number last month.
How to get a number you can trust
Jump testing is noisy. The fix is to control the conditions rather than to test more often.
- Warm up first. Test after a general warm-up and a few submaximal jumps, never cold.
- Test when fresh. Early in a session, before heavy lifting or conditioning.
- Take three attempts. Record the best, with full recovery between attempts.
- Keep conditions constant. Same shoes, same surface, roughly the same time of day.
- Retest on a sensible interval. Every few weeks shows a real trend; daily testing mostly shows noise.
Common mistakes
- Measuring standing reach on your toes, which understates your vertical.
- Changing arm swing or approach between tests.
- Comparing a flight-time result against a reach-based result.
- Testing at the end of a hard session and reading the drop as a loss of ability.
- Chasing a personal best every session instead of tracking a trend.
This guide is general information, not medical advice — consult a qualified clinician about your situation.
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Measure your jump from video
PlyometricAI estimates your vertical jump from a jump clip, returns technique cues, and builds a 4-8 week plyometric plan from your profile and latest results.