Novel Technologies Found to be Valid and Reliable for the Measurement of Vertical Jump Height With Jump-and-Reach Testing

Brooks, ER, Benson, AC, and Bruce, LM. Novel technologies found to be valid and reliable for the measurement of vertical jump height with jump-and-reach testing. J Strength Cond Res 32(10): 2838–2845, 2018—Vertical jump testing is used by coaches and athletes across many sports and disciplines to assess lower-body power and neuromuscular fatigue. A range of devices are available to measure jump height, with recent innovations attempting to improve portability, usability, and accessibility. New devices should be evaluated for their effectiveness and dependability in specific tests before being adopted. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of 2 novel measurement devices for jump height testing with a jump-and-reach protocol. Twenty-six healthy, active adults participated during 2 testing occasions. A wearable inertial measurement unit (VERT) and a smart device application (My Jump 2) were compared with established measures (force platform and jump-and-reach apparatus [Yardstick]). Correlations between the VERT and force platform were r = 0.95 (90% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93–0.97), and r = 0.93 (90% CI: 0.90–0.95) for the Yardstick. Correlations between the My Jump 2 app and force platform were r = 0.98 (90% CI: 0.97–0.99), and r = 0.94 (90% CI: 0.92–0.96) for the Yardstick. Reliability, measured as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), was 0.91 (90% CI: 0.87–0.94) for the VERT, and 0.97 (90% CI: 0.96–0.98) for the My Jump ...
Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research