Performance-based correlates to vertical jump height and power values

BACKGROUND: Vertical jumps are an important component to many athletic endeavors. Identification of performance variables that act as correlates to vertical jump prowess is important to help achieve success in sports. OBJECTIVE: To examine which performance-based variables (kinetic, temporal, force-time integrative, expressed relative to body mass) are the best correlates to vertical jump height and power. METHODS: Men (n = 117) performed vertical jumps on an instrumented platform placed aside a Vertec; both devices obtained data as jumps occurred. Vertec values were used to identify jump height and power, each of which served as criterion measures. The platform provided six performance-based variables from the countermovement and takeoff phases of jumps; they were used to predict the variance per criterion measure via multivariate regression. RESULTS: With either jump height or power as a criterion, each analysis revealed a significant amount of variance correlated to our performance-based independent variables. Univariate correlations showed peak force and area under the curve were the best predictors of jump height and power variance. Our results concur with studies that employed similar subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Kinetic and force-time integrative variables are the best correlates to jump height and power values for criterion measures derived from an instrumented platform.