How to Measure Vertical Jump, Pt. 2

How to Measure Vertical Jump

There are two key numbers you will have to test and record when attempting to measure vertical jump. Those are you standing reach, as well as the highest point you can touch using one of our suggested vertical jump tests (see the first half of this article series, Testing Vertical Jump, part 1). You must know how to arrive at these two measurements of standing reach and highest touchable point in order to accurately arrive at your correct vertical jump. Keep reading in order to learn how to measure reach, how to measure vertical jump, and how to use these two measurements to calculate the height of your vertical.


The first thing you will want to figure out when measuring vertical jump is how high your standing reach is. In order to do this use the following steps:

1. Grab a tape measure, pencil, chair, and a partner
2. Stand next to a wall or other vertical object that is preferably between at least nine or ten feet high
3. While facing wall with both feet flat on the ground, put one arm up directly in front of you and touch the highest point on the wall that you can while keeping your shoulders square to the ground.  Do not raise one shoulder higher than the other as this will create an inaccurate measurement.  Reach as high as you can with it still feeling comfortable and natural.  Do not try to reach that extra inch.
4. Hold that position and have your partner mark it on the wall with the pencil.  They can use the chair if they cannot reach it from the ground.
5. Record number of inches (or preferred unit of measurement) from the ground to your marking.

Now that you have your standing reach measured, you will need to determine the highest point which you can jump and touch.  This can be done a variety of different ways.  One option would be for you to check out these tools for measuring standing reach and vertical jump.  Another would be for you to use a tall wall, basketball backboard, or other device to jump up and touch.  It can be tricky to measure accurately this way, but a few markers that we have heard of people using are:

• tape
• white powder like flour or baby powder (works best on dark surfaces)
• dark powders like charcoal (lights surfaces)
• lotions, creams, or greases work very well on glass basketball backboards (be respectful and use a very small amount as to not make a mess)
• basically anything that will stick to or show on a wall or similar surface

Once you have done a few jumps, simply use a tape measure to measure your vertical jump mark on the wall or other surface.  Now that your have measured your reach and highest vertical jump mark, it is a simple math formula to find out your true vertical jump.  All you have to do is subtract your standing reach from your highest marking made from a vertical jump.  As an example, lets say someone has a reach of 92 inches and touched 124 inches on a basketball hoop.  Using the formula (Highest Vertical Mark - Standing Reach = Vertical Jump) we come up with our hypothetical athlete having a vertical jump of 32 inches.

Now that you know how to measure vertical jump get out there at test your vertical and figure out where you stand!  If you want to add inches to your vertical jump, make sure to check out some of our vertical jump program reviews to find a suitable program for you!

To read part 1 of this article about the different variations of vertical jump tests click here!