Concurrent Validity And Reliability Of The Vertical Jump And Standing Broad Jump Tests In Youth

Concurrent Validity and Reliability of the Vertical Jump and Standing Broad Jump Tests in Youth Isaac T. Faamoe, Kelly R. Laurson, Tyler J. Kybartas, Samantha M. McDonald Muscular power is an important component of fitness with implications for bone health, explosiveness in movements, and predicting long-term health outcomes. However, the literature is scarce concerning commonly used muscular power field tests among youth, including vertical jump (VJ) and standing broad jump (SBJ). PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between VJ and SBJ, as well as factors impacting reliability of VJ. METHODS: Approximately 600 students (9-14 years of age) in grades 4-8 participated in the testing of the counter movement VJ (VJC), non-counter movement VJ (VJNC) and SBJ. VJC was retested within one week. Pearson correlations were used to evaluate relationships between jump variables and intra-class correlations (ICC) were used to examine reliability of the VJ. RESULTS: VJC had a positive and strong relationship with SBJ (r = 0.74), the VJC re-test (r = 0.90), and VJNC (r = 0.91), all p < 0.05. ICC analyses demonstrated VJC had a moderate reliability (ICC = 0.54, p < 0.05) with SBJ, but excellent reliability with re-test VJC and VJNC, with ICC values of 0.947 and 0.950, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The VJC is highly correlated and highly reliable with the VJNC and the re-test VJC. However, while moderate in strength, VJC has lower correlation and reliability compared to SBJ. While each are used as field assessments of lower body power in youth, each contributes unique variance during assessment. Further investigation is needed to better determine this unexplained variance.