The simplest way to measure your vertical jump is the chalk-and-wall method: mark your standing reach height, jump and mark the wall again, then measure the distance between the two marks. That distance is your vertical jump height. Whether you use a wall, a professional vane device, or a smartphone app, the core idea is the same: subtract your standing reach from your peak jump height.
The Chalk-and-Wall Method
This is the most accessible approach and requires nothing more than a wall, chalk or tape, and a measuring tape. Here’s how to do it:
- Chalk your fingertips. Use sidewalk chalk, athletic chalk, or even a piece of tape on your middle finger.
- Mark your standing reach. Stand sideways next to the wall with both feet flat on the ground. Reach up as high as possible with the hand closest to the wall and touch the wall to leave a mark. This is your first measurement (M1).
- Jump and mark. From a standing position, jump as high as you can and touch the wall at your peak. This leaves a second mark (M2).
- Measure the gap. The distance between M1 and M2 is your vertical jump height.
Repeat the jump three times and either average the three results or take the best one. Averaging gives a more reliable number, while taking the best reflects your true peak ability. Most athletic testing protocols accept either approach.
A few tips to get an accurate reading: stand close enough to the wall that you can comfortably reach it at your peak, but not so close that you alter your jump mechanics to avoid hitting it. Jump straight up rather than drifting forward or backward, and keep the same hand overhead each time.
Using a Vertec Device
The Vertec is the tall pole with horizontal plastic vanes you see at the NFL Combine and other athletic testing events. It works on the same principle as the wall method but removes the need for chalk and guesswork. You swat the vanes at your standing reach height, then jump and push the highest vane you can. Each vane is spaced a half inch apart, so the device gives a precise reading.
The protocol matters as much as the equipment. Jump on a consistent floor surface, since carpet, rubber, and hardwood all affect your results differently. You should land on roughly the same spot where you took off. If you drift noticeably forward, backward, or sideways, that jump doesn’t count because horizontal movement can inflate your measured height. Complete three jumps and record the best or the average.
Smartphone Apps
Apps like My Jump 2 use your phone’s slow-motion camera to record your feet leaving and returning to the ground. The app measures how long you’re in the air (flight time) and converts that into jump height using a physics formula: height equals flight time squared, multiplied by gravitational acceleration, divided by eight.
These apps are surprisingly accurate. Validation studies comparing My Jump 2 against laboratory force plates found the average difference in jump height was only about 0.1 centimeters, with flight time differences of roughly 3 milliseconds. The correlation between the app and force plate measurements was essentially perfect (r = 0.999). For home use, that level of accuracy is more than enough to track your progress over time.
To use one, you’ll need someone to film you (or prop your phone at ground level pointing at your feet). Wear shoes with a distinct sole edge so the app can clearly detect takeoff and landing. Follow the app’s instructions for framing the shot, and again, do three jumps.
Jump Mats and Force Plates
Jump mats are pressure-sensitive pads that detect the moment your feet leave the ground and the moment they return. Like the apps, they calculate height from flight time. They’re common in college and professional athletic facilities, and you may encounter one if you’re tested by a trainer or sports performance coach.
Force plates are the gold standard. These laboratory-grade platforms measure not just how high you jumped but how you jumped: how quickly you generated force on the way down and up, how much total force you produced, your peak takeoff force, and your contact time with the ground. Sports medicine clinics use force plates to evaluate athletes returning from knee injuries, comparing the injured leg to the healthy one. For most people measuring their vertical jump at home, force plates are overkill, but they’re worth knowing about if you’re doing formal athletic testing.
Warm Up Before You Test
A proper warm-up can meaningfully change your result. Cold muscles don’t produce as much power, so testing without warming up gives you a number that’s lower than your actual ability.
Start with five minutes of light cardio like cycling, jogging, or jump rope to raise your core and muscle temperature. Follow that with dynamic stretches targeting your calves, quads, hip flexors, hamstrings, and glutes. Then do a short set of jumping exercises: skipping for about 20 feet, six two-foot ankle hops, five split squat jumps, and five standing jump-and-reaches. This full sequence takes roughly 10 minutes and primes your nervous system for an explosive effort. Research has shown that adding a few sets of explosive half-squats with light to moderate weight can further improve countermovement jump performance, so if you have access to a squat rack, that’s worth considering.
Common Mistakes That Skew Your Results
The biggest source of error in any flight-time method (apps, jump mats, photocell systems) is landing position. The math assumes your body leaves the ground and returns to the same height. If you tuck your knees at the top of your jump or land with your feet higher than where they started, the device thinks you were airborne longer and overestimates your height. Research has found this error can reach several centimeters, with some studies showing discrepancies of roughly 27 to 31 percent of total jump height when landing mechanics aren’t controlled. Keep your legs relatively straight and land naturally.
Arm swing is another variable. Swinging your arms freely adds height to your jump, sometimes significantly. That’s fine if you always test the same way, but mixing arm-swing and hands-on-hips jumps across sessions makes your numbers meaningless for tracking progress. The NFL Combine uses a no-step approach with arm swing. Many research protocols keep hands on the hips to isolate leg power. Pick one style and stick with it.
For the wall or Vertec method, make sure your standing reach is accurate. Reach as high as you possibly can with your shoulder fully extended and your feet flat. A lazy standing reach measurement artificially inflates your vertical jump by a couple of inches.
What’s a Good Vertical Jump?
Context matters here, because a good number depends on your age, sex, sport, and training history. As rough benchmarks for adult males: 16 to 20 inches is average, 21 to 25 inches is above average, and anything over 28 inches is considered excellent. For adult females, those ranges shift down by about 4 to 6 inches. Elite basketball and volleyball players regularly clear 30 to 40 inches, and the top NFL Combine performers have hit 40 inches or higher.
More useful than any single number is your trend over time. Testing every four to six weeks under the same conditions (same warm-up, same method, same time of day) gives you a reliable picture of whether your training is working. Even a one-inch improvement over a training block is meaningful progress.