The reliability of vertical jump tests between the Vertec and My Jump phone application

BACKGROUND: The vertical jump is used to estimate sports performance capabilities and physical fitness in children, elderly, non-athletic and injured individuals. Different jump techniques and measurement tools are available to assess vertical jump height and peak power; however, their use is limited by access to laboratory settings, excessive cost and/or time constraints thus making these tools oftentimes unsuitable for field assessment. A popular field test uses the Vertec and the Sargent vertical jump with countermovement; however, new low cost, easy to use tools are becoming available, including the My Jump iOS mobile application (app). The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of the My Jump relative to values obtained by the Vertec for the Sargent stand and reach vertical jump (VJ) test. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-five healthy participants aged 18–39 years (94 males, 41 females) completed three maximal Sargent VJ with countermovement that were simultaneously measured using the Vertec and the My Jump. Jump heights were quantified for each jump and peak power was calculated using the Sayers equation. Four separate ICC estimates and their 95% confidence intervals were used to assess reliability. Two analyses (with jump height and calculated peak power as the dependent variables, respectively) were based on a single rater, consistency, two-way mixed-effects model, while two others (with jump height and calculated peak power as the dependent variables, respectively) were based on a single rater, absolute agreement, two-way mixed-effects model. RESULTS: Moderate to excellent reliability relative to the degree of consistency between the Vertec and My Jump values was found for jump height (ICC = 0.813; 95% CI [0.747–0.863]) and calculated peak power (ICC = 0.926; 95% CI [0.897–0.947]). However, poor to good reliability relative to absolute agreement for VJ height (ICC = 0.665; 95% CI [0.050–0.859]) and poor to excellent reliability relative to absolute agreement for peak power (ICC = 0.851; 95% CI [0.272–0.946]) between the Vertec and My Jump values were found; Vertec VJ height, and thus, Vertec calculated peak power values, were significantly higher than those calculated from My Jump values (p < 0.0001). DISCUSSION: The My Jump app may provide a reliable measure of vertical jump height and calculated peak power in multiple field and laboratory settings without the need of costly equipment such as force plates or Vertec. The reliability relative to degree of consistency between the Vertec and My Jump app was moderate to excellent. However, the reliability relative to absolute agreement between Vertec and My Jump values contained significant variation (based on CI values), thus, it is recommended that either the My Jump or the Vertec be used to assess VJ height in repeated measures within subjects’ designs; these measurement tools should not be considered interchangeable within subjects or in group measurement designs.