Association between traditional standing vertical jumps and a soccer-specific vertical jump

The present study aimed to determine the relationships between a soccer-specific vertical jump (ssVJ) test, that included common elements of a soccer VJ (e.g. run-up and intention to head), and three traditional VJ tests using elite soccer players. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the VJs used in the analysis. A randomised order and counterbalanced design was used to assess the relationships between these VJs [countermovement jump (CMJ), drop jump for height (DJh), drop jump for maximum height and minimum ground contact time (DJh/t) and the ssVJ]. Take-off velocity, contact time and flight time were the dependent variables of interest and compared between jumps. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV) were used as measures of inter-session reliability. All VJ tests were found to have high ICCs (0.89-0.99) and acceptable within-subject CVs (<7.5%). All the ssVJ dependent variables were not significantly related (r<0.44) with similar variables from the CMJ and DJh tests and only moderately related (r=~0.49) with the DJh/t test variables. In addition, the DJh/t variables were not significantly correlated (r<0.47) with DJh and CMJ test variables. In conclusion, it would seem that the proposed ssVJ test and CMJ or DJh tests assess different leg qualities and thought should be given before using them interchangeably to assess or develop the same performance measures (i.e. velocity at take-off or jump height).