Has anyone had any experience using those $450 electronic jumping mats? I believe they just work by measuring air time.
Are they accurate? Worth the price? Any cheap alternatives I’m missing?
A simple way to get a reading on my vert without running into a wall or banging up my forearm on the rim would be nice. A boy can dream, can’t he?
-Erik
I talked to Mike Boyle about them once. He said they’re only accurate if you land in the exact same position on the same part of the foot. So, not really accurate. I tested an entire team of volleyball players and every jump I tested was 1-2.5" below that of the mat test. I’ve never used it though.
Hey Speedkills,
Thanks for the quick reply.
“He said they’re only accurate if you land in the exact same position on the same part of the foot.”
So it would make a big difference whether one foot hit first vs. both at the same time… I see… and from someone who doesn’t land very pretty, I don’t know if I could make a device like that work.
Back to thinking about a homemade easily portable vertec like thingey.
-Erik
I guess the easiest thing to do would be to hang a tennis ball by a string. Hang the string from a pole and mark off 1" increments on the string. As you move the ball up to a certain height, you’ll be able to tell by the markings on the string that are hanging down. Then jump up and see how high you jump to move the ball and that should give you a pretty accurate vertical test. And you could start the tennis ball hanging from 6’ to have a standard marker to maintain accuracy, and move it up when you’re ready to test. Does that make any sense?
I have used a “Just Jump” before and they seem to be prone to errors. If a person pulls thier knees up, the majority of the time it gave them a much higher vertical. Granted that is improper form but the problem is still there since many athletes are tested using poor form.
Speedkills, I’ll admit, I’m not quite sure I can visualize what you’re talking about. Are you talking about a string with say different color marks at each inch with a tennis ball on it? I hold the tennis ball and jump up and mentally note the bottom color inch I reach? I felt the need to ask as I’m definitely not sure exactly what you meant.
Hi Myersje,
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I thought there would be a large difference if you didn’t land the same each time. Bent knees suddenly equal increases in vertical jumps.
I’m thinking about incorporating a mat into some drop off work based on %s so I would need to have it be relatively accurate. Especially for $450!
I’m thinking that maybe it would be most accurate if I landed straight legged with both feet simultaneously at both times. A standing vertical without the use of my arms. It would seem that both legs would come down much more evenly than if I did a regular CMJ with my left foot almost always landing first.
-Erik
No, quite literally you would poke a hole in the tennis ball and hang it from the string at a height that would test your maximum jump. You could mark the inch, half inch, and 6-inch markers all in different colors like on the Vertec (red = 6 inches, white = 1/2 inch, blue = 1 inch) and hang the string from a pole overhead. You could start the tennis ball hanging at 6 feet and move it up in 6 inch increments until you find close to your max jump and then make the smaller 1 and 1/2 inch adjustments from there. I have to admit that this is kind’ve running off the top of my head so I haven’t put that much thought into it…
There is another way to do it cheaply, and its much more accurate than the standard jump and reach I think
I’ll let Kruger describe it since he made it 
