COUNTERMOVEMENT VERTICAL JUMP WITH DROP STEP IS HIGHER THAN WITHOUT IN COLLEGIATE FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Brodt, V, Wagner, DR, Heath ME. Coutermovement vertical jump with drop step is higher than without in collegiate football players. J Strength Cond Res 22: 1382-1385, 2008-The vertical jump is a performance test commonly used to assess explosive power and predict athletic ability. Typically, the vertical jump is performed with a countermovement from a stationary stance. We hypothesized that taking a quick step back before initiating the jump, known as the drop-step technique, would result in a higher vertical jump. The purpose of this study was to compare countermovement vertical jumps (CMJs) done from the stationary-stance position to CMJs performed with the drop-step with trained athletes. NCAA Division I football players (N = 56) performed 3 trials each of stationary-stance and drop-step CMJs in a random order. A paired t test revealed that a significantly (p < 0.01) higher jump height was achieved with the drop-step CMJ (69.3 +/- 8.0 cm) compared to the stationary-stance CMJ (66.5 +/- 8.0 cm). The 2 jump conditions were highly related (r = 0.95), and the rank order of the athletes tended to be similar from 1 condition to the other (r = 0.94). Trial-to-trial reliability was similar for each condition (coefficient of variation [CV] = 3.5% stationary stance; CV = 4.1% drop step). It is important to standardize CMJ testing procedures because a significant difference in the height achieved exists between the stationary-stance and drop-step techniques.