While watching the NBA Conference finals last week, the guys got into a conversation about the average vertical leap. Don't ask how or why this topic of conversation began - it just did. Anyway, we had no real parameters for average in any given population and we just guessed. I said 6" and others said upwards to 24". Later in the week while playing basketball, I asked another group what they thought the average vertical leap might be. Again, answers varied. Finally, I looked online and found an interesting calculator. According to this site, the average vertical for someone 18-29 years old is 19.5 inches. The data apparently is drawn from an institute at the Univ of Texas at Austin (if you read the bottom of the website). Another website on bodybuilding listed the following numbers:
Average Vertical Leap of NCAA Div. 1 Football player: 29-31 inches.
Average Vertical Leap of NCAA Div. 1 Basketball player: 27-30 inches.
So, I closed my office door, emptied my pockets of wallet and keys, marked the highest spot on the wall that I could touch with my hands in a standing position, and then jumped from a stationary position. I jumped four times for an average vertical leap of 20-21 inches. Just slightly above the average for folks younger than me but much less than elite Division 1 athletes. And about half of Spudd Webb's 42" vertical leap!
Posted by richlee at June 3, 2008 04:09 PMBy the end of summer I will exceed 24"
That will be the challenge. 24".
Posted by: hapanine at June 3, 2008 04:39 PM