DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ONE-FOOT AND 2-FOOT VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCES

The purpose of this investigation was to quantify the differences betw een one- and two-foot vertical jumping performances. Fourteen subjects performed both jump styles with a four-step, self-paced approach. Whi le overall jump and reach heights were similar between one-foot and tw o-foot jumps, the strategies employed to achieve these results were no tably different. One-foot jumps benefited from an increased takeoff he ight that was largely attributable to the elevation of the free swingi ng leg. Further, it was suggested that the actions of this limb may ha ve helped slow the rate of extension of the support leg during the pro pulsion phase. Greater flight heights were achieved during two-foot ju mps, as expected, but the magnitude of this difference was only about 9 cm. It was suggested that factors associated with the development of muscular tension, vertical velocity at touchdown, and horizontal appr oach speed may have all contributed to the unexpectedly small differen ces in flight height between one-foot and two-foot jumping performance s.