Validity and reliability of “My Jump app” to assess vertical jump performance: a meta-analytic review

Abstract

This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to investigate the validity and reliability of the My Jump smartphone application in measuring vertical jump height, specifically using flight-time-based measures. To identify potential studies for inclusion, a comprehensive search strategy was employed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO host databases. Validity was assessed in two ways: (1) mean and standard deviations of My Jump measurements were compared to criterion methods to assess the agreement of raw scores; (2) correlation coefficients evaluated the within-group consistency of rankings between My Jump and criterion methods. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Heterogeneity was evaluated via Cochrane’s Q statistic, its p-value, I2 value, and tau2 value. Publication bias was explored through funnel plot symmetry and confirmed with extended Egger’s test. Following the search, 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results showed no significant difference in raw scores between My Jump and criterion methods, indicating high agreement. High correlation was also found for within-group rankings, suggesting consistency. The My Jump application demonstrated nearly perfect reliability scores. The My Jump application appears to be a valid and reliable tool for sports scientists and strength and conditioning practitioners, offering a cost-effective and accessible means for accurately assessing vertical jump performance in various settings. However, it should be noted that these results are specific to flight-time-based measures, and further research is needed to validate these findings against gold-standard take-off velocity methods.

Validity and Reliability of a Smartphone App for Vertical Jump Height Assessment Using the Marker Displacement Time Method

“…Previous studies have also assessed the validity of using My Jump for determing the MH during vertical jumps [2,3,6,9,[12][13][14][15][16]24,27]. Considering the comparison of this app with the force platform, Balsalobre-Fernandez et al [2], Carlos-Vivas et al [6], Driller et al [14] and Stanton et al [15] reported very close MH results and an almost perfect agreement (ICC greater than 0.970) between both methods, recommending the My Jump app as a valid tool for evaluating the CMJ height.…”

“…The assessment of the jump height obtained from the flight time is made easier by the installation of the My Jump app on a smartphone, which is much cheaper than laboratory devices [12,13]. Importantly, the My Jump app was validated by comparing this application with the force platform as a criterion.…”

Assessment of human motion using smartphone sensors: a tutorial for education, research and practice (Preprint)

“…Both cameras [42,43] and microphones [44] have been used to characterize time of flight, which can be used to estimate jump height, similar to one of the applications described in this tutorial.…”

Evaluación y prescripción del salto vertical y horizontal en futbolistas. Revisión narrativa (Assessment and prescription of vertical and horizontal jumping in soccer players. Narrative review)

“…Sin embargo, un estudio reciente mostró una buena concordancia entre calificadores entrenados y no entrenados para la evaluación de la altura del salto, lo que indica que la aplicación de vídeo tiene una buena fiabilidad entre calificadores (Pueo, Jimenez-Olmedo, Penichet-Tomas, & Bernal-Soriano, 2018). Otra desventaja, es el riesgo de que el sujeto prolongue de forma artificial el tiempo de vuelo debido a la flexión (dorsiflexión) de rodilla y tobillo justo antes del aterrizaje, lo que le daría un mayor tiempo de vuelo y por consiguiente una mayor altura del salto alcanzada (Gençoğlu, et al, 2023).…”