ABSTRACT
When jumping vertically, the athlete must overcome bodyweight, and so the resultant force acting on the athlete's centre of mass (COM) is of interest when exploring the influence of applied force on COM motion. If conducting a jump and reach assessment then arm swing is a requirement, but understanding how arm swing influences Countermovement jump (CMJ) performance data is still useful from a test standardisation and interpretation perspective. Affordable and valid commercial force platforms have been developed meaning that practitioners are likely to utilise them more frequently when conducting CMJ testing. The equipment that practitioners use to obtain CMJ data will depend on several factors what data they are interested in, what equipment and software they have access to and how quickly they require the information. Alternative equipment to the force platform is available to practitioners who wish to assess the CMJ performances of their athletes but who do not have access to a force platform.
