Broad Jump Test: How the Standing Broad Jump Is Measured

How it is run

1. 1

   Set your feet at the line

   Toes behind the starting line, feet parallel and about shoulder width apart. No step back to get a run at it.

2. 2

   Load with the arms and hips

   Swing both arms back as you bend the knees and hips, in one smooth motion.

3. 3

   Jump out, not up

   Throw the arms forward and drive off both feet at once. Aim to travel long and low rather than high.

4. 4

   Land on both feet and hold it

   Land on both feet with the knees bent and freeze. At the combine you cannot move once you land.

5. 5

   Measure to the closer heel

   The tester measures from the starting line to the back of the heel that landed closest to the line. In the large high school combine study, each player's best attempt counted.

Where the tape goes: the closer heel

The broad jump is measured from the starting line to the back of the heel that lands closest to it. LSU's 2019 pro day guide describes it that way, and the 2019 high school combine study used the same rule: the distance from the starting line to the athlete's closest heel. So your score is set by your worst foot, not your best one.

That rule decides how you should land. If one foot lands a few inches behind the other, those inches are gone. Practice landing with your feet side by side and holding still; the Commanders' combine guide notes that you cannot move once you land. 440's broad jump cues end with the same idea: stick the landing.

The NFL study records the broad jump in inches. The high school study recorded centimeters, so the high school figure in the table above is converted.

Technique: arms and takeoff angle

Swing the arms. The 2023 Journal of Expertise description of the combine broad jump has the athlete swing the arms and bend the knees to drive forward, then land on both feet. A small biomechanics study of three men found they jumped 21.2% farther with a free arm swing than with the arms restricted, mostly from a faster takeoff. Swinging the arms back during the flight also helped them control forward rotation of the body.

Go out, not up. It's tempting to launch high, but a 2005 study of five active men calculated the best takeoff angle for distance at 19 to 27 degrees, lower than the 31 to 39 degrees they chose on their own. Jumping at a higher angle cost them takeoff speed. The authors also found the distance lost at the chosen angle was small, only about 4 to 14 cm, so don't overthink it: drive out at a low angle and let the arms carry you.

What the broad jump adds to the vertical

The two jumps overlap but are not the same test. In a study of 69 boys aged 6 to 15, researchers concluded the vertical and broad jump give independent information about lower-body power. In an analysis of 1,136 NFL Combine players from 2005 to 2009, the horizontal jump was linked to both acceleration and top speed, while the vertical was linked more to top speed. That makes it worth testing both. See the vertical jump test for how the other jump is measured.

The numbers in the table above show the spread. At the NFL Combine from 2000 to 2018, cornerbacks averaged 122 inches (just over 10 feet) and offensive linemen 102.4 inches (about 8 and a half feet). High school combine players, mostly freshmen to juniors at all positions, averaged about 246 cm, roughly 97 inches or 8 feet 1 inch. For its analysis, the NFL study kept only players with a result in every drill it used for each position; it does not say whether these averages come from that group or from everyone who jumped.

440 plans program broad jumps in the plyometric block, usually 3 sets of 3. Every position guide shows what else your plan trains; the running back plan lists lateral bounds and the wide receiver plan single-leg hops.

FAQ