VERT  :  Is a discrete wearable device that measures vertical displacement from center of mass of an athlete. Just clip and jump for quick combine and try-out testing without any calibration between subjects.  VERT   is an inertial measurement unit (IMU) with a very high precision 3X gyroscope, 3X accelerometer and 3X magnetometer.  VERT’s proprietary algorithm measures initial velocity and landing impact with over 53 simultaneous calculations to measure center of mass vertical displacement to within 96% accuracy.  Besides accuracy and cost, the biggest benefit of the VERT   device is the ability to collect data in real-time for performance and injury prevention analysis.

 

Vertec: The Vertec slap stick test is an excellent coordination and timing test but not a true measure of vertical performance. True vertical performance is a measurement of vertical displacement from center of mass of an athlete.  A major disadvantage of Vertec equipment is that they are cumbersome and bulky.  Vertec tests have been known to vary as much as 3" - 6" per person.  Majority of errors begin with an inaccurate standing one hand touch at the beginning of the test (some athletes are trained “not to touch as high” on original measurement in order to gain a couple of inches when they contort their body during the apex of their real jump).  Other variances occur when an athlete touches the slap stick on the way up or on the way down from the apex of their jump.  In order to have the perfect and accurate slap stick vertical test result, the athlete must be measured correctly followed by a perfect jump and slap stick contact.  During the jump the athlete must contort their body to reach a perfect arm/hand extension with perfect finger tip contact at the apex of all these movements.

 

Force Plate: Force platforms or force plates are measuring instruments that measure the ground reaction forces generated by a body standing on or moving across them.  Vertical jump calculations using force plates focus on air time between contact of the jump.  Even though force plates typically are limited to a fixed position for measurements, they have been recently replaced by VERT   as a gold standard in vertical jump measurements due to accuracy.  A good comparison between a force plate and a VERT  device is bouncing a 5kg bowling ball (force plate) on a trampoline vs. a 5kg water balloon (VERT   device) on a trampoline.  The water balloon is more like the human body in regards to movement of launch & landing (i.e. the VERT  device algorithm).  What a force plate does not take into equation are all the variables in a vertical jump of the human body (and body parts).  One example is when the foot is leaving the force plate (or the toes) and the force plate calculations decide to count that moment as the actual launch;  the same is for when the person lands on the force plate and when the toes or complete foot land on the force plate.  These seemlessly minor differences (and many other characteristics of a human jump) can cause the variances between 1"-4" on every jump.

 

Video System: 3D Motion capture (Mo-cap for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or athletes.  This is one of the most accurate ways of measuring human movement by the biomechanics industry.  The biggest issue with 3D motion tracking are the near-prohibitive cost for most facilities: such systems cost $75,000 to $200,000 and can be used by individual trainers for as much as $3,000 per hour.  Validation studies dating back to 2014 have compared VERT devices with a 3D mo-cap systems (Kintrak) with outstanding results.  The VERT   jump device was the most accurate when compared to a Kintrak 3D motion analyzer with a mean error of -.945 inches (less than 1") and in some cases more accurate than a 3D motion system.