Three World Records for the Highest Vertical Jump Ever

Jumping seems like a simple act. For professional athletes, jumping is a complex process that requires many different techniques. They always try to take advantage of every element to add a few inches to their jump. In this article, let’s join Scott Fujita to learn about three world records for the highest vertical jump ever. 

Who Set the Record for the Highest Vertical Jump?

The official NBA record for the tallest vertical jump is 65 inches.  Brett Williams is the one who made this vertical platform jump in 2024. 

Before that, the world record holder was Evan Ungar. In 2016, Evan Ungar made a vertical leap of up to 63.5 inches.

Related: Average NBA height

While trying to find this answer, we realized vertical jump. Other jumping methods can affect the outcome of vertical jumps. Therefore, we will be looking at three ways, including: 

• Platform Jump.
• Standing Jump.
• Running Jump.

Each of these methods differs in how the athlete performs the jump. Therefore, we should not compare their results with each other. 

Different jumping methods can affect the outcome of vertical jumps

This article will refer to the Guinness World Records, NBA Draft Combine result and the NFL Scouting Combine result. Players from both the NBA and NFL have performed the most significant jumps in the world. Therefore, these results are entirely reliable. 

Let’s explore the highest vertical jump in the world.

The World Record for Platform Vertical Jump

For platform jump, the highest vertical jump ever is 65 inches.

To implement the platform jump, you need to prepare a pedestal and try to jump on it. For this method, you can get a lot better results than the above two methods. 

Who has the highest vertical in the world?

According to official information, the world record for the highest platform vertical jump is 65 inches. The world record holder is Brett Williams. 

He set this vertical jump world record in 2019. Before that, the world record holder was Evan Ungar. In 2016, he made a vertical leap of up to 63.5 inches.

In this video, he also did a 62 inches jump, the highest jump ever.

Related: NBA training camp

Unofficial records

Before Bret Williams set the world record vertical jump, some people thought that Kevin Bania was the one who broke the world record with the 64.44-inch jump. Unfortunately, not many people know his jump record.

Record for Standing Vertical Jump

1. The Guinness world record for standing vertical jump 

Currently, the Guinness world record for standing vertical jump is 46 inches (116.8400 cm)

Standing vertical jump.

This method is the method of jumping from a standing position. You can also call it a no-step vertical. In general, this is the most common method of measuring standing vertical jump. It allows you to get the most accurate results in your leap.

To better understand the standing vertical jump, you can watch the video.

2. Official NBA Record for standing vertical jump 

The official NBA record for standing vertical jump is 39.5 ″

Both Nick Young and Kenny Gregory are holders of this NBA vertical jump record. Specifically, both players achieved the highest standing vertical jump in the NBA with 39.5 ″. We took these numbers according to the NBA Combine results in 2001 and 2007.

The max vertical leap of Nick Young is 39.5 inches (100.3 cm).

However, we also need to mention DJ Stephens when it comes to the NBA’s highest-standing vertical. Many people think that DJ Stephens has done a standing vertical jump up to 40 inches (101,6000 cm). However, we could not find any information to verify this. This result does not appear to exist on the official NBA Draft Combine website.

3. Official NFL Record for standing vertical jump 

The official NFL record for standing vertical jump is 46 inches (101,6 cm).

Gerald Sensabaugh is the NFL record holder for standing vertical jump. According to the NFL Combine results in 2005, his highest vertical jump is 46 inches. There’s no denying that the leaping ability of this NFL player is usually pretty good.

Gerald Lind Sensabaugh Jr. is an American former soccer player. Gerald also played for the Dallas Cowboys. 

Gerald Sensabaugh did a 46-inch vertical jump.

Record for Running Vertical Jump

1. The Guinness world record for running jump 

For this method, the highest vertical jump ever is 45.5 inches.

The result of this method is a combination of two factors. They are the measure of your standing reach and the measure of your jump after a quick run. 

The running technique of the players is different. It can affect the result of the vertical jump. If you run a greater distance, you will jump higher. Therefore, the running jump does not give the same result as the above method.

For the NBA, the limit of running momentum is 1 or 2 steps,

2. Official NBA Record for running vertical jump 

The NBA Record for running vertical jump is 45,5 inches (115,5 cm)

Kenny Gregory is the holder of the NBA highest record vertical jump.

According to the NBA Combine results in 2001, he developed a 45.5-inch vertical jump. However, according to some unofficial information, player DJ Stephens has reached 46 inches. However, we were unable to find any information regarding this on the official NBA Draft Combine website.

The max vertical leap of Kenny Gregory is 45,5 inches (115,5 cm).

3. Official NFL Record for running vertical jump: N/A

The NFL Combine does not perform the vertical jump test with this method.

Therefore, we do not have specific figures for this part. That means no one has broken Kenny Gregory’s record of 45.5 inches vertical jump since 2005. According to the NBA Draft results, the highest running vertical jump is 45.5 inches, while the highest standing vertical jump is 39.5 inches. These records are 6 inches apart.

We can confirm that the height of the running vertical jump is usually higher than the standing vertical jump. It also applies to the NFL Combine. That means the unofficial NFL record for running jump is about 52 inches.

4. Unofficial records

The unofficial record of 49.5 inches belongs to Jordan Kilganon. He is a dunker. In 2016, Jordan Kilganon’s appearance at the NBA All-star Weekend made a memorable impression on many people.

The highest vertical leap of Jordan Kilganon is 49.5 inches.

On the other hand, The highest vertical leap of Kadour Ziani is 56 inches. As an impressive professional dunker, Kadour Ziani has many years of experience in dunking. In our opinion, his most outstanding feature is his high leap and his fast hands.

However, the record of Kadour Ziani originates from unofficial information. Therefore, this number may remain a mystery. You can watch the video to see how high he can jump.

Why Do NBA Players Jump Lower Than NFL Players?

Through the above article, we can see the difference in results between NFL and NBA Combine. You will find that NFL players tend to jump higher than NBA players.

You might think that NBA players are the ones with the advantage in the high jump. You are not mistaken. The high jump is one of the deciding factors whether a person can join the NBA or not.

However, on the vertical jump test, NFL players tended to score higher. 

Why do NBA players jump lower than NFL players?

The most important reason is their training method. NFL players typically play four rounds, each lasting 12 minutes. Therefore, they usually use a lot of time on endurance training.

They must do explosive exercises involving ball handling and running. That’s the reason why they can dance so well.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Leonel Marshall can jump very high, right?

The short answer is yes. 

He is a Cuban professional volleyball player. He used to do many amazing vertical jumps. Many people claim that his highest vertical jump is 50 inches.

2. Is a 60 inch vertical possible?

The short answer is yes. However, very few people can do that. This article showed that Brett Williams vertical jump achieved a height of 65 inches.

3. Is a 30-inch vertical good?

A 30-inch vertical is an awe-inspiring result for a high school athlete. Typically, they have a vertical jump of 22 to 26 inches. An excellent jump can be up to 32 inches.

4. Is a 50 inch vertical possible for NBA players?

Maybe! However, the number of players who achieve that vertical jump is not many. Many players can’t even jump to a height of 40 inches.

5. Can a woman have a 40 inch vertical?

That seems impossible! The fact of the matter is that 40 inches vertical is a challenge for men.

6. How can I do an excellent vertical jump?

To improve your jumping, you need to practice endurance exercises regularly. In addition, you also need to perform the best vertical jump.

Most importantly, you have to be persistent. Over time, your vertical jumping technique will get better.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can better understand the vertical jump methods and who owned the highest vertical jump through this article. Until now, there is still no international competition for vertical jump. Therefore, we have worked very hard to come up with reliable numbers. Let’s look forward to new records in the future!