Validity of the Vernier Go Direct Force Plate for Measuring Vertical Jump Performance

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the Vernier Go Direct force plate against a laboratory-grade AMTI force plate during squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ) assessments. Forty physically active university students (20 males and 20 females) performed both jump tests while vertical ground reaction force was recorded simultaneously by both systems. A total of 28 force-time variables were analyzed (9 from SJ and 19 from CMJ). For SJ, all parameters demonstrated excellent agreement (ICC = 0.986–0.997; CCC = 0.986–0.997) with small biases ranging from −4.0% to 3.6%. For CMJ, the parameters also showed good to excellent agreement (ICC = 0.846–0.999; CCC = 0.845–0.999) and minimal biases (−3.1% to 3.3%). These findings support the validity of the Vernier Go Direct force plate for measuring vertical jump performance and can serve as a cost-effective alternative for dynamic strength assessment, applied sports science research, and physical education settings.