Jump Height Lies: Force–Time CMJ Metrics Reveal Hidden Neuromuscular Responses in Elite Football

🦘⚽️ Your player jumped the same height as last week. All good?

Joao Marques, Vasileios Sideris, FELIPE RABELO, Thiago Santi, Lucas Marques, Martin Buchheit. Jump Height Lies: Force–Time CMJ Metrics Reveal Hidden Neuromuscular Responses in Elite Football. Sport Performance & Science Reports. 2026; April; 293; v1.

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Not necessarily. In elite football players tested 48h post-match, jump height stayed flat across all levels of match exposure — while force-time metrics told a completely different story:

↓ Early concentric impulse (−0.42)

↓ RSI modified (−0.39)

↓ Concentric peak force (−0.32)

↑ Contraction time (+0.55)

Same jump. Different strategy. Hidden fatigue.

Jump height tells you what was achieved. Force-time metrics tell you how. Those are not the same thing — and confusing them can lead to false-negative readiness decisions in the players who need it most.

👏 Thanks to Joao Marques, Vasileios Sideris, Felipe Rabelo, Thiago Maria, and Lucas Marques for the great collaboration with Red Bull Bragantino 🇧🇷 .

#EliteFootball #SportsScience #CMJ #NeuromuscularMonitoring