Vertical jumps for tennis

Short, full-effort sets of jumps at the start of the strength session, while the legs are fresh: from 3 × 4 at level 1 to 6 × 6 at level 6, with 75 seconds of rest. Part of strength and power in the 6-week tennis fitness program.

Animated demonstration: a countermovement jump straight up with a soft landing — Vertical jump, one cycle, as the app shows it.

Why it matters

Teaches the legs to produce force fast: the power behind your first step.

How to do it

Stand with feet hip-width apart.
Dip quickly, swinging the arms back.
Jump straight up as high as you can, arms driving up.
Land softly on both feet, knees bent. Reset before the next jump.

Common mistakes

Landing with straight legs.
Rushing: every jump is a full effort.

How much

Jumps and lateral bounds together grow from 28 contacts a session to 72: into the 50+ range and the mix of jump types that a meta-analysis of 56 studies ties to the biggest gains in jump height^[5], step by step so tendons keep up. Every jump at full effort, a pause between reps, 75 seconds between sets. No hundreds of jumps: 72 is the ceiling.

Level	Vertical jump	Lateral bound (per side)	Jump contacts	Split squat (per leg)	Romanian deadlift
1	3 × 4	2 × 4	28	2 × 5	2 × 6
2	3 × 5	2 × 5	35	2 × 6	2 × 7
3	4 × 5	3 × 5	50	2 × 8	2 × 8
4	4 × 6	3 × 5	54	3 × 6	3 × 6
5	5 × 6	3 × 6	66	3 × 7	3 × 7
6	6 × 6	3 × 6	72	3 × 8	3 × 8

What the research says

Strength and jump training in tennis players improves strength, power, sprint and agility (2025 meta-analysis).^[4]

Tuko runs this for you: the timer, the beeps and the voice, the levels and the repeats. Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.