The last figures I saw for a vertical leap by a basketball player was either 45 or 48 inches. Do they do any better than this?

About 100 years ago, Ray Ewry apparently did much better. Perhaps his torso and upper body were light compared to his legs.

Something reminded me of Ray Ewry who won ten Olympic gold medals (over 3games from 1900 through 1908), which might be a record to this day. His forte was standing jumps: High, broad, & triple. He cleared almost 65 inches (actually 64.96) in the standing high jump.

I found photos of him on the Web. As his ass went over the bar, his torso was erect. Do you remember the scissor kick technique which used to be taught to kids in grammar school? This was the way he did it.

Since his torso was erect as he cleared the bar, the photos suggest that he had a vertical leap of almost 65 inches!!! This is way better than modern NBA stars.

He started crouched down, indicating that he took off from both feet (Illegal under today's rules for the running high jump). At some point the leg closer to the bar was raised Ass-high. The trailing leg was raised Ass-high after the leading leg cleared the bar and was slightly below the bar. It seems very difficult to get a component of motion in the horizontal direction without running. The photos do not show it, but I assume he was leaning slightly toward the bar when he started his leap.

The standing jumps have seldom been contested since about 1915. They were discontinued as Olympic events after the 1912 Olympics.

The current world record is 66 inches set in about 1936. I wonder if they still were using the Ewry technique, which does not seem to be the best. From a standing start, it might not be possible to go over the bar with the body more horizontal as per the techniques being used prior to Fosbury. I wonder if a variant of the Fosbury Flop could be used: It seems easier to do from a standing start than either the Eastern or Western Roll styles.

This video is titled "66 Inch Jump".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vL19q8yL54

The erect torso does not mean the "vertical" was 65". It means his center of gravity was, guessing, a minimum of about 70" up. Since it started at least 30" up, we have a vertical of possibly as little as 40".

Probably more, but within the range of modern performance.

There's no reason to dismiss the athletic abilities of people before the modern record keeping age, though. I recall reading about a sub-four minute mile run on a carefully measured track and timed with a very good watch in the late 1800s, by a Pawnee famous for running prowess. That was barefoot on irregular dirt, without starting blocks or modern training and shoes etc.

Iceaura: Your analysis is correct. Mea culpa. I wondered about some explanation, but was thinking about leg muscles large compared to overall body weight. It did not seem reasonable for Ewry to have a vertical leap that much higher than modern NBA players.

BTW: Ewry might have had a leap close to modern NBA players. His technique results in the center of gravity being well above the bar, unlike modern methods, particularly the Fosbury flop.

I wonder what the world record would be now if the event was still included in the Olympic games and other competitions. Somehow, a standing high jump of 66 inches seems more impressive than a running jump of well over 7 feet. The current record of 66 inches was set in 1936 when the running jump record was 6 feet 10 inches. I think they must have held some special event in 1936, because the standing jump was not in any official competitions since about the time of WW1, which is probably the reason that the WR did not improve much since Ewry in about 1904.

BTW: A gymnast cleared 8 feet 6 inched in about 1955, but his techniques was declared illegal. He did a series of hand springs, a round-off, and a back flip over the bar. I think he was from USC. I saw a video of this performance. The technique was never used in competition. His coach queried the governing Track & Field rules makers before attempting to use the method in competition.

In either the 1928 or 1932 Olympics, the Japanese held a 20-25 foot pole in the middle. They ran at a moderate pace and balanced the pole after planting it in the box. They then climbed up hand over hand and hopped over the standard. I was told that the most difficult part of this method was moving from one side of the pole to the other in order to hop over the bar. This technique was immediately declared illegal and the Japanese were disqualified. Under the rules in existence at that time, it was an allowable method.