Objectives: This study aimed to compare the differences in vertical jumping abilities between top-level athletes from distinct sports specialties. Material and methods: Soccer players (n = 21), tennis players (n = 24), endurance runners (n = 15) and power athletes (n = 19) volunteered to participate in this study. The testing routines comprises performing squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps. The jumping performance was analysed by means of height and reactive strength index. Results: Differences were found between the power group and all other groups in all tested variables (P < 0.05) (e.g., countermovement jump in power [48.31 ± 6.25 cm], soccer [40.95 ± 2.95 cm], tennis [39.14 ± 4.27 cm] and endurance [32.37 ± 3.80 cm] athletes). In squat jump, countermovement jump and drop jump, the soccer and tennis groups presented higher heights than the endurance group (P < 0.05). In reactive strength index, no significant differences between the soccer, tennis and endurance groups were found, although these groups presented lower reactive strength index than the power group (power [2.31 ± 0.53], soccer [0.84 ± 0.13], tennis [0.76 ± 0.15] and endurance [0.91 ± 0.26]). Conclusion: The power athletes perform better than all groups in jumping tests. These data provide quantitative information concerning performance differences between athletes from different sports, reinforcing the need to assess the training status and the inherent characteristics of these subjects.
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