Last updated: 2026-06-21

Ranking a Standing Broad Jump

The standing broad jump — also called the standing long jump — is a classic field test of explosive horizontal power. From a still, two-footed start you leap as far forward as you can, and the distance reflects how much force your legs deliver and how well you direct it. A raw number in metres is hard to judge on its own, though. Is 2.3 m good? The answer depends on who you compare against.

This calculator scores your jump as a percentile against adult population norms, so you can see at a glance whether the result is poor, average or excellent.

How the Percentile Works

Jump distances across a population follow an approximately normal (bell-shaped) distribution. Given a population mean $\mu$ and standard deviation $\sigma$, the percentile of a jump $d$ is the area of the bell curve to the left of it:

where $\Phi$ is the standard-normal cumulative distribution. A jump exactly at the mean lands at the 50th percentile; one standard deviation above the mean sits near the 84th.

The reference values used here are broad adult norms: men average about 2.20 m with a standard deviation of 0.30 m, and women about 1.65 m with a standard deviation of 0.25 m. Because men and women jump different distances on average, the score is always measured against the matching distribution.

The Rating Bands

• Below the 20th percentile — poor.
• 20th to 40th — below average.
• 40th to 60th — average.
• 60th to 80th — above average.
• Above the 80th percentile — excellent.

Worked Example

A man records a 2.50 m standing broad jump.

His jump is $2.50 - 2.20 = 0.30 \ \text{m}$ above the male mean, exactly one standard deviation ($\sigma = 0.30$ m). One standard deviation above the mean corresponds to the 84th percentile, comfortably in the excellent band. A jump right at the 2.20 m mean would score the 50th percentile. A 2.50 m jump is about 8 ft 2 in, and the male reference mean of 2.20 m is about 7 ft 3 in. The jump is one standard deviation above the mean, which corresponds to the 84th percentile — comfortably in the excellent band.

Jumping Further

The standing broad jump rewards horizontal power applied at the right angle. Heavy lower-body strength work — squats, deadlifts and hip thrusts — builds the force, while plyometric drills such as repeated broad jumps and bounds train you to release it explosively. Technique matters too: a strong arm swing and a take-off angle near forty-five degrees turn the same leg power into extra distance.