Countermovement and arm-swing contributions to vertical jump performance in elite female soccer players

Vertical jump testing is widely used in soccer, yet the mechanical information provided by different jump conditions and by the additional height gained through countermovement or arm swing remains unclear in elite female players. This study compared squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), and arm-swing CMJ performance and examined force-time characteristics associated with absolute CMJ performance and jump augmentation. Thirty-nine assessments from 27 elite female players were analyzed across the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 preseasons, with 12 players assessed in both seasons. Jumps were performed on force plates at 1000 Hz. A linear mixed model compared jump height across conditions and seasons, with player as a random effect. Spearman correlations examined associations with force-time variables, with false-discovery-rate correction. Jump height increased from SJ to CMJ and was greatest with arm swing. The CMJ–SJ difference was greater in 2026–2027 than in 2025–2026 (condition × season: B = 1.54 cm, p  = 0.039). CMJ height was strongly associated with relative net propulsive impulse ( ρ  = 0.934), relative peak power (ρ = 0.877), modified reactive strength index (ρ = 0.852), relative mean propulsive power (ρ = 0.751), and mean propulsive velocity (ρ = 0.663; all q  < 0.001). In contrast, CMJ augmentation was not associated with these variables after correction. Greater arm-swing augmentation was associated with increases in relative impulse (ρ = 0.610) and take-off velocity (ρ = 0.592; both q  < 0.001). These findings indicate that absolute CMJ performance, CMJ–SJ augmentation, and arm-swing augmentation provide distinct, complementary information for profiling female soccer players.