How High Do You Need to Jump to Block in Volleyball

There's no jump height that works for everyone: how high you need to jump to block depends on how high you reach standing still, how high the net is and how far you want your hands to go over the tape. Two players with the same vertical can block very differently, because they start from different reaches. Here's how to actually think about it.

Blocking isn't about getting high, it's about getting your hands over the net

At the block you don't need to touch the highest point possible: you need to get your hands past the plane of the net, into the opponent's court, to intercept the ball before or during the attack. That's called penetration. A high block with the hands held back lets balls slip under the fingers; a lower block with the hands well over the tape closes down real space.

So the question "how high do I need to jump" needs rephrasing: how high do my wrists have to get for my hands to sit over the net in a way that actually helps?

The three numbers that decide your block

• Net height. In senior men's the tape sits at 2.43 m, in senior women's at 2.24 m. In youth categories the heights are lower. That's the physical wall you have to clear with your hands.
• Your block reach. That's how high you get with both arms extended overhead, standing. It depends on your height and arm length, and it's your free starting point.
• The centimetres you add by jumping. This is the trainable part: the gap between your standing reach and the highest point you touch on a block jump.

Add reach and jump together: if the total puts your wrists above the tape with enough margin to bend your hands over, you block well. If you only just get there, your hands stay on the plane of the net and you don't penetrate.

Why the block jump is lower than the attack jump

A detail that confuses a lot of people: you don't jump as high on a block as you do on an attack, and that's normal. On the block you often start from a standstill or after a short lateral shuffle, with tight timing and without the full arm swing you use on an approach. On the attack, the approach run adds energy that gets converted into vertical drive.

That's why the block jump has to be trained separately and measured separately: they're two different movements and the two numbers don't compare.

What you physically need to block higher

Blocking rewards a specific quality: force produced in very little time, starting from almost still. You don't have an approach to load you up, so what counts is the drive you can produce in an instant, often after a shuffle that leaves you little time to organise the jump.

The biggest gains come from three fronts: base leg strength, the ability to express it fast, and the coordination of the shuffle-and-take-off, meaning arriving balanced and jumping straight up instead of leaking drive sideways.

First of all, measure where you're starting from

To know how far you are from the block you want, you need two numbers: your two-hand reach (measure it against a wall, arms extended) and your vertical. With the JHP jump test you upload a 2-second video and get your height in centimetres from your flight time. It's free and the video never leaves your device.

Add reach and jump, compare it to the height of your net and you know exactly how many centimetres separate you from the block you want. Then you train and measure again: measure first, then train, then measure again.

The JHP programs for getting higher on the block

• Jump Higher Program — 10 weeks bodyweight, €60. The foundation for the vertical jump, block included.
• JHP Gym Edition — 16 weeks in the weight room, €60. To build the strength you need to jump from a standstill.
• Jumping Monster — 14 days of intensive plyometrics, €40. For a faster take-off at the block.
• JHP Membership — €99/year: 13 programs, WhatsApp support, cancel anytime. Full list on the JHP courses page.

In short

There's no "blocking" jump height that's the same for everyone: what counts is where your hands end up relative to the net, meaning reach plus vertical, and how far you get past the tape. The block jump is lower than the attack jump and needs training on its own. The part you can work on is always the same: the centimetres you add by jumping.

You might also like: The best exercises to increase your vertical jump · How high do volleyball players jump (and what it depends on)