Analysing Victor Osimhen’s incredible leap

When Victor Osimhen leapt to a height of 2.58m to score the first of his two goals for Serie A leaders Napoli against Spezia in February, it served as yet another tick in the box for a striker whose performances this season have caught the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs. He’ll step in and bounce up into the air quickly, which shows a strategy of using more of the tendon instead of calling upon larger muscles, which you might see when you do things like a squatting pattern.” Being able to get off the floor as fast as possible is one of the key performance indicators for generating good height in a jump, says Watson — something that’s apparent in a competitive ball-winning scenario. “Normally, when a person jumps you will see that their knees are straight, but if you keep your knees flexed a little bit, you’re getting more hang time,” says Navandar. So, if you get a greater hang time, theoretically, you’re increasing the decision-making time and you can not only win the header but also decide where you want to put the ball.” Aside from these two specific observations, there are fundamental principles of achieving a good jump height that Osimhen also adheres to. “You see that they are able to jump much higher because they’re able to activate certain muscles first and then others,” says Navandar.