Re: The best area to find what muscle, bones,and joints are used in jumping?

Your questions are very involved & are too extensive to answer in this 
format.  The order of muscle's use is really very difficult to state due to 
the quickness of the activity as complex as those you mention.  The mere 
naming of the muscles, ligaments, tendons etc. is a tall task in itself.  
As you may know, there are over 600 skeletal muscles in the human body.  
The majority of them work by contracting as they pass over a moveable 
joint.  Just as an example, jumping involves muscles at the hip, knee, 
ankle & foot joints as well as muscles in other parts of the body that are 
used for balance, facial expression, breathing, etc.  These are complex 
motions that you have asked about.  

The best resources would be textbooks in biomechanics and in kinesiology. Here 
are some examples you should be able to borrow from a library:

Hall, S. J. (1995) Basic Biomechanics, Mosby Year Book, St Louis . 
Hay, J.G. (1993) Biomechanics of Sports 
Kreighbaum, E. and Barthels, K.M. (1996) Biomechanics; A Qualitative Approach for 
Studying Human Movement,Allyn & Bacon, Boston. 
 
J.W., Logan, G.A. and McKinney, W.C. (1983) Analysis of Sport Motion, Anatomic 
and Biomechanic Perspectives,Iowa, Wm C Brown. 
Plagenhoef, S. (1971) Patterns of Human Motion, a Cinematographic Analysis, 
Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall. Techniques, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall. 
Hay, J.G. and Reid, J.G. (1988) The Anatomical and Mechanical Bases of Human 
Motion, Prentice Hall.  

These books detail the soft & hard tissues around all moveable joints of the 
body.  Also, if you know a personal trainer, he/she might be a resource as they 
have to take courses in kinesiology as part of their training.  Any Human Anatomy 
& Physiology textbook will give descriptions of the muscles as well as their 
actions, so these might be a start.  
J. Bridger
(Here are some mpeg files from the biomechanics of jumping:
http://www.biomechanics-inc.com/anims/jumprun2.mpg
http://www.biomechanics-inc.com/anims/hurdle.mpg )