Vertical leap programs!

[fecupe2001]

Hello guys, in the last weeks a few friends died for different reasons and i keep thinking, life´s too short!! I wanna do things that i couldn´t before because i was too lazy or didn´t have the time. I used to play for my national´s basketball team when i was a 16 years old little guy, i retired from basketball around 21 because i had to work and study, and i never dunk the ball!!!

There´s a couple of things besides that wich are easier and faster for me to do (skydiving for example) and i´ll do them very soon, but yes, I WANT TO DO A FUCKING DUNK!!! I´m 6 feet tall and i weight around 188 pounds, i´m not in a very good shape but i ain´t on the worst either; Said all that, what´s the best vertical leap program??? Air alert?? The Jump Bible?? there must be some dunkers on these forum that could help me reach this new goal, you think i could dunk the ball or i´m just wasting my time?? how much time would it take for me to dunk it if i follow the program correctly??? maybe this is a stupid idea but what a hell!!!

[n8ball2013]

best thing is to jump and jump alot. I used to run through my house as a kid and would touch all the doorways and stuff like that. my mom used to yell at me all the time. Could dunk a basketball going into 11th grade. Im 5'11"

[fecupe2001]

Yeah i know that you mean, i used to be like that, but i was always a small guy, i actually growned up around 19 haha, i haven´t jump IN A LONG TIME! ahaha, i don´t even know if i can touch the rim right now, i´m kind of sick at bed but this weekend i´ll do my first test on the court. In the past, i always weared ankle weights to help me jump higher, but 10 years later, there´s so many programs that i guess it´s easier using them right?

[rusty959]

Id stay away from ankle weights... too many rumors of knee problems from them.

Anyways, I currently high jump in NCAA D3 (just d3 because I picked a private engineering school to go to, lol) so ive had my way around some workouts, though ive never used a "jumping program." The thing to keep in mind is jumping is explosive, so workouts should be explosive as well. Do you have access to a weight room or just stuff around? If so, I would keep leg stuff to mostly lighter weights and quick explosive lifts/movements. Be sure to do a lot of calf work... a lot of people don't put enough emphasis on them it seems.

As far as whether you could do it or not... certainly you can do it, you definitely are tall enough, (I am 5 11 just as n8ball is) it just depends on how important it is to you. Either way, even just trying to get there will get you in good shape which should be a good reward in itself.

Anyways, as far as time, it depends on several factors. Some being what shape you are currently in and how often you do workouts... How would you describe your current build?

Either way, as your vertical increases, I would suggest dunking things like tennis balls, volley balls, etc as you get better to keep your morale up as well as get some experience dunking. For awhile I could get midway up my forearm on the rim without a ball but couldn't dunk a full size ball consistently because I just didn't have the form. (that being said I wasn't trying all that often, lol)

See if you can measure your vertical. If you don't already know how, just put a tapemeasure or yard stick etc up to a wall and measure what the highest is you can reach flat footed reaching up as high as you can. Then jump up from a standstill or maybe one leg back and have someone read how high you can touch when you jump. Subtract to find vertical.

Sorry for the novel

[Hotdog]

Id stay away from ankle weights... too many rumors of knee problems from them.

Anyways, I currently high jump in NCAA D3 (just d3 because I picked a private engineering school to go to, lol) so ive had my way around some workouts, though ive never used a "jumping program." The thing to keep in mind is jumping is explosive, so workouts should be explosive as well. Do you have access to a weight room or just stuff around? If so, I would keep leg stuff to mostly lighter weights and quick explosive lifts/movements. Be sure to do a lot of calf work... a lot of people don't put enough emphasis on them it seems.

As far as whether you could do it or not... certainly you can do it, you definitely are tall enough, (I am 5 11 just as n8ball is) it just depends on how important it is to you. Either way, even just trying to get there will get you in good shape which should be a good reward in itself.

Anyways, as far as time, it depends on several factors. Some being what shape you are currently in and how often you do workouts... How would you describe your current build?

Either way, as your vertical increases, I would suggest dunking things like tennis balls, volley balls, etc as you get better to keep your morale up as well as get some experience dunking. For awhile I could get midway up my forearm on the rim without a ball but couldn't dunk a full size ball consistently because I just didn't have the form. (that being said I wasn't trying all that often, lol)

See if you can measure your vertical. If you don't already know how, just put a tapemeasure or yard stick etc up to a wall and measure what the highest is you can reach flat footed reaching up as high as you can. Then jump up from a standstill or maybe one leg back and have someone read how high you can touch when you jump. Subtract to find vertical.

Sorry for the novel

Agree with this .. also like he said it is explosion you want. Lots of plyometric type jumps will help you out a lot. Back in the day I had a 36" standing vertical jump but I was a year round athlete too. I am only 5'9" but could dunk fairly easy... but most of my dunks were off a bounce or off the back board because my hands were not big enough to palm the ball.

here is a good site with different plyometric drills.

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometricexercises.html

[n8ball2013]

back in the day I was around a 36-38 vert. could go up and grab rim vertically with two hands. Drop step to two hand dunk. I could never dunk with one hand they just werent big enough. plyometrics like hot dog said will help you a ton or kick your ass trying.

[doug118]

back in the day I was around a 36-38 vert. could go up and grab rim vertically with two hands. Drop step to two hand dunk. I could never dunk with one hand they just werent big enough. plyometrics like hot dog said will help you a ton or kick your ass trying.

I had a similar problem. 7th grade was when I discovered I could jump high enough to hold onto a 10' rim. Now I'm 5'11 and my hands are large enough, just not strong enough to hold the ball with 1 hand. but boy can I catch a pass and cock it back lol

as far as training to jump higher, I found that using a jump rope helps with the quickness of your jump. just go back and forth from foot to foot and make sure you keep a steady quick rhythm. you could have all the power in the world and all the height, but if you don't have a nice spring to your jump, you won't get anywhere. when I was a freshmen in high school I won a dunk contest against a 6'8 senior who played b-ball his whole life, all because he had no spring in his legs.

also look up ways to do calf raises at home if you don't go to a gym. also practicing on a Hoop with adjustable height will help you with the technique on how to dunk. I'd say start off at a height where you can get your palms to the rim, grab a ball and just start practicing. once you get comfortable at that height, move it up to the next one and just keep trying trying trying

[fecupe2001]

Ok guys thanks for all the comments, yes i have a gym available with lots of wights, cardio machines etc etc, i´m starting to use them all but yes, i need some kind of program so i can follow some instructions; About my hand, way to small and i can´t grab a baskbetball with it, so i´ll start with a tennis ball and things like that, i´m hoping i can get at least a crappy dunk of the blackboard or on a alley oop, i don´t mind, i just want to dunk it at least one time in my life and i´m still kind of young, i turned 29 2 weeks ago so i think i still have time to reach this goal.

I´ll tape a video of me jumping and trying to touch the rim this weekend and i´ll post it to see your comments and opinions, thanks a lot for all the inputs!!!

[doug118]

start with a woman's ball

[fecupe2001]

I don´t think i´ll start with a ball haha, i haven´t jump in about 4 years or maybe more, i don´t even know if i can touch the net hahaha, we´ll see this weekend, i´ll post a video so you people can give me your opinions, i know that, if i´m not any close of the rim, there´s no way i´ll dunk a ball using any programs, i´m just too old!