Vertical Jump Free Report on How To Improve it
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Hoop Hopz
This page of our web site is devoted to HOOP HOPZ. Crazy Hopz. Hopz that get you out of your seat. Stoudemire Hops or Josh Smith Hops. We can all admit that we want to jump but not just jump, we all want to sky. We all want to develop that explosive jumping technique where you can rise above your opponent and throw down a hard jam.
There are techniques, proven techniques, that can help you add several inches to your vertical jump and make you an explosive jumper at the same time. There is no quick solution to becoming a great jumper. All exercises take hard work, training and discipline. But if you stick to them, the following exercises can help you become a quick explosive high flyer on the court.
The first concept I would like to talk about is called plyometrics. While it doesn’t sound like that much fun, it is an interesting concept when it comes to jumping. There are technical explanations of plyometrics but I like to think of it as a tightly coiled spring in your calf which when tightened provides a quicker release mechanism which allows you to spring higher and faster.
Essentially when you’re jumping and landing in a basketball game, you're using these quick fibre muscles to gather explosive energy to jump higher and faster. The way which we do this is to mimic the vertical jump movements performing a game or practice into an individual exercise.
Below are listed several plyometric type exercises that will help you increase your vertical jump. Please be aware that these exercises can be considered dangerous if not done properly. Please seek professional coaching to ensure correct technique!!!!!!!!
But before you do this, you may want to bench mark your vertical jump. It helps if you have a starting point to measure your vertical jump so you can measure your progress and assess your level of training. Keeping track of this in a notebook is an excellent idea.
First off, stand against a wall flat footed with your hand outstretched on the wall. Use a piece of chalk if necessary, but mark the wall where the tip of you hand is. Now with that point marked, perform a standing vertical jump and mark the wall at the highest point of your jump. This may take a few attempts but accurately mark the height of your jump.
The distance between the two marks on the wall is your vertical jump. This is your starting point. Once you apply the drills listed below, you can periodically measure your jumps in the same way to get your increasing vertical.
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Olympic Lifts and Their Alternatives to Improve Vertical Jump
By Joel Jamieson
Olympic lifting is one of the best ways to develop explosive power, which is an important aspect to look at if you want to improve vertical jump. Performing them can improve many of your abilities, including coordination, balance, flexibility, neural activation, strength, fast-twitch muscle fiber recruitment, and the ever important rate of force development (ROFD).
What is Rate of Force Development?
Rate of force development is very commonly referred to as power or explosive power.? It is simply the speed at which force can be produced. The vertical jump is an explosive movement that occurs in a fraction of second. Most athletes take anywhere between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds to execute a jump. Letís say you can squat 300lbs for 1 repetition, but it takes you 4 seconds to execute the lift. When it comes to the vertical leap, the only part we care about is how much of that strength you can use in those 0.2-0.5 seconds. Exercises that train your ROFD will allow you to use up more of that strength during the small time frame.
The Olympic Lifts
If you take a look at the Olympic lifts, you will notice that they are impossible to do slowly. You need to do them fast. It is why you need to be explosive to be able to do them, which requires a high rate of force development, which translates very well to the vertical jump.
The 2 main lifts that make the best choice to incorporate in your training in how to jump higher would actually be variations of their big brothers. I'm talking about the power clean and the power snatch.
They create a high level of central nervous system activation, allow you to recruit the highest percentage of muscle fibers, and work all the muscles involved in a vertical jump.
My preference goes to the power clean though. While still being a technically difficult lift to learn, it is still easier to lift than a power snatch, allows you to use more weight, and provides great assistance for the squat and deadlift.
Knowing all of this, there are a couple of drawbacks to the Olympic lifts:
1) They require a special area and sometimes special equipment to be able to perform them.
2) The lifts are very technical and have a steeper learning curve compared to most other exercises, though there are a lot of resources out there and if you have a decent coach, then it is not a big issue.
Alternatives to Improve Vertical
If we look at the Olympic lifts from a more general point of view, we can categorize them as ballistic lifts. These are lifts that require a high rate of force development and result in high velocities. In addition, they are exercises increase hip power as well as the power of the prime movers in a vertical jump: hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, lower back, calves, etcÖ Any effective alternatives need to adhere to the same principles, provide the same benefits, and work the same muscles. The best 2 alternatives are: jump squat and box squat.
The Jump Squat
My preferred alternative to Olympic lifting, and a great overall exercise to improve vertical jump is the jump squat. There are many variations of it, but our focus here is on the regular jump squat.
You do those by assuming a regular squat stance and position with a weight on your back. You descend into either a partial squat or full squat, and then jump up. You can either jump a few inches or jump as high as possible as they both provide benefits.
As soon as you land, you immediately bend the knees and jump again. The exercise should be executed smoothly and in a rhythmic fashion. For the weight used, it can be anywhere between 10% and 30% of your full squat 1-RM. I recommend starting out with 10% and progressing towards 25-30% as you get more comfortable with the movement.
An alternative to having a barbell on your back is to hold dumbbells in your hand, sandbags, weight vests, or even kettlebells.
The Box Squat
The second alternative is another variation of the regular back squat, and itís called the box squat. You do them by grabbing a box on which your hips end up lower than your knees when sitting on it, assuming a squat stance that is wider than usual (a bit more than shoulder-width), with a load on your back, and then squatting down by sitting on the box in a controlled manner, and then coming back up.
The main benefit of box squats is that they allow you to start the ascent from a dead stop, which requires you to explode up from the bottom position. This develops both a strong and explosive posterior chain (i.e. hip power), which directly translates to an increase in rate of force development as well as maximal strength, and so allowing you to jump higher.
Conclusion
Olympic lifts are a terrific way to build explosive power in order to improve jumping abilty. They may be hard to learn and implement, but they are worth it. In cases when thatís not possible, then there are alternatives that adhere to the same principles and provide almost the same benefits such as the jump squat and box squat.
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Now here are some drills:
Bench Jumps
Place a bench on the court or your area of practice. Standing parallel to the bench take a two footed jump over the bench and land on the other side. When your feet hit, quickly spring back over the other side and back again. Repeat this process jumping over the bench for a period of 20 to 30 seconds depending on your ability and conditioning. The key is quick repetitions from one side to the other. Maintain your balance and speed until the drill is over. Repeat this exercise 3 to 5 times in a row with rests of up to a minute or two between sets. Train with a buddy if possible this also adds to motivation and encourages teamwork.
Step Ups
Step Ups are similar to bench jumps. Place the bench against a wall and face the bench. Begin to step up on the bench with one foot, then the other and down again. When your feet hit, step up on the bench again. Continue the step-ups for thirty seconds and stop. Repeat this drill 3 to five times in a row. The key to this drill is quick repetitions; make sure your feet are moving fast. This drill encourages quick feet on the court and quickly eliminates those tired and heavy feet so many players are burdened with.
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Box Hopz
This exercise involves a series of jumps from boxes of similar or varying heights to encourage quick explosive jumping. The boxes (usually 3) are spaced out in a row and the player proceeds to jump up on one and down and quickly onto the next and down and onto the third box and down. The player wants to jump quick and high, land on the box and jump high and land on the floor back onto the next box. Repeat these exercises ten to fifteen times as desired. Ensure the boxes are of proper construction to support your weight adequately when performing the drills.
Rims Taps or Backboard Taps
This drill is a simple one too. On the court, without a ball, jump up and tap the backboard with one or both hands 10 times in a row. If you are not able to touch the backboard or the rim, find a place along a wall that will enable you to touch it 10 times in a row. You will find that as you perform this drill it will get tougher to touch the rim or backboard on each successive jump. But keep trying and make sure you are using quick explosive jumps. Repeat this drill 3 to five times
This drill is similar to rim taps in that you take the ball and from a standing jump dunk the ball through the rim 10 times in a row (assuming you can dunk it already). This is a very tiring drill but very motivating if you want to be a high flyer. Similarly to Rim taps you will get tired on each successive dunk but keep trying. Repeat this drill 3 to 5 times.
Run Hills
This drill is as simple as it sounds. Running hills. If you are lucky enough to live near a hill, use it as a training tool to increase your vertical. I recommend a hill about 30 to 40 yards with a grade that is not too steep. Start at the bottom of the hill and sprint up as hard as you can till you get to the top. Jog back down to the bottom and when sufficiently rested sprint up again. Repeat 10 times. Working with a buddy is great when running hills as you will be pushed harder and challenged to win the race. This exercise is great as it mimics explosive running up the court and encourages excellent conditioning practices.
Skipping
Skipping is another great exercise to encourage quick feet and great hops. There are a variety of skipping exercises that can be added to your jumping program. Make sure you have a good rope to perform any skipping drill you complete.
Hurdle Jumps
This is a great drill for increasing your vertical. Place six hurdles of similar height in a row approximately three feet apart. With your feet together jump over the first hurdle and land, quickly spring up and jump over the next hurdle, land and jump over the next. Complete the jumps until all the hurdles are cleared. Repeat this drill five to ten times. You may have to first measure out the space between the hurdles to coordinate your jumps. At first make sure the hurdles are not too high to create a problem. Most are adjustable and can be raised as your vertical increases.
Sprints
A good part of jumping is speed. If you can get to a hole on the court before your opponent there is a good chance you can jump quicker that him too. That’s why we encourage sprinting as part of our jumping program. A forty-yard dash is sufficient to replicate court speed on the track. At the start line go into a quick sprint and extend it to the finish line. When you're done jog back to the start line and sprint again. Repeat this exercise 5 to ten times as necessary in your workout.
Suicides
Need I say more? Suicides, unfortunately, are a part of a good jumping program. For those of you that don’t know suicides is running a set of lines in basketball. Simply put a player stands on the baseline of the court and run to the closest free throw line and back, then run to the center line and back, to the farthest free throw line and back, and finally to the other end line and back. After the player has done this he has completed a suicide. A player should push hard all the way and try to get under 30 seconds for this drill. If that not possible on the first try, keep trying or mark your time and try to beat it the next time.
These are 10 great exercises designed to increase your vertical jump and develop quick feet. Incorporate these exercises in your training plan, 5 to seven of them on a repeated basis. You should be able to see the improvement over the next month or two. Ideally you want to keep performing these drills over a longer period of time to keep up your vertical. Once you stop you may lose your increased hops
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These are some of my favorites. If you have suggestions or drills to help other players increase their vertical jump and develop mad hops write us and let us know at Planet Hoops.
See you at the summit.
Bob Hieltjes
Planet Hoops
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