It was developed in the former Soviet Union during the 1970’s as a shock method of training and was in large part responsible for the great successes of Russian Track & Field athletes during theses years.

The term “plyometric” was coined by the American coach and author Fred Wilt who saw the unusual warm-up exercises consisting of various bounds, hops, and skips of soviet athletes before competitions.

The purpose of plyometric training is described as follows:

If you want to improve your vertical you need to be able to activate your strength within a very short time frame – and plyometrics are the perfect way to teach this skill!

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How do Plyometrics work?

One thing all plyometric exercises have in common is that they use the so-called “stretch shortening cycle”. This is a complicated way of saying that all plyometric exercises consist of two phases: During the first phase the involved muscles are stretched, only to contract explosively in the second (“shortening”) phase.

Let’s illustrate this with the example of the most popular and well known plyometric exercise:

Example of a Plyometric Exercise – Depth Jump

Step 1:
You step off a box with your muscles in a neutral position. The height of this box should fit your overall conditioning. If you are new to plyometrics, it is safer to start with lower heights to prevent injuries.

Step 2:
After the landing, the muscles and tendons of your calves and quads are stretched by the downward motion. This is the “stretch phase” where the athlete tries to stop the downward motion quickly and keep the overall ground contact time as short as possible.

Step 3:
You reach the lowest point. Your muscles and tendons are now maximally stretched. Similar to a stretched rubber band they have energy stored that is ready to result in an explosive upward movement in the next phase.

Step 4:
During this “shortening phase” the muscles contract as quickly as possible. This is achieved by two main drivers:

• elastic energy stored in the tendons and muscles from the stretch phase.
• the conscious power of the muscles (calves, quads, glutes, lower back etc.)

Pictures from Adam Folker of Vert Shock

A great way to visualize the power of this “stretch-shortening cycle” is to test the height of two different jumps:

1. Deep Squat Jump:

Do a jump from a deep squat position and make sure that you do not use any kind of countermovement. This means that you are not allowed to swing down with your arms, and you are not allowed to bend your knees in the beginning. Make sure that your jump starts at the lowest point and you only move upwards.

2. Countermovement Jump:

Here, you start in an upright position and descend into the jump. Bend your knees quickly, use your arms to gain momentum and try to jump as high as possible.

What you will notice:

The countermovement jump uses the first phase to quickly descend, similar to the depth jump, but instead of dropping from a box, the athlete drops from an upright position. This way the athlete is able to use the stretch-shortening cycle to gain speed in the second phase.

Using a deep squat is a very unnatural way of jumping where you eliminate the first phase and therefore the stretch-shortening cycle completely.

Because of this, you will notice that you are able to jump much higher utilizing a countermovement in the beginning.

5 Reasons Why You Should Do Plyometrics

• Plyometric exercises are closely related to actual vertical jumping and therefore teach the “skill” of it better than pure strength training.
• Plyometrics teach the brain and the central nervous system how to fire the muscles quickly and efficiently which results in quick and significant training results. This way you learn quickly!
• Easy to learn and less injury risk than heavy weightlifting exercises
• High-intensive Plyometric Exercises also train strength
• Bodyweight exercises can be performed without expensive equipment

The most well known vertical jump training program that relies heavily on plyometric exercises to achieve goal astonishingly quickly is Vert Shock:

Alright now that you know how plyometric exercises work and why they are so efficient, let’s introduce some of the best plyometric exercises:

9 Plyometric Exercises for Basketball

1. Depth Jump:

Drop off the box and as soon as you touch the ground explode back upwards trying to minimize the ground contact time as much as possible.

You can vary the height of the box: lower boxes will work more on your explosiveness (the ability to create movement from a static position), higher boxes on your reactive ability (the ability to take a great amount of force and translate it into movement in another direction).

2. Two-Foot Ankle Hops:

Stand with your feet shoulder wide apart and hop continuously only using your ankles. Make sure that you don’t bend your knees and that you extend your ankles to the full range of motion during each jump. Also, try to limit the ground contact time to the absolute minimum. This is a great exercise to develop quickness in your feet.

3. Slalom Jumps:

This exercise is also often called “line jumps” because you draw a line on the ground and try to hop from one side to the other as fast as possible. Keep your core stable and look for very quick ground contacts, jump height is NOT important in this exercise. Every hop counts as a repetition and you can do this exercise staying in the same spot or moving slightly forward as shown in the video.

4. Power Skipping:

Power Skipping is a great exercise training the explosiveness off of one leg. The goal is to jump as high as possible of alternating legs while keeping a slow jog forward. While doing the exercise focus on driving the knee of the off-leg as far to the chest as possible. This exaggerated movement will improve the power of your leg swing and your one-leg vertical.

5. Rim Jumps:

Place yourself under a basketball rim an try to tap the rim with your hands. After landing, immediately bounce back up and try to touch the rim again. If you can’t reach the rim you can use the backboard or do the drill in front of a wall trying to reach the highest point possible. Focus on minimal time spent on the ground, stop as soon as the jumps get significantly lower.

6. Drop and Freeze:

Step off a box that is around 18-24 inches high. Make sure to land on both feet simultaneously with your knees bent and try to stop any momentum immediately. This is a great exercise for weaker athletes that are not yet used to high-impact plyometric exercises. It prepares the body to better coordinate the high forces during landing and prepares them for real depth jumps.

7. Single-Leg Depth Jumps:

Single leg jumps should only be done by experienced athletes and the height of the box should be chosen carefully. The athlete drops off the box like in a regular depth jump, but lands on only one foot. After the landing, the athlete tries to explode back up as quickly as possible. Make sure that your knee doesn’t buckle and that the center of gravity remains over the jumping leg. As an added difficulty, add a box to jump onto.

8. Hurdle Jumps

This is a very flexible exercise since you can vary the height and distance of the hurdles and use different jumps (one-foot, two-foot, sideways etc).
Focus on low ground contacts times in-between jumps to maximize the plyometric effect.

9. Bounding

Bounding is best performed in a variety of styles. You can alternate legs on every step, or go right-right, left-left or even right-right-right, left-left-left. Go for 2-3 rounds of 15-30 meters.

Final Thought

Plyometrics are by far the most efficient way to learn how to jump higher. Check out my free vertical jump program to learn how to incorporate these exercises into a complete workout.

Have you tried plyometrics yourself and what were your results? Let me know in the comments!

The post Plyometric Exercises for Basketball appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

And the good news are: this is a totally achievable goal for most people (unless you are much smaller than 6 feet) thanks to some very good training methods available today.

Unfortunately, the market for vertical jump programs is very intransparent and full of overly salesy promises and scammy-looking websites.

So which program should you trust? In this post I’ll try to bring some light to the matter and make it easier for you to pick the program that is best for you!

Overview of the most well-known vertical jump training programs:

Vert Shock

Download Here

starstarstarstarstar_half 4.5 / 5 Stars

• Intense 8-week training focused on explosiveness and plyometrics
• No gym required and exercises are easy to learn
• Shows first results very quickly

Jump Manual

Download Here

starstarstarstarstar_border 4 / 5 Stars

• 12-week training focused on strength and power
• You learn a lot about vertical jump theory and training
• Recommended when you have weightlifting experience and access to a gym

Boing Vert

Download Here

starstarstarstar_halfstar_border 3.5 / 5 Stars

• Up to 7 months long program
• Includes a ton of scientific information
• Creator Shawn Myszka is a highly regarded athletic coach

Bounce Kit

Download Here

starstarstarstar_borderstar_border 3 / 5 Stars

• 12 week training with 4-5 workouts per week
• Created by professional dunker Jordan Kilganon
• Only for experienced athletes due to heavy weightlifting

Air Alert

Learn More

starstar_halfstar_borderstar_borderstar_border 1.5 / 5 Stars

• Very old vertical jump program that doesn’t hold up to todays science
• Insane workout volume towards the end of the program
• Not a very efficient way to work on your vertical jump

Jump Soles

Get Jump Soles Here

starstar_borderstar_borderstar_borderstar_border 1 / 5 Stars

• Focus on calf muscles does not make sense
• Was very popular in the 90’s but training concept is out of date
• Unnecessary injury risk

How Does Vertical Jump Training work?

Your vertical jump height is mostly determined by what sports science calls “Power”.

Power is often confused with strength, but it’s not the same thing! In the context of a vertical jump, it defines the amount of force you are able to generate during the jump itself.

It doesn’t do you any good if you are the strongest person in the world if it takes you seconds to “activate” this strength. You need to be able to put as much force as possible into the ground within the blink of an eye. Thankfully, this is a skill that can be trained by using a training method called “plyometrics”.

But that’s not to say that you don’t require strength at all. A good vertical jump training program will make sure that you improve your lower body strength but also teach you how to use this new strength in an explosive matter.

Other factors that impact your vertical jump height:

Skill and Technique:
The vertical jump is a complex movement that requires a lot of skill that can only be acquired through countless repetitions. And having to dribble and gather a ball while jumping just makes it even harder!

Flexibility:
Very stiff tendons and muscles can be an additional obstacle to jumping high. You want to makes sure you are loose and stretched (especially in the hip flexors) if you want to maximize your hops!

Which training is a good fit for me?

Not every workout is a fit for every athlete. Make sure to pick one that fits you!

If you don’t have access to a gym make sure to pick a program like Vert Shock that can be done without a lot of equipment.

Also take a look at the schedule (and length) of the workouts. Some are more easily integrated into a busy life while others take a lot of time and determination.

If you are a slower (or older) but more powerful two foot jumper (think Dwight Howard), programs that focus more on strength and less on plyometrics like the Jump Manual make sense.

On the other hand, bouncy one foot jumpers (think Zach LaVine) should focus on plyometrics (e.g Vert Shock) and less on achieving crazy weights doing deep squats.

6 Vertical Jump Training Programs

Vert Shock

Vert Shock is an intense 8-week workout that focuses on explosive plyometric exercises and bodyweight strength training. The workouts are presented in short, high-quality videos accompanied by worksheets that tell you exactly what to do.

Rating:starstarstarstarstar_half(4.5 / 5 stars)

In my opinion, Vert Shock is the best vertical jump training program available. The plyometric exercises are easy to learn, fun, super effective, and had me dunking within 4 weeks. If you want to improve your vertical jump, this is the way to go!

Jump Manual

Jump Manual is a comprehensive 12-week program that mixes weightlifting and plyometric exercises with stretching, technique workouts and even a dieting plan.

Rating:starstarstarstarstar_border(4 / 5 stars)

Jump Manual was developed in 2008 and it shows. It is no longer cutting edge, but it still works!
If you want a program that focuses on strength then this is the perfect program for you!​

Boing Vert

BoingVert is a vertical jump training program that’s made up out of two separate programs: “Animal” a 16-week long program that focuses on plyometrics and “Monster” which is an 11-week long program that is more dedicated to weight-training.

The programs where created by Shawn Myszka a well regarded certified trainer who is known for working with NFL players on their strength and explosiveness and Kelly Baggett the author of the legendary Vertical Jump Bible.

Rating:starstarstarstar_halfstar_border(3.5 / 5 stars)

It’s clear that there is a lot of gold hidden in BoingVert! But overall it’s just not a very well thought out program. It’s too complex (and too long) for most athletes to follow and the presentation should be much more streamlined and user friendly than it is.

If you are a more experienced athlete, and you are interested in a more theoretic understanding of vertical jump training, there is a lot of knowledge here. But you’ll have to put a lot of work in to reap the rewards.

BounceKit

Created by professional dunker Jordan Kilganon, this 12-week program features a mix of weight training, core workouts, plyometrics, and exercises that focus on increasing power.

It is split into three 4-week programs that begin with an emphasis on strength training and slowly move to more explosive exercises and plyometrics.

Rating:starstarstarstar_borderstar_border(3 / 5 stars)

As we all witnessed during the 2016 All Star Game, Jordan Kilganon is without a doubt one of the best dunkers in the world. But, unfortunately, that doesn’t automatically make him one of the best vertical jump trainers in the world.

While the program covers all bases, it suffers from a lack of clear vision and unnecessary complexity. If you are just getting started with working on your vertical jump, the heavy weightlifting workouts and complex power exercises are too challenging and pose a huge injury risk.

However, if you are a more experienced athlete and you can fill in the gaps of the program, you might be able to reap the benefits of the BounceKit.

Air Alert

Air Alert was one of the first vertical jump programs on the internet and has gained a lot popularity because of it. The exercises are all very simple and easy to do. But instead of increasing intensity of the exercises along the program, Air Alert just increases the volume of exercises. By week 15 you will be doing 2600!!! jumps per workout.

This philosophy does not hold up by modern scientific standards and is just straight up outdated, inefficient, and might even be dangerous because it leads to overtraining and increased injury risk.

Rating:starstar_halfstar_borderstar_borderstar_border(1.5 / 5 stars)

The program is available for free, however, I still wouldn’t recommend Air Alert because of the outdated training philosophy and presentation.​

Jump Soles

Jumpsoles are a simple rubber platform you attach to your own shoes. They make it impossible to touch the ground with the heels thereby increasing the workload of the calf muscles.

They come with an 8-week training program of specific plyometric exercises like skipping, fast two-footed jumps (like lateral cone hops), and slower, two-footed jumps (like box jumps).

Rating:starstar_borderstar_borderstar_borderstar_border(1 / 5 stars)

The exercises of the workout plan that come with the Jump Soles make sense, but the product itself is a potentially dangerous and useless gimmick that you should avoid.

Conclusion

Overall I would give a recommendation to two programs:

Pick Vert Shock if you are looking for a program that will bring quick results, is easy to follow, proven to be successful.

If you are looking for a more advanced program that requires gym access and more experience with heavy weightlifting and you can tolerate an outdated presentation I would give the Jump Manual a chance.

The post Best Vertical Jump Program in 2022 appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

Which vertical jump training program am I going to do?

What is going to deliver the best results for me?

In this article, I will tell you why I decided to do Vert Shock instead of the Jump Manual.

Going with Vert Shock turned out to be a great decision as I increased my vertical jump by 8 inches and became a consistent dunker for the first time in my life. Make sure to check out the video below to see my transformation!

Vert Shock and Jump Manual are by far the two most popular programs of vertical jump training.

And there’s a reason for that!

Both programs have been proven to work and will increase your vertical jump significantly.

Unlike older, purely marketing-driven programs like Air Alert or the Jumpsoles, these programs are backed by scientific findings and years of vertical jump training experience!

However, there are certain athletes that will have better results using Vert Shock and others will make better improvements using the Jump Manual.

My goal is to provide you with all the information you need to find out which type of athlete you are and to decide which of the two workouts is better suited for you.

Introducing the Programs

Jump Manual

The Jump Manual was created in 2008 by Jacob Hiller. It originated as a series of YouTube videos where Jacob talked about what he learned after trying every conceivable vertical jump workout like Air alert, stair running or ankle weights.

These videos turned out to be so popular that he soon created his own vertical jump program and started selling it online. Since then he was featured on ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Men’s Health and sold over 100.000 copies of his program.

Over the past 8 years, the Jump Manual has gathered lots of happy customers that prove that the program really works and developed into the most popular vertical jump training online. You can see some of the most impressive transformations here.

Vert Shock

But in 2014, a serious challenger emerged: Vert Shock, the program created by Adam Folker in cooperation with Justin ‘Jus Fly’ Darlington.

Adam is a former Division I basketball player from the University of California Irvine and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Today he is a professional basketball player because of his relentless work ethic and his “Never Quit” attitude.

Based on hard science, years of undeniable proof and sound training principles, Adam developed a workout plan that took the internet by storm and soon became the #1 vertical jump program available online. Check out some amazing transformation stories here.

Round 1: Presentation

Jump Manual

The homepage of the Jump Manual program greets you with an almost intimidating amount of information. The layout of the website is organized like a book. On the left sidebar, you can see a table of content listing the 15 chapters included in Jump Manual. These chapters cover different topics like the scientific background of the program, optimal nutrition, perfect jumping form etc.

I personally like the fact that the Jump Manual really dives into the world of vertical jumping and gives you a lot of information. However, the presentation of the program is no longer cutting edge and could be much more user-friendly. You can definitely tell that the Jump Manual was developed in 2008 before the modern web we now know.

The advanced age of the Jump Manual shows most noticeably in the very low video quality. Most of the chapters are accompanied by little clips of Jacob Hiller talking into a webcam. These videos might very well be 15 years old and don’t look professional at all. Nowadays, every cheap cellphone can record videos that look a LOT better.

Vert Shock

The Vert Shock presentation is much cleaner and focuses on short and concise videos to tell you everything you need to know.

Adam explains everything in high-resolution videos. Warm-up, cool-down, every exercise – everything you need to know.

The training program itself is available as a PDF and can be downloaded and printed or saved on any PC, mobile phone or tablet.

Vert Shock offers a free PDF with 5 quick hacks that will increase your vertical jump right away. You can download it here to get an idea of the quality of the presentation.

Winner of Round #1: VERT SHOCK

Vert Shock’s membership section is much cleaner designed, more user-friendly and the videos are of much higher quality.

Round 2: How time-consuming are the workouts?

The most noticeable difference in this regard is that Vert Shock lasts for only 8 weeks compared to 12 weeks for the Jump Manual. The number of weekly exercises is comparable as both programs average about 5 workouts per week.

Graph: Number of workout per week during Vert Shock and Jump Manual

However, the average individual Jump Manual workout will take you a lot longer than the average Vert Shock workout. Especially the day in the Gym with 7 exercises, warm up and cooldown would take me personally about 2 hours. Vert Shock is a lot less time-intensive as most workouts are easily done in 45 minutes.

Winner of Round #2: VERT SHOCK

Vert Shock is four weeks shorter and the individual workouts are less time-intensive.

Round 3: Difficulty of the workouts

This is where the Jump Manual and Vert Shock really differ.

Vert Shock heavily focuses on jumping-related exercises and advanced plyometrics. These movements are all performed without added weights and are therefore easy to learn, safe and can be done anywhere.

Some exercises featured in the Jump Manual are much more difficult to perform. Squats and Deadlifts for example move a lot of weight and should be taught by a good instructor. These are easily done wrong and can do a lot of harm to your body.

On top of that, there are two exercises which are influenced by olympic weightlifting. These are not only done with heavy barbells but also in a very explosive manner. Exercises like these are really not meant for beginners and should be taught by educated trainers and not by low-res video clips.

Of course, if you are already a well-trained weightlifter or you have access to a gym with good coaches this does not pose a problem for you.

Winner of Round #3: VERT SHOCK

The workouts of Vert Shock are much easier to learn and a lot safer because they are done without added weight.

Round 4: Pricing

Vert Shock has a sticker price of $138 but you can get if for $67 here. The Jump Manual is a little more expensive at $97.

Both programs also offer a generous money back guarantee, so if you are not seeing results you can request a refund within 60 days, no strings attached!

Winner of Round #4: VERT SHOCK

Vert Shock is $30 cheaper.

Final Round: Which program delivers the better results?

So after this in-depth comparison of the two programs I am sure you want to know the answer to this question:

Which one should I pick?

And the answer is pretty easy: It depends!

Alright, I guess that not the answer you were hoping for;-) But let me explain:

While both programs have the same goal of increasing your vertical jump, they actually go at it from slightly different angles.

There are many different factors like strength, quickness, form, flexibility and many more that determine an athlete’s ability to jump high. Both programs train all these factors to varying degrees.

A VERY simplified explanation of jump height would look like that:

JUMP HEIGHT = SPEED x FORCE

Jump Manual focuses mostly on force by including classic strength exercises like the Squat and the Deadlift. Vert Shock focuses more on speed by featuring lots of advanced plyometric exercises.

This difference really shows when you look at the two “poster boys” of the programs:

Justin "Jus Fly" Darlington, Vert Shock

Jacob Hiller, Jump Manual

Obviously, Jacob Hiller has spent a LOT of time in the Gym and really maxed out his capacity for strength. Justin Darlington, winner of the Nike World Basketball Festival Dunk Contest, has a 50″ vertical jump just because he is insanely quick.

The fact that Vert Shock focuses on speed is one reason why it only lasts 8 weeks and delivers faster results. It is a lot easier to significantly improve your quickness compared to your strength.

Assuming you are completely untrained, it is possible to increase your vertical jump by 5 inches in a matter of weeks or even days by just focusing on your quickness. The same would take much longer if you were just working on your strength. You will not look like Jacob Hiller in the picture above after just working on your strength for three months, this takes years!

Working on your quickness has the added benefit that it doesn’t require gym equipment and can be done by everybody.

I would recommend 90% of athletes to do Vert Shock instead of the Jump Manual because it will deliver better and faster results.

However there are ​certain athletes who might see better results using the Jump Manual.

Jump Manual is perfect for you when:

– When you’re already a bit older (maybe > 35 years) and you feel like your capability for speed is not what it used to be. The ability to improve speed decreases with age, therefore, it might be more effective to do the Jump Manual and focus on your strength.

– You are a “Force” Jumper. This means that you are naturally jumping off of two feet and you are bending your knees very deep during jumps. These jumpers are often really muscular and gain very little height off the run compared to jumps from a standstill. This style of jumping is relatively slow and does not benefit as much by improving speed. Learn more about the different jump techniques here.

– You have had problems with your knees or other joints before. Depth jumps and other plyometric exercises can be hard on your joints.Therefore, Vert Shock might be problematic. Doing Jump Manual has the added benefit that stronger legs also deliver more stability and might prevent future injuries.

Conclusion

For most people Vert Shock is the program of choice. I did it myself and increased my vertical jump by an awesome 8 inches (read all about it here). It is easier to do, 4 weeks shorter and will deliver better results for the majority of athletes. However, there is a minority of athletes that will respond better to the workouts of the Jump Manual.

starstarstarstarstar_half

4.5 / 5 Stars

In my opinion, Vert Shock is the easiest, most fun and most efficient Vertical Jump program currently available! ​

If you want to increase your vertical jump, make sure to check it out!​

Download Vert Shock Here

starstarstarstarstar_border

4 / 5 Stars

Jump Manual was developed in 2008 and it shows. It is no longer cutting edge, but it still works!

If you want to focus on strength or you had knee problems before then this is the perfect program for you!​

Download the Jump Manual

You think about doing Vert Shock? Then I have written the perfect guide for you!

In this guide, I explain everything I have learned and tell you exactly what you can expect from the training. There is even an interactive calculator that tells you how much Vert Shock could increase YOUR vertical jump and if you will be able to dunk after 8 weeks of training!

Make sure to check it out:

The post Vert Shock vs Jump Manual appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

So when I stumbled upon the Vert Shock program I figured: “What’s there to lose?” and decided to give it a shot.

In this article, I’m going to share my experiences with the workout and show you the results I got after 8 weeks of vertical jump training.

Vert Shock Vertical Jump Program

Download Vert Shock Here

Summary:

Vert Shock is an intense 8-week workout that focuses on explosive plyometric exercises and bodyweight strength training. The workouts are presented in short, high-quality videos accompanied by worksheets that tell you exactly what to do.

Pros:

I improved my vertical jump by 8 inches (check the video above!)

At 6ft I am now able to dunk with two hands

Exercices are well-explained, can be done by everybody, and don’t require access to a gym

Cons:

No theoretical explanation of vertical jump training or why these specific exercises where picked

Rating: starstarstarstarstar_half(4.5 / 5 stars)

In my opinion, Vert Shock is the best vertical jump training program available. The plyometric exercises are easy to learn, fun, super effective, and had me dunking within 4 weeks. If you want to improve your vertical jump, this is the way to go!

Get 50% Off Vert Shock Here

Let Me Introduce Myself!

Hi! I am Andy, a 29-year old basketball addict from Düsseldorf, Germany.

When I was little, my Dad mounted a basketball hoop to the garage in our driveway and I immediately fell in love with the game! I loved it so much, I shot free throws for hours even if there was snow in the driveway!

Some of my fondest childhood memories are my first dunks on that shaky little hoop – about 8 feet tall. So much fun!

One day, I did my best Shaquille O’Neal impression and tore down the whole hoop with a violent tomahawk jam. 

We replaced it with a solid, regulation 10-foot hoop and my driveway dunking days were over…

That’s me!

• Name: Andy
• Age: 29
• Height: 6′ 0”
• Standing Reach: 7′ 11”

As a basketball player, I never got anywhere near professional level. I’d call myself a recreational basketball player, but I always enjoyed playing in different local leagues. And like a lot of guys out there, I always dreamed of putting on a show in the layup line before a game.

About two years ago I did four weeks of the Jump Manual program with a friend. After that, I could squeeze in a one-handed dunk on a very good day. (Check out my detailed comparison of Vert Shock vs Jump Manual if you want to know more.)

If you have ever dunked a basketball, maybe even on a smaller basket, you know how great it feels. Since I was a kid, I have dreamed of being a high riser like Vince Carter or Lebron James. I wanted to rattle the rim consistently and with authority!

Unfortunately, once I got my first real job I did not have the discipline to hit the gym as often and I spent WAY too many evenings on the couch, eating potato chips and binging on Netflix.

My athleticism suffered. I got slower and less explosive every year. I was hobbling around like Tim Duncan—if Tim Duncan had zero knees instead of one. After last basketball season ended I was so annoyed by my lack of hops, I vowed to change!

I set one goal: To be able to dunk before I turn 30!

Sure, I wanted to improve my overall athleticism – to regain my first step. But, I really wanted to hammer the ball through the net (and maybe hang on the rim for a while).

About the Vert Shock Program

In order to reach my goal, I had to find a good training program. So, one boring day at work I browsed the Internet searching for the perfect workout program. That’s when I stumbled on Vert Shock.

The program promises an increase of 9-15 inches on your vertical jump in only 8 weeks. And to be honest, that sounded a lot like “Lose 20 pounds in 5 days” or “Make millions with no risk,” You see that stuff every day on the internet…

But, the web page looked very professional and they offer a 60-day, money back guarantee. So, I thought, “What do I have to lose?”

The Vert Shock program was created by Adam Folker, a former college basketball player and now a professional basketball player, in cooperation with Justin “Just Fly” Darlington, perhaps the best dunker in the world. If you haven’t watched have his mixtapes, make sure to find him. He’s incredible!

The Structure of Vert Shock

The 8 week training program is divided into three parts:

1. Pre-Shock Phase

The Pre-Shock phase is the first week of the program. This week is going to “shock your body” and prepare you for the following weeks of the program. You will be working 6 out of 7 days. You rest on Day 4.

2. Shock Phase

Weeks 2 – 7 make the Shock Phase, the meat of the program featuring 4-6 workouts a week. These workouts range from strength exercises for your legs and core to jumping-specific movements to intense plyometric exercises.

3. Post Shock Phase

Week 8 is called the Post Shock Phase. It is a week of six very intense training sessions with only one day of rest. After seven weeks of training, you should be feeling a little stiff, so the warm-ups are very important.

The Vert Shock Exercises

Adam explains everything in high-resolution videos. Warm-up, cool-down, every exercise – everything you need to know.

The exercises do not require any heavy weightlifting which is great for people without access to a weight room. Strength exercises are all performed with bodyweight or a basketball. The training program itself is available as a PDF and can be downloaded and printed or saved on any PC, mobile phone or tablet.

(Side note – full disclosure here, folks. I would have liked some more text explaining the background for the workout. I am a bit of a bookworm and I like to understand the theoretical foundation of workouts. I know this point won’t be relevant to most readers, but if you are interested in a deeper knowledge about the mechanics and the training of the vertical jump, I recommend the book Vertical Foundation by Joel Smith.)

During the 8-week training program you will be doing 41!!! workouts in 56 days. These workouts are tailored towards different goals:

• Advanced plyometrics: Intense jumping specific exercises with an emphasis on short ground contact-times
• Core strength: Planks and different static core strengthening exercises are important to prepare the body for high-impact jumping exercises
• Power: Exercises like deep squat jumps increase the strength and power in your lower body which is very important if you want to increase your vertical jump.

The different focal points of the exercises allow different parts of your body enough time to rest between workouts. For example, you will never do two heavy plyometrics workouts on subsequent days.

When I first bought the program and had a look at the actual training program, the first thing that came to my mind was: “Damn that’s a lot of workouts er week!”

Truthfully, the workload is hard, but manageable. Just once after week 6 did I take a rest for two additional days because my body was feeling really tired and I wanted to prevent unnecessary injuries.

About Injury concerns

Before I started the workout I was really worried my knees would not respond well to the training program. I have had knee problems before, and at one time had to stop playing basketball for a while because I could barely climb stairs due to a strange stinging pain in my left knee.

Ironically, after the Vert Shock program, my knees feel better than before! For the first time in my life, I stuck to a stretching routine as part of the cooldown. I noticed I have a crazy shortened left quad. I put some extra work into loosening my quads and that has really made a big difference! I just wish I had known of the positive impact of stretching before – I always thought stretching would decrease my vertical, so I skipped it. (Stupid me!)

My Results of 8 Weeks of Vert Shock

Alright, let’s get to the real interesting part! Does Vert Shock work?

Before Vert Shock (29″ vertical)

In order to assess my improvements, I measured my vertical jump at the start of the training. I had a maximum jump of 29” (running). Not bad – I could grab the rim, so I had some hope.

My Pre Shock Phase

Week 1 was one of the hardest weeks of training. After being a couch potato for far too long, my body was shocked by the six intense workouts in seven days.

Below you can see some pictures of the park where I usually did my workouts. This was surprisingly fun, and a great change of pace after sitting in a cubicle from 9-to-5.

As you can see, there are enough park benches of varying heights to do box jumps, depth jumps, etc. There is even a small hill for intense sprints!

Overall, an average workout session took about an hour to complete. The workout included the dynamic warm up and the cooldown period! You won’t need to spend hours each day working on your vertical jump.

Even though I had planned to take weekly videos of my progress, after Week One, I was just too tired to test my vertical. In retrospect, I think I was right – I doubt the results would have been pretty.

Week 2 – First improvements (32″ vertical)

In Week Two, I was feeling a lot better, so I decided to use the day off to head to my favorite basketball court and take a few videos of some dunk attempts.

Two weeks of hard training had increased my vertical by 3 inches. I was very close to dunking for the first time in a while!

Week 4 – The First Dunk (35″ vertical)

Weeks Two and Three were pretty much business as usual. I kept working hard and my vertical jump increased steadily. When testing my vertical after Week Three, I was really close to dunking, but the ball just wouldn’t go down!

On my way to the court after Week Four, I had the strong feeling that today would be the day. My legs felt strong and springy. It was hot (made warming up a lot easier) and I was pumped.

After doing my dynamic warm-up for 20 minutes and trying some jumps without the basketball, I picked up my basketball ball and tried some dunks. I think I missed the first three attempts, but I could feel I was incredibly close. On the fourth attempt, I crushed it!

I threw down my first dunk after only 4 weeks! The hard work paid off – and in a short amount of time. I had increased my vertical by over 5 inches in only 4 weeks! If I could continue this progress over the next 4 weeks, I could do some insane dunks!

Week 6 – Stagnation (35″ vertical)

Until Week Five, everything went exactly as planned or even better. I increased my vertical jump each week and I was already dunking consistently with two hands. I could picture myself throwing down windmills, 360’s and between-the-leg dunks! Winning my first dunking contest was only weeks away!

Unfortunately, my vertical jump actually decreased a little in Week Six. After 30 workouts in only 42 days, my legs felt really heavy and I was just beat.I decided to take a couple days off, and give my aching legs some well-deserved rest.

The Final Push (37″ vertical)

After my short break after Week Six, I went back to work with great enthusiasm. During Week Seven I was still not feeling great, but I was back to dunking easily even though my hamstring was really tight. Still, I wasn’t as loose and explosive as I had hoped after my rest. I guess that’s the first sign of Father Time catching up with me. Five years ago, I would have been bursting with power after two days of doing nothing.

By Week Eight, autumn had arrived in Germany and it started to rain every day. I had to do a lot of the workouts of my final week in pouring rain – what a finish!

Fortunately, autumn also meant the school gym where my team practices opened up again. I was able to test my vertical on an indoor floor for the first time. The dirt and dust-free floor really helped, too. My vertical jump was up to a new personal record of 37 inches. I wasn’t quite able to reach my ambitious goal of 40 inches, but I was damn close!

My teammates couldn’t believe the way I was dunking! Three different guys asked me how tall I was. They couldn’t believe a 6-foot white guy could dunk like that. ? After practice, I was throwing down alley-oops and trying all kinds of dunks with the tall guys on the team. (I am by far the smallest guy on the team who is able to dunk.) What a a great reward for all the hard work in the last 8 weeks!

And I am not an outlier! Others have seen the same amazing results. There is even a 5’5″ guy who made his first alley-oop after Vert Shock. You need to see it to believe it!

[EDIT: 3 months after finishing Vert Shock ]

I was asked on YouTube and via Email if the increased vertical quickly vanished after I stopped doing Vert Shock. The quick answer: NO!

I haven’t done a whole lot of jump-specific training lately, even though Vert Shock provides you with a maintenance program you can do once a week.

Still, I have been dunking a lot during and after basketball practices because it is just so much fun. So far I have maintained my 37″ vertical. In fact, I am already planning my next round of Vert Shock in the upcoming off-season. I still want to reach my goal of a 40 inch vertical. I am stoked to throw down some windmills!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I recommend this program to every basketball player who is determined to increase his/her vertical jump. Not only will you jump higher, but you will also gain a lot of quickness and overall athleticism. Other parts of your game will also improve – rebounding, defense and penetration.

Vert Shock focuses heavily on plyometrics and is, therefore, especially suited for players who have no access to a gym or very little experience with weightlifting. All the equipment you need is either a basketball or a medicine ball. Download Vert Shock here, and you can start working towards your first dunk today!

My Verdict

I increased my vertical by 8 inches during the program. I now have a 37″ vertical and can dunk easily with two hands.

The original price is $138, but you can get it for $67 here. It’s not cheap but being able to dunk was absolutely worth the price to me!

Every exercise is explained in great instruction videos. The printable PDF workout sheets are easy to read and no gym is needed!

The program is pretty time-intensive as there are about 5 workouts per week, each lasting a little less than 60 minutes. Exercises are demanding, but always manageable.

Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_half(4.5 / 5 stars)

Vert Shock definitely works! In my opinion, Vert Shock is the easiest, most fun and most efficient Vertical Jump program currently available!

If you want to increase your vertical jump, make sure to check it out!

How Much Will Vert Shock Increase Your Vertical?

If you are wondering how much Vert Shock could increase YOUR vertical jump and whether or not you will be able to dunk after 8 weeks of training, I have created the perfect guide for you!

In the past weeks, I have read everything I could find about vertical jump training and have gained a lot of knowledge through my own training. This allowed me to write a guide in which I explain what you can personally expect from Vert Shock (taking into account your height, standing reach and your current athleticism).

There is even an interactive calculator included! You just put in your standing reach and your current vertical jump and the Vert Shock calculator tells you if you will be able to dunk after 8 weeks of Vert Shock!

The post My Vert Shock Review – How I learned to dunk in less than 8 weeks appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

Another very tall man took his position near the hoop. He covered himself like he was setting a pick. Then Jordan, the man in American blue jeans, came ripping toward the hoop with a ball in hand. He soared over the man under the hoop. The crowd gasped. Jordan executed a no-look, spinning, behind-the-back dunk in the not-so-comfy confines of his American blue jeans.

Jordan Kilganon — the man who dunked in jeans.

Perennial all-star Dwayne Wade went up to the man who dunked in jeans afterward. He remarked, “In jeans, bro? Respect.”

How high can Jordan Kilganon jump?

The 24-year-old Sudbury, Canada, native boasts an extreme 50-inch vertical. That’s a full half-foot higher than most NBA leapers. And his running box jump looks even more impressive with an impressive 73 inches:

Learn more about the highest vertical jumps ever recorded.

Of course, Jordan Kilganon is not in the NBA but he does make his living dunking basketballs. That makes him in a pro in the eyes of some of the highest leaping NBA players from around the world

The Jordan Kilganon Workout

The 50-inch vertical makes it a breeze for the 6-foot-1 Kilganon to dunk. But he earns that ease with an incredibly brutal workout that includes two weekly four-hour dunk sessions.​

Jordan Kilganon’s first dunk came at the age of 16. He was on vacation at Niagara Falls when he was able to pull off a two-handed dunk. It was a weak jam, according to Jordan, but he was hooked. This led to three- or four-hour dunk sessions through his formative years. After one of those grueling sessions, his legs would collapse. That inspired him to get into the weight room to start training those explosive muscles.

While Jordan admits that he achieved dunking fame without weights, he’s recently got into the weight room to lift his entire body. He says it really helps his overall dunking abilities. He sticks to the classics like ass-to-grass squats, deadlifts and bench press. He is also selling his own vertical jump program called BounceKit.

But he earns his dunking chops out on the court. In an interview, he said that aspiring dunkers should start dunking every day. It doesn’t matter the height — 8, 9 or 10 feet — it just matters the volume. Start at 30 minutes per day and eventually work your way up to four or five hours per day. If your legs aren’t sore the next day, it just means you need to dunk longer the next time out.

Jordan recommends practicing form during these sessions. Dunks are as much about execution as they are about athleticism. And when you blend strength training in the gym with the explosive training of the dunk sessions, you get powerful muscles are able to leap tall buildings. Ok, maybe not a building, but perhaps a friend who will stand in front of the hoop for you at the NBA All-star game.

You can learn more about the best vertical jump training programs here.

All the Chips on Dunking

Jordan Kilganon does nothing but dunk. That’s it. His passion is for that one little niche in the game. In fact, he was urged to tryout for his college team in Toronto by friends and coaches. He said, “Nope, I’m focusing all my energy on what I love — the dunk.”

And he made the right choice. As a member of Dunk Elite, Jordan Kilganon travels the world dunking and collecting pay checks. His pay fluctuates with his ability to win dunking contests, but his full-time Dunk Elite team hooks him up.

The NBA is one of the most difficult leagues in the world to break into. Just think about it. There are roughly 30 teams at the highest level acorss North America for each major sport. But baseball carries a 25-man roster and the NFL has over 50 active players. The NBA only carries 12 to 15 players per team and basketball is a worldwide game. Anyone looking to break into the NBA must be one of the top 450, or so, ballplayers in the entire world.

Would he have made the NBA? At Jordan Kilganon height, it’s unlikely; even with that notorious Jordan Kilganon vertical. That makes his choice to focus on slamming the basketball a good one. He’s figured out how to turn his passion into a paycheck despite the long odds against him.

The Road to the Olympics?

In 2016, Jordan Kilganon traveled to over 20 countries. He prefers to stay home and invent dunks, he says, but the travel comes with the job. He’s been to so many dunk contests that he surmises that dunking has become a sport unto itself. He guesses that dunking will be an Olympic event one day.

Wouldn’t that be something? An average-height guy from Canada that turned dunking into his job could some day win a gold medal. That’d be just another thing to add to this prolific dunker’s list of accomplishments. Jordan is certainly an inspiration and serves as an example of why you should never give up on your dreams.

The post Jordan Kilganon – The Man who Dunked in Jeans appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

​So it’s no wonder that there are dozens of vertical jump training programs out there, all promising you incredible increases to your vertical! But do they actually work?

My goal with this blog is to examine every popular vertical jump program to find out if the deliver on their promise and help you to find out which one fits you best. You can find my comparison of the best vertical jump programs here.

Today, we will be looking into one program that has been around for a while and is still very popular – the Jump Manual!

The Beginnings of the Jump Manual

Let’s get to know the Jump Manual program:

Presentation

Once you enter the membership section of the Jump Manual you see an overview of all the information included in the program. And that’s a lot of information!

The Jump Manual is structured like a book with different chapters explaining warm up routines, proper nutrition and the exercises of the jump training program. If you read through all of it, not only will you understand how the Jump Manual works but also gain a pretty good understanding of the science behind vertical jump training.

Other programs just give you a list of exercises to do, but with the Jump Manual, you gain knowledge that will be helpful even when you are no longer doing the Jump Manual!

Some impressions from the Jump Manual website:

The Jump Manual was created in 2008 and, unfortunately, the website really shows age. The navigation can be frustrating at times and the website is not very well optimized for mobile phones. The old age of the program shows most in the quality of the videos. The picture quality and resolution just aren’t up to modern standards any more.

Jump Manual Workouts

In the membership section of the Jump Manual, you will find a workout chart that consists of 14 days (afterward you start over from the beginning) that tells you exactly what to do during each day. During these 14 days you are going to do:

Plyometric Jump Training (2 times):

Exercises like depth jumps or medicine ball throws work on your explosiveness and teach your body how to quickly mobilize a lot of muscle fibers for a quicker and more powerful vertical jump. These exercises increase your vertical by teaching your central nervous system how to work more efficiently and effectively. Expect the plyometric workouts to last around 90 minutes including warm up and cool down.

Lower Body Strength Training (2 times):

The lower body workouts combine heavy weightlifting exercises like deadlifts and squats with more explosive movements like hang cleans. During these workouts, you not only strengthen the muscles that you need during a vertical jump, but you also teach them to use their strength in a quick and powerful fashion. To perform this workout you will need access to a gym with squat racks and heavy barbells. If you don’t have a gym membership then there are bodyweight alternatives, but of course these exercises will limit the effect of the workout quite a bit.

Overall this workout consists of seven different exercises of which you will be doing four sets. Combined with warm up, cool down and getting to the gym this workout takes 2 hours pretty easily.

Core Body workouts (4 times):

​The core series is a rather short workout that you can do at home. Planks and other exercises intend to stabilize your core and improve the transfer of energy during the vertical jump. This workout is rather quick and will probably take you less than 30 minutes.

Stretch and Recover (all off-days):

Yep, you read that right! Even on off-days, you don’t really get off. Jacob Hiller provides you with a stretch & recovery routine that will help to improve your flexibility and improve muscular regeneration so that you will be back at 100% for the next workout.

​

Ease of Use

Difficulty of the exercises:

A lot of the exercises of the Jump Manual are really challenging and rely on correct technique to be executed safely. If you have never done heavy squats or deadlifts you should find a trainer who will teach you proper technique, otherwise, you can easily hurt your knees or screw up your back. This makes the Jump Manual less beginner friendly like the #1 competitor Vert Shock that relies 100% on bodyweight exercises. However, if you are an experienced weightlifter, then the Jump Manual will take advantage of this skill and produce significant (jump-specific!) increases of strength in a short time!

Difficulty of the workout schedule:

Everybody is motivated during the first weeks of a new training program, the hard part is to stick with it until the end. It definitely takes a lot of discipline to make it through 3 months of the Jump Manual as you are doing some kind of workout every day. No Pain, no gain – if you really want to dunk it will take some hard work!

Results of the Jump Manual

Jacob Hiller guarantees an improvement of at least 10 inches to your vertical leap in just 12 weeks. Of course, if you are already jumping 45 inches, your improvements might not be as extreme. But the Jump Manual has been on the market for almost 10 years, sold over 100.000 copies and it is still very popular. This just shows you that the program works!

You can find a lot of great success stories online, check out some of the most incredible ones here.

Is it for you?

Not every program works equally well for everybody. There are different types of athletes who need different types of training to maximize their potential for jumping high.

When it comes to the vertical jump we can divide athletes into two groups:

Single Leg jumpers:

These athletes are usually thin and lanky. They jump higher off of one foot and have very quick and “bouncy” takeoffs. A great example of a one-foot jumper is Zach LaVine.

Two-Foot jumpers:

These jumpers are often very strong and powerful and they do exceptionally well at squatting and deadlifting. Their vertical jump is a lot slower compared to single-leg jumpers, but they compensate this lack of quickness by bending deeper and using their strength to their full advantage. A great example of a player that fits this description is Aaron Gordon.

If you want to see how these two styles of jumping compare, check out the epic 2016 dunk contest. Especially concentrate on the different athletic builds of LaVine (thin and lanky) to Aaron Gordon (muscular) and how ZachLavine uses much more speed and a very short ground contact compared to the slower more forceful Aaron Gordon.

All right, so is the Jump manual a good fit for you?

The Jump Manual relies a lot on heavy weightlifting and is therefore a better fit for two-foot jumpers who might not be as quick but have legs that can produce a lot of power during the takeoff.

Single leg jumpers will still benefit from the improved strength, but a workout that focuses more on advanced plyometrics and quickness like Vert Shock might be a better choice. You can learn more about my own experience during 8 weeks of Vert Shock and how I finally learned to dunk here.

Jump Manual Review Results:

A lot of success stories prove that the Jump Manual works and can increase your vertical by up to 10″ to 15″.

You can get the program for $97 here. Not cheap, but totally worth it if you can learn to dunk!

The web page is a bit outdated and the video quality of the videos is quite poor. However, the program is packed with valuable information.

The Jump Manual includes difficult weightlifting exercises which are not meant for beginners. Prior experience or a good coach required.

Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border(4 / 5 stars)

Jump Manual was developed in 2008 and it shows. It is no longer cutting edge, but it still works!

If you want a program that focuses on strength then this is the perfect program for you!​

Alternative: Vert Shock

Vert Shock is an intense 8-week workout that focuses on explosive plyometric exercises and bodyweight strength training. The workouts are presented in short, high-quality videos accompanied by worksheets that tell you exactly what to do.

Check out this blog post to read how it helped me to become a consistent dunker for the first time in my life!

The post Jump Manual Review – Does Jacob Hiller’s Jump Manual Work? appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

In this article, I am going to look at the five phases of the vertical jump and show you how physics work during each of them. This will be accompanied by charts and interactive calculators, and in the end, we are going to answer some fun questions like: “How high would Micheal Jordan jump on the Moon?”.

Let’s start!

A great way to look at the physics of the vertical jump is to look at the forces that occur during each phase:

Ground reaction forces during a vertical jump

Ground reaction forces are the forces that the ground exerts on a jumper during the course of a vertical jump.

You’re maybe asking yourself: “Isn’t it the other way around? Isn’t the athlete exerting forces on the ground instead of the ground on the athlete?”

You are not wrong! In fact, both forces occur during a vertical jump. This phenomenon is explained in the 3rd Newton Law:

So if an athlete is exerting forces on the ground, then the ground is always exerting the same force, in the opposite direction on the athlete.

Force Plate Analysis

Sports scientist are able to measure these ground reaction forces with a technology called force plates. These plates record the exact forces occurring during a vertical jump (or any other movement) and allow you to see how quickly athletes can produce forces, how large these forces are, and to expose potential imbalances between the left and right leg.

For an example of a force plate analysis check out this Youtube video:

Analyzing the forces of a vertical jump

In the following paragraphs, we want to look at the relations between forces, acceleration, speed, and height of a vertical jump. For that, we are going to use this example of a force plate analysis. It is a little simplified. as in reality the force curve wouldn’t be as smooth, but it will work just fine as an example:

Phase 1: Before the Jump

Before the jump, the analysis shows a flat line at a force of 981 Newton. The athlete is not moving at that time, so where are these forces coming from?

Of course, this is gravity which is pulling the athlete toward the ground. This force is explained in this formula:

Where is the mass of the athlete and is the acceleration of earth’s gravity.

F is the amount of force the athlete has to exert at any moment just to neutralize the forces of gravity.

We know that on earth, therefore:

So, before the athlete starts any motion, the force plate basically acts as a simple weighing scale, showing the amount of force that gravity exerts on the athlete.

Phase 2: Descending into the Jump

1. Accelerating the downward movement:

During this phase, the athlete bends his knees, swings his arms and prepares the jump by lowering the center of gravity. The force plate is registering forces lower than the 981N needed to resist gravity, which means the athlete is accelerating a downward movement.

The acting forces at this time can be described as follows:

One measure that is interesting to sports scientist is how fast the athlete is moving downwards before the jump. But are we able to calculate that from the recorded forces of the analysis?

We know that:

Because F is not constant but a function of time, and :

where is the difference between the registered ground reaction forces and gravity.

This integral can be numerically calculated from the data obtained by the force plate analysis. The downward impulse generated by the jumper is shown in the graph as the red area below the line representing gravity:

Let’s assume a numerical estimation finds the integral (impulse) to be -70 Ns. We can then conclude that:

Therefore, the athlete reaches the highest velocity of 0.7 meters/second during the downward movement preceding the jump.

2. Decelerating the downward movement

So far we only looked at the first part of the countermovement, where the athlete is accelerating his downward movement. This part of the movement can be easily identified on the force-time diagram as the part where ground reaction forces are below the expected forces due to gravity.

The second part of the countermovement is less obvious. The athlete has to decelerate the downward movement to reach a short moment of pause at the deepest position of the jump.

Can we find this moment in the graph of the force plate analysis?

We have seen that during the first part of phase two we accumulated a downward impulse of 70Ns which resulted in a velocity of 0.7 m/s

We are now looking for an equally big impulse in the opposite direction. This impulse can be described as:

As and are known, the numerical algorithm of the force plate analysis is now looking for so that the impulse equals 70Ns.

To better picture it, imagine looking for a so that the pink and blue areas are exactly the same size:

Phase 3: Upward Motion before takeoff

This phase begins with the athlete at the bottom of the jump, just as he begins exploding upwards towards the takeoff. The force-time graph shows that the athlete reaches peak forces shortly after reaching the lowest point of the jump. He then further accelerates until his feet leave the ground and there are no more ground reaction forces measurable.

If you want to assess the velocity during takeoff we can use the same technique as during phase 2:

This integral can be pictured as the yellow area (subtracting the small brown area right before the takeoff) in the following force-time graph:

The numerical algorithm of the force plate analysis calculates an impulse of 245Ns, therefore we can determine the initial vertical velocity during takeoff as:

Phase 4: The Flight

During this phase, the athlete can’t impact the velocity of his center of gravity any further. The height of the jump has been predetermined by the build up of speed before and during takeoff. The only force that is now acting upon the athlete is the gravity that is pulling the jumper back down.

If the athlete can’t do anything at this point to increase his vertical jump, can we then determine the jump height using the recorded ground reaction forces during phases 1-3?

We do know so far that the initial velocity and that the gravity of earth has an acceleration of

We also know that during the peak of the jump, vertical velocity has to be zero as otherwise, the athlete would still gain height, which would also mean that he hasn’t reached the peak of the jump yet.

If we know initial velocity and earth’s gravity, we can calculate the velocity during every moment of the jump like this:

Therefore, we can calculate the time it takes the jumper to reach the peak of the jump as follows:

So now that we know the velocity during every moment of the jump, and the time of the peak of the jump 0.25s we can calculate the jump height as the integral of velocity over the time it takes to reach the peak of the jump:

So, we end up with a pretty simple formula that allows us to calculate the vertical jump height if we know the initial velocity. In our specific case we get:

This interactive graph shows the relationship between impulse, mass of the jumper, initial velocity and jump height:

If you are a sports scientist and you have access to a force plate then this is great! But are there easier ways to calculate vertical jump height using physics?

Calculating vertical jump height from hang time

Let’s assume we have no idea about the forces during takeoff or the initial velocity of the jumper. We know, however, the time the jumper was in the air (hang time). This is not a very unrealistic expectation as you can measure hang time using high frame rate cameras or even modern cell phones pretty easily.

In our example we have measured a hang time of .

We already established that we can calculate vertical jump height as a product of initial velocity:

So, now we just need to find the initial velocity for a vertical jump that takes 0.5s!

If a jumper jumps 1m high it also means he has to fall 1m after he reaches the peak of the jump. And as velocity is a linear function we can show that the jumper reaches the peak of the jump always exactly in the middle of a jump. Therefore:

So, if we want to know how high someone with a hang time of 0.5s jumped, we can just calculate the distance a free falling object travels in 0.25s! In general:

In our specific case with a hang time of 0.5s we get:

This formula is at the heart of the vertical jump measurement app I have created. If you have video of your jump you can load it in the browser, tag the takeoff and landing, and the app will tell you your vertical jump height. You can also check out the iPhone version on the App store here.

Phase 5: Landing

During the takeoff an athlete generates forces that ultimately result in a vertical velocity high enough to leave the ground. We have shown before, that this vertical velocity reaches 0 at the peak of the jump, and it is easy to show that the velocity is exactly the same during landing as it was during takeoff (but directed in the opposite direction).

If the athlete wants to stop the downward movement and come to a standstill he has to exert enough forces to cancel out the impulse of the vertical speed of the landing:

This impulse can be pictured as the green area in the following graph:

In our example, the athlete accelerated from a velocity to , during the landing he has to accelerate from a velocity of to a speed of .

As the change in speed is the same in both cases, the Impulse has to be the same too. This can be seen in the graph as both the yellow and the green area result in 245Ns.

The athlete is now back in a standstill and the 5 phases of the vertical jump are complete!

Questions answered by physics

Now that we have learned the relationship between physics and the vertical jump. Let’s answer some fun questions! If you want to try your knowledge and answer them yourself, you can check out the equation collection or the interactive calculator at the end of this post.

How high would Micheal Jordan jump on the Moon?

During his prime, Micheal Jordan had a vertical of at least 110cm. So far we have taken the acceleration of earth for granted. But what happens if you look at the gravity of the moon?

Answer:
If we assume that MJ is able to generate the same impulse during takeoff on Moon as on Earth then his initial vertical velocity would be unchanged. However, velocity during the time of flight would change drastically, as it is no longer decelerated by the gravity of earth () but by the gravity of Moon ().

If we want to get the precise height of the jump we just have to look at this formula for vertical jump height:

Gravity on Moon is about 1/6th of the gravity on Earth, therefore MJ would be able to jump six times as high (665cm)!

Do Jumpers really stop in the air?

Just get the new Air Jordan basketball shoes and you’ll be able to hang in the air forever, right? Jokes, aside, do jumpers really stop in the air?

Answer:
The height of a jumper during each moment of the jump is described by this formula:

In this interactive graph shows the plane of flight:

We can see that a jumper spends 10% of his hang time in the top 1% (or 50% of his hangtime in the top 25%). In general:

So the answer is no, the jumper is not really hanging in the air, but it appears this way because the athlete spends a disproportional amount of the hang time at the peak of the jump.

If you lose weight, will you be able to jump higher?

Assuming you lose weight but keep all the strength and power, will you be able to jump higher?

Answer:

If an athlete loses 10% of his body weight but remains able to generate the same forces during takeoff, then he significantly improves his takeoff velocity!

My first idea about how to calculate the change in jump height, was to assume that the impulse stays the same if the jumper loses weight but the forces remain the same. But this way I got results that just didn’t seem right…

It took me a while but I finally recognized why! Look at the definition of the impulse:

stays the same, but for a lighter athlete, these same forces result in a larger acceleration which in turns makes the takeoff much quicker. This means, that the time during which the jumper can exert forces becomes less and therefore the impulse decreases as well.

A better way to look at this problem is to assume that the potential energy of the body remains constant:

Let’s take a look at the formula for the gravitational potential energy that the jumper possesses at the peak of the jump:

If we asume to be constant then we get for the new jump height:

So if you lose 10% bodyweight while everything else stays the same, you would improve your vertical jump by 11.1% ! If is the weight loss in %, then in general:

Interactive Vertical Jump Calculator

Collection of equations

References

Vertical Jump Calculator: https://www.thehoopsgeek.com/measurement-app

What’s my Vertical iOS App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/whats-my-vertical-vertical-jump-analyzer/id1237413241?mt=8

Analysis of Standing Vertical Jump – Nick Linthorne 
https://www.brunel.ac.uk/~spstnpl/Publications/VerticalJump(Linthorne).pdf

The post The Physics of the Vertical Jump appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

Unfortunately, for a lot of these mobile devices, the Vertical Jump Analyzer didn’t work very well, or didn’t work at all. The solution to the problem was obvious: I needed to release a mobile app!

Introducing the iOS App!

I am proud to announce Version 1.0 of the “What’s my Vertical” iOS App! It is the perfect companion for every basketball player who wants to keep track of his progress during vertical jump training. It allows you to easily measure your vertical jump within a few minutes. Just shoot a video with the iPhone camera, load it in the app and the video analysis will tell you how high you jumped!

You can get it on the Apple App Store here.

What does the App offer?

The What’s my Vertical App has two features:

Dunk Calculator

Want to know how high you need to jump to make a dunk? Just put in your standing reach and the app will tell you!

If you are not sure about your standing reach, the app features the option to estimate your standing reach from your height.

If you are not able to dunk (yet), then this is the perfect way to find out by how much you need to improve your vertical jump for your first slam!

Measure Your Vertical Jump

The second feature of the app allows you to measure your vertical jump using video analysis. Open the iPhone camera, use the SloMo feature that comes with every iPhone since the 5s and shoot a video with up to 240 frames per second.

This allows you do very accurate analysis of vertical jump height. In fact there has been a study that showed that this method is as precise as much more expensive force platforms.

How does it work?

You simply load the video and mark the exact time of the takeoff and landing. This allows the app to measure the hang time as the difference between the two timestamps. Once you know the hang time, it only takes physics 101 to calculate the vertical jump height. If you use slo-mo video this is incredible accurate!

For example, if you use 240fps video, which means there are 240 pictures taken per seconds, the error if you pick a frame to soon or too late is only 1/240 of a second (0.0042s). For a vertical jump of 30″ this equates an error of less than a third of an inch!

A Look into the App

The post Measure your Vertical Jump with your iPhone – Whatsmyvertical iOS App appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

There are many different ways of how to measure your vertical jump, but the most common methodology is the “Sargent Test” where the height of a countermovement jump from a standstill is measured. This test is a great tool to get an idea about the lower-body strength of athletes but one can also measure running vertical jumps, squat jumps or depth jumps to assess different athletic abilities and technical prowess.

When I am training my vertical jump, I want to make sure to track my results so I can see if the workouts are actually working. Therefore, I have experimented with a lot of different ways of measuring my vertical jump in the past. In this post I have put together a list of 5 different methods ranging from expensive methods to completely free, DIY alternatives.

1. Measure your Vertical Jump with your iPhone or Camera

Modern cameras allow high-frame-rate videos at a very reasonable price. For example the iPhone features 240fps video and the new Sony Cyber Shot DSC-RX100 IV and others make up to 1,000 pictures per second!

These allow for an incredible accurate measurement of hang time and vertical jump height.

I have created the official ”What’s my Vertical” iOS app where you can measure your vertical jump using your iPhone camera!

Don’t have an iPhone? Check out the browser app where you can load a video of a vertical jump and assess the it by marking the take-off and landing.

Strengths:

• No equipment need other than a phone or camera
• Easy to use
• Very accurate if used right

Weaknesses:

• Athlete can trick the measurement by landing with strongly bent knees
• Standard 30fps video is to slow to allow accurate calculation

2. Professional Vertical Jump Test using a Vertec

If you have ever watched the NFL combine you have seen one of these!

A vertec is a giant pole with a lot of horizontal vanes attached. These vanes are fixated in a way that they can rotate around the main pole. 

To measure the vertical jump with an vertec, the athlete first has to push aside as many vanes as possible while standing flat-footed. This way, the standing reach is determined. After that, the vertical jump height is assessed by looking at how many additional vanes the athlete can push aside when jumping.

Strengths:

• Vertecs are easy to use, deliver fast results and are very accurate when used right.

Weaknesses:

• Athletes can try to cheat by not reaching as high as possible when measuring the standing reach, therefore inflating the results; and,
• A proper Vertec is not cheap and will cost around $650, which makes it suitable for NFL teams, schools or other institutions, but not affordable if you want to measure your vertical at home.

3. Measure your Vertical Jump against a Wall or Backboard

This is the old-school version everybody can do at home. Just stand up against a wall and measure your standing reach, then jump as high as possible, touch the wall and calculate the difference.

Of course this method has a lot of weaknesses:

• Jumping against a wall is awkward and may decrease the result.
• You can’t measure one-foot jumps as you would jump directly into the wall; and,
• If you use a piece of chalk (or something similar) to mark your vertical jump height, your mark may be inaccurate, thereby fouling up the results.

If you have a basket around you can improve this method a lot:

1. Just ​tape self-adhesive measuring tape against the backboard in a way that is in line with your standing reach.
2. Roll your fingertips in an inkpad
3. Jump as high as you can and tap the measuring tape on the top of the jump.
4. Now you can read your vertical jump height by looking at the ink stains on the measuring tape.

You can also do this with regular duct tape and mark different heights, or just take it off the backboard after your jumps and use a ruler.

The advantage of this method is that it is free and available to everybody, however it might take a bit of creativity to make it work under different circumstances.

4. Force Plate Analysis

Force Plates analysis works by measuring the ground reaction forces generated by athletes running, jumping or doing other athletic movements across them.

Force plates allow very detailed analysis of not only vertical jump height, but also rate of force development, acceleration of movements, distribution of power among both feet, and many other factors. Force plates used in biomechanics laboratories can easily cost thousands of dollars, but there are also cheaper alternatives like the Just Jump System.

The idea behind these systems is they can measure hang time very exactly by looking at the time the force plate fails to record any ground reaction forces. As gravity is (pretty much) constant on earth, this allows a person to calculate vertical jump easily and accurately.

Strengths:

• The Just Jump system is portable, easy to use and accurate when used correctly.

Weaknesses:

• Athletes need to land with extended knees, otherwise they would increase hang time making the results unreliable.

5. Wearable Devices using Gyroscopes and Accelerometers

These devices are worn by the athlete and work very similar to force plates. Instead of measuring ground reaction forces, however, they measure the acceleration and movement of the athlete himself. The actual calculation works the same way, converting hang time into vertical jump height.

The most popular example is the Vert Jump Rate monitor – is a small device you can clip onto your shorts. (It also comes with a belt.) Vertical Jump results are measured in real time and sent to your iPhone app.

Find out more about the Vert Wearable Jump Rate Monitor in this video review:

You could wear the Vert during a game and check out how many times you jumped and how high your jumps were. For more information check out the Vert homepage here.

Strengths:

• ​Very portable, fast, relatively cheap, also counts the amount of jumps

Weaknesses:

• ​The app could be improved, iPhone needs to be in range to track jump history

These are my 5 ways to measure your vertical jump ranging from very expensive vertical jump test equipment to more affordable devices like the Vert Jump monitor to free methods everybody can do at home.

Are there other methods which I should include in this list? Let me know in the comments!​

The post How to Measure your Vertical Jump – 5 Different Vertical Jump Tests appeared first on The Hoops Geek.

As long as I can remember, I was always a natural two-foot jumper. Maybe this is because I played a lot of volleyball when I was younger or maybe I just adopted the vertical jump technique that fits my physique best.

When it comes to basketball players, two-foot jumpers seem to be in the minority. And I completely understand why: Single-foot jumping is taught from the very beginning and comes naturally to everybody who is capable of making a simple layup.

Two-foot jumping, on the other hand, seems to be a bit more complicated for the basketball players I know. However, it's a jumping technique that allows slower and heavier players to jump as high (or even higher) than lighter, quicker, one-foot jumpers. 

In the past, I have been asked a lot about how I manage to jump so high with two-feet. One reason is hard training (check out how I improved my vertical by 8 inches last summer), the other is proper jumping technique. In this blog post I want to share my best tips on how to improve your two-foot jumping technique, so that you can learn how to dunk off two-feet too!

The post Vertical Jump Technique – How to jump off two feet? appeared first on The Hoops Geek.