It is mid-summer and we have been getting our fair share of basketball players wanting to improve their vertical jump.  Whether they are hoping to be able to dunk or block a shot into the stands, jumping is a big part of the basketball player’s game.

An average improvement we’ve seen for a vertical jump over your typical 3 month plan can be close to 2 inches.  A lot depends on the athlete’s age, maturity, and what they have done before in the past.

I have seen improvements of up to 8 inches on a vertical jump.  Generally, the bigger improvements are with your more untrained athlete who is ready to absorb training.  Meaning, if they have a very low vertical jump to begin with, they may really respond to the training and get up to a mediocre vertical jump.

The improvement was great, but it just brings you up to a normal standard.

You won’t see an 8 inch improvement on someone like Lebron James who can already jump 40+ inches.  His room for improvement is much smaller.  With someone like him, it would be about just keeping him there and keeping him explosive.

How do we go about improving vertical jumps?

We use traditional methods of getting stronger and plyometrics, but recently we have sharpened it up.  What we try to do is use some type of contrast training and then try to repeat maximum jumps.

With the contrast training, we will do some type of strength training for a short series of reps.  We will then combine it with a dynamic movement similar in nature.

An easy example is doing a back squat with enough weight on that 5-6 reps would be challenging.  Then 15-20 seconds after that set do 10-12 bodyweight squat jumps as high as you can, rapidly.

We have seen the body really respond well to this type of training and over the course of time through the development of the strength and the appropriate dynamic stimulus, the vertical jump has gotten higher.

The other exercise we have started using is our vertical jump mat.  We test our vertical jumps on this mat and recently decided to start our athletes training on the mat every so often.

Why?

Sometimes setting up a box high enough for the athletes is a pain.  Sometimes they miss the box and land with a loud crash.  The mat allows us to train the athlete a little safer, but still for maximal explosion.

We will have them jump on the mat and record each jump.  That way we can see how high they are getting.  When the jumps start to take a dip in height, then we know the athlete is fatigued and it is time to move to other things.  

Plus, we will record the heights each time so we can see if there is improvement, if the height is getting worse, or if we need to do different things with the strength to get the jump improved.  For example, add a medicine ball to the jumps for resistance.

The technology is out there to help your athlete get a higher vertical jump.  We are constantly trying to figure out new and better ways to make the greatest improvement each time.  These two exercises are ways of training we feel is at the top of the list currently.  Come on in and let’s see how high your vertical is.

Photo courtesy of Fort George G. Meade Public Affairs Office on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ftmeade/