Jumping Exercises and More

Below is the final section of an article on jumping and jumping exercises entitled “The Art and Science of Jumping”. It

Michael Jordan walks on air

was originally taken from an old issue of “Sport” magazine. If you want to start at the beginning of this article, click here. I hope you found in helpful!

Do NBA teams jump-train? Not interested, thank you – keep your plyometrics to yourself. For one thing, they don’t have to train; there are more than enough naturally gifted jumpers to go around, “When you’re talking about 250 or so players in a country of250 million people;’ says Bob Westbrook, “you can pretty much expect them to be physical anomalies.”
For another, they don’t want to. NBA people believe, and are quick to pronounce, that jumping is an overrated basketball commodity. “It’s spectacular.” says Portland coach Jack Ramsay, “and it gets a reaction from the fans, but it’s not a dominating factor.”
Jumping has nothing to do with rebounding, say coaches and general managers, it’s positioning that counts. Look at Moses, Buck Williams, Bill Laimbeer. What about scoring? Less than nothing, it seems. That’s about getting the other guy up in the air and getting to the foul line.
“Larry Bird’s not a jumper, Magic’s not a jumper,” Red Auerbach points out. “Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy were pretty good, too, and they played their games on the floor.”
“It’s an asset,” says Ramsay, “but it’s not what makes a good player good,” Not even a player like Spud Webb, who, by his own admission, wouldn’t be in the league without his jumping ability? “No,’ insists Ramsay, “It’s his quickness, his ability to penetrate and create that makes him a player.”
The sore point here-and rarely does a subject provoke such a wailing and gnashing of NBA teeth-is that, as Ramsay says, “players who can jump very well tend to use it as a crutch.” Leapers take shortcuts, it seems, letting instinct and natural ability dictate their play-to the detriment of their overall game, Even coach Mike Fratello, whose Hawks are perhaps the best jumping team in the league, asks, “What good does it do if you can jump out of the gym but you never box out, or if every time someone shows a head fake, you end up in the rafters trying to block his shot?”
Jumpers are usually not great shooters, and they probably get injured more often, But for all their nasty habits, jumpers have already transformed the game, If the NBA’s untrained leapers were to get even better, couldn’t they take it to the next level? Why not devise jump strategies to utilize those air rights, such as sending two or more alley-oopers at the basket as options and/or decoys? How about having a good-jumping big man come across the middle, receive passes and either hit cutters or shoot, all in the air-sort of a higher post?
“First of all,” says an anonymous coach, “those are very, very difficult things to do, But more importantly, even though that’s the way it’s being sold by the media, jumping and dunking just aren’t what the game is all about.” And what does Coach X see as the essence of the game? Defense, of course, the phase in which jumping, or “leaving your feet” is regarded as, at best, a mistake, and at worst, a mortal sin,
The players see it differently, “Coaches want to control every little thing,” says one All-Star. “Not just what you do but how you do it. And jumping is something they can’t control. So when someone is a good jumper, they categorize him, ‘He’s just a leaper,’ they say. ‘With him, everything is the jump.’”
The dunk is the agent provocateur in this war of attitudes, It’s a high-percentage shot, the coaches concede, but it’s only worth two points, On the other hand, what dunkers like Tom Chambers want, literally and figuratively, is to “get off,” “I think the dunk is the best play in the game,” says Chambers, “and I know it’s the part of my game that people really respond to, Especially black people; they want to see that white boy dunk,”
For his part, Spud Webb is tired of talking about jumping and dunking, “It seems like that’s all everyone wants to see,” he says, “and they forget about your overall game.” But most leapers are quick to swear by their jumping ability,
“It’s something that other people don’t have,” says Dominique Wilkins, “and it’s a big part of my game, I’ve come to realize over the past couple of years that I needed to work on some other aspects, like my shooting and my rebounding, and I’ve done that. But when you’re up in the air and you’re doing something exciting, there’s no better feeling in the world.”
Brother Gerald knows that same exhilaration, “When your adrenaline starts flowing, and you can feel your energy and your strength come pouring into you, then you can get up really high, It’s a real good feeling, you’re floating way up there in the air, it’s like you’re flying,”
Bill Russell writes in his memoirs, Second Wind, of the time between high school and college when he discovered that he could really jump. He’d leap even when he knew a rebound was out of reach, to show off and to experience that “instant when I found myself up there alone.” Jumping, he says, “is one of the purest pleasures I know for an athlete.
“People in all kinds of cultures are known to ‘jump for joy’ after something makes them happy, In basketball,’ he concludes, “the jumping comes first.”

If you want to experience the “instant when you’re up there alone” like the legendary Bill Russell, check out The Vertical Training Project. It can help you  get there.

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Below is Part 5 of an article on jumping and jumping exercises entitled “The Art and Science of Jumping”. It was

Julius Erving make Micheal Cooper's day

originally taken from an old issue of “Sport” magazine. I’ll be copying and blogging about the rest as time permits. If you want to start at the beginning of this article, click here.

At 8 A,M, the Federal Building gymnasium in Balboa Park is the coldest spot in San Diego. But the US, national men’s volleyball team members have already stripped off their dark blue Mizuno sweats and flung themselves into drills, exhorting each other, setting, spiking and, to use the basketball parlance, jumping out of the gym,
Their legs, though long, are more columnar than muscular. Some players have well developed arms and upper bodies, some not. Yet, ranging in height from 6-1 to 6-8, they own an average 37-inch rise. And they are all very white, indeed,
Is there hope for Caucasians and other prisoners of gravity? Can jumping ability be improved? “Definitely;’ says Jim Hay. “Significantly;’ says Doug Beal, director of the US, national volleyball team, “Dramatically.” in the words of Peter Francis, How?
Leg strength is the key, Tom Tellez, track coach at the University of Houston, reports that his shot-putters, because of the enormous squat work they do, frequently test better at a standing vertical jump than do the team’s high-jumpers,
Although weight training eliminates body fat, it also adds weight due to greater muscle mass, so it should be done selectively for jumping purposes, University of Kentucky strength coach Pat Etcheberry says, “We don’t do any chest work, such as bench pressing, with the basketball team. Instead, we’ll concentrate on the shoulders, using things like the incline press, which is closer to the motion of shooting a basketball.”
Flexibility is the easiest shortcoming to correct. Peter Francis found that “even many accomplished athletes have tight calves, As a result, they are not able to crouch properly prior to jumping without raising their heels off the floor, losing force and stability.” Calf flexibility can be tested by raising (while standing) the front of the foot toward the shin, keeping the heel down, A good angle of flexion is about 40 degrees,
But the best way to improve jumping is by jumping – jumping often (300-500 times on a jump training day), jumping “max” (as high as possible) and jumping with a motion that is as close as possible to the specific skill that you are trying to improve, Jumping with weighted vests has some proponents; ankle weights, which put direct strain on the knees and ankles, have been discredited,
And yes, there is a jumping miracle cure: plyometrics, A Soviet/East German technique, plyometrics is credited with the success of sprinter Valery Borzov and other white athletes in events traditionally dominated by blacks.
Plyometrics operates on the principle that if a muscle is stretched prior to firing, the subsequent contraction will be more rapid and more powerful. The most popular exercise exploiting this “stretch-shorten cycle” is called depth jumping, jumping down from a platform to the floor, then immediately relaunching, The landing exaggerates normal flexion, causing greater force to be generated and overloading the muscles.
The instantaneous reversal of momentum in plyometric exercises also trains the neuromuscular system, in ways not fully understood, to respond more quickly and explosively, approximating the actions-and the benefits-of fast-twitch muscle fibers, The brain “learns” to send faster commands to the muscles; speed is added to strength to produce power.
What kinds of results does jump training produce? “We can demonstrate a 10- to 25-percent improvement [over a two year period] with three to four hours of concentrated jump training a week;’ says Doug Beal. “And we are talking about people who are already at the very far end of the jumping continuum.” Bob Westbrook, assistant volleyball coach at George Washington University, claims he could “take Spud Webb, put him on a training program and add 10 inches to his vertical leap.”
The range of improvement for civilians is even greater, the results usually faster. Not everyone will be able to jump and dunk like Spud Webb, but we can all get a little closer to God.

If you want to get “a little closer to God,” at least in jumping terms, check out the Vertical Training Project for information on the best jumping program yet devised.

Below is Part 4 of an article on jumping and jumping exercises entitled “The Art and Science of Jumping”. It was

For Dominique Wilkins, "there's no better feeling in the world."

originally taken from an old issue of “Sport” magazine. I’ll be copying and blogging about the rest as time permits. If you want to start at the beginning of this article, click here.

African man originally developed longer extremities, Malina says, the greater skin surface of the arms and legs helping to dissipate the heat through perspiration, Greater reach and less trunk are the American black’s resultant jumping advantages, Though the distancing of the arms’ weight from the body makes them harder to stir initially, once moving they provide a greater centrifugal force,

Most importantly, it is widely believed, though as yet undocumented, that blacks have a greater proportion of fast-twitch, as opposed to slow-twitch, muscle fibers, The white-colored fast-twitch fibers respond more quickly and have a higher peak force, an advantage in events like sprinting and jumping that require relatively short bursts of muscular power, The reddish, slow-twitch ones, though weaker, are slower to fatigue, “Think of a chicken,” says Gary Scheirman, a biomechanist at the u.s, Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, “The legs-used for walking, more of an endurance activity-are the red or dark meat. The breasts, where the muscles are that move the wings, a much faster motion, are the white meat, The white color indicates the presence of glycogen, a sugary component used in creating energy, and that’s why the white meat is sweeter.”
On the downside, black’s bones tend to be denser and therefore heavier, by as much as 10 to 20 percent. And wouldn’t hundreds of years of racial mixture in the United States have diluted the Africans’ original advantages? Not necessarily, says Indiana University’s Jesus Dapena, a geneticist before converting to biomechanics, “In fact,” he says, “it is a rule of thumb in genetics that a hybrid is often stronger than either of the original breeds, Of course,” he adds, “most of my work was done with fruit flies,”
“All I know,” says Hawks guard Randy Wittman, possibly the NBA’s worst (white) leaper, “is that Spud and Dominique are at one end of the jumping spectrum and I’m at the other:’

If you want to learn about a program of jumping exercises that could have even have helped Randy Wittman, check out the Vertical Training Project for some amazing information.

Below is Part 3 of an article on jumping and jumping exercises entitled “The Art and Science of jumping”. It was

Alone at the Top - Julius Erving stretches to the limit

originally taken from an old issue of “Sport” magazine. I’ll be copying in the rest as time permits. If you want to start at the beginning for this article, click here.

The greatest vertical leap recorded in a jump-and-reach, or Sargent, test is 48 inches, by Darrell Griffith of the Utah Jazz, then (1976) of Louisville. But the Guiness Book of World Records people claim that a 23-year-old college student, Shannon Faucher, once made a standing leap from the floor onto the top of a 55-inch-high refrigerator.
For a superior athlete, a Sargent jump of up to one-third his/her height is a creditable performance. Spud Webb’s vertical leap, last measured three years ago at North Carolina State, was 42 inches-63 percent, or nearly two-thirds, of his height. Not that impressive when you consider that even an average grasshopper can jump well over 10 times his height and that a 5-foot kangaroo can jump up to 8 feet off the ground.
Webb, meanwhile, turns in the air to face the basket, lets go of the ball with his left hand and jams with his right. “All that motion has no effect on the jump,” says Francis. “You can make adjustments in the air, but how high you get and how long you’ll stay up are determined by what you do on the ground. After the instant of takeoff, you’re a projectile, you’re on a predetermined parabola and you can’t get off.
“Good landing! He’s very erect, the most balanced of them all. He lands in a position he could get out of, if he wanted to. If he were a gymnast, for example, he could go right into a back somersault.” And, in fact, for this dunk the judges awarded Spud a perfect score of 50.
The tape plays out, the contest over. Francis leans back, straightens his tie, and tries to explain Spud Webb’s anomalous ability. “This young man is very strong; he’s small but he’s muscled. He’s flexible, and he’s instinctively using techniques that will enhance his performance. But probably more important than the skill factor, he has certain inherent advantages.” Francis smiles. “If you want to be a great jumper, the first thing you’ve got to do is choose your mother and father very carefully. Spud Webb has won the genetic lottery-but you’ve got to be in it to win it,
Some white guys can jump, Look at Tom Chambers,” This chant resounds throughout the NBA, the first resort of blacks and whites alike. Chambers, a 6-10 forward for the Seattle SuperSonics, has become the league’s blond-haired, blue-eyed token of equal-jumping opportunity,

There is “some specific evidence for racial dominance of twofooted vertical jumping,” according to Dr. Jim Hay of the University of Iowa biomechanics lab, The most noteworthy evidence is studies of schoolchildren in which blacks consistently outperformed whites. But “that kind of thing hasn’t been done much since the Thirties,” says Dr, Robert Malina, an anthropologist at the University of Texas. ”And I’m not sure it’s being worked on now, The time isn’t right for it; it’s perceived as racist, and the funding just isn’t there.”

That’s if for part 3. If you are interested in dramatically increasing YOUR sargent jump, check out the vertical training project for information on the jumping exercises you need to do to get there.

Norm Nixen rises to the Rim

Below is Part 2 of an article on jumping and jumping exercises entitled “The Art and Science of jumping”. It was originally taken from an old issue of “Sport” magazine. I’ll be copying in the rest as time permits. If you want to read part 1 of this article on jumping exercises click here.

Why do blacks jump better? Is there such a thing as “white man’s disease?” Are brothers really from another planet? How do you explain, or better yet, where do you acquire, this amazing grace?
Webb claps both hands to the ball, begins another approach to the basket and suddenly freezes. The action is on videotape this time, replayed at the biomechanics lab of San Diego State University. Dr. Peter Francis; a trim Englishman in his forties, leans forward excitedly to examine the frame.
“It looks as though he’s going to use a backwards takeoff, like a Fosbury-style high jumper, on this one. That uses the gluteals and the hip extensor muscles more effectively.” Regardless of the technique-one-footed or two, horizontal or vertical-the jumping motion remains essentially the same: a flexion, followed by a roughly simultaneous extension of the hip, knee and ankle joints so rapid and forceful that the center of gravity is propelled upward, causing the body to leave the ground.
“Running in on a sideways curve, leaning into the jump like this lets you come in faster and block more efficiently,” Francis continues. Blocking is the planting of the foot or feet, which, like the planting of a vaulter’s pole, serves to transfer horizontal momentum to vertical. “Ah, a nice clean heel-toe strike here, and up he goes.
“Notice that, like all exceptional jumpers, he didn’t bend his knees very deeply. The lower you go, the sharper the angle of the knee joint and the more the quadriceps have to do their pulling around a corner. If you sit down too much, you’re using up your energy in the damping and stabilizing mechanisms, and you get stuck.
“Now, watch this,” exclaims Francis, rewinding the tape. “In just a few frames [each one is a thirtieth of a second], he’s raised the ball from belt level to just over his head. He’s using both arms and the ball, driving them very fast as one rigid segment, then abruptly halting the motion. It’s another form of blocking, he’s transferring the momentum of the arms to the body:’

Finnish physiologists Pekka Luhtanen and Paavo V. Komi have determined that 56 percent of takeoff velocity is generated by knee extension, 22 percent by plantar (sole of the foot) flexion, 10 percent by trunk extension and 10 percent by arm swing, with the remaining 2 percent attributable to head swing. But Francis found, while working with the 1984 U.S. Olympic volleyball team, that arm motion separated the merely good jumpers from the team’s best. Those elite jumpers would raise their arms very rapidly and stop them very suddenly, just over shoulder level, at the moment of takeoff. “It’s as if you were wearing a prisoner’s ball and chain and threw it straight up in the air,” says Francis. “When it reaches the end of the chain, it will try and yank you right after it.”
Spud is now airborne. “Look at the perfect alignment, he’s dead straight, like a diver. His hips, knees and ankles are all fully extended, even his toes are pointed-if anything is still flexed at this point, that means you haven’t used it. He’d probably be upset if you pointed it out to him, but he’s got the synchrony of a great ballet dancer.” Spud continues to rise, frame by frame. “My God, when is he going to stop?”

That’s it for part 2. If you are interested in a jumping exercises program that might have even have helped Spud Webb, check out this vertical training course here.

Who doesn’t want to jump higher? Who hasn’t watched a basketball game and watched Kobe Bryant or LeBron James

Spud Webb's Amazing Vertical Leap

soar through the air in order to finish off a beautiful jam? I know I wanted to increase my vertical when I started playing basketball. However, at first, I was severly vertically challenged (jump wise) to say the least. Does this sound like you? If so, the article I am going to be reproducing below should help you. It’s an article taken from an old issue of “SPORT” magazine entitled “The Art and Science and Jumping”. I think you’ll find it useful.

Of course, the exercises contained herein are not only beneficial to Basketball players. Any sport that requires explosiveness can benefit from this kind of training. Volleyball, Marital Arts, Sprinting and Soccer come to mind. Anyway, I hope you like part 1 of the article. I’ll be adding the rest in the coming days, as well as other blog posts related to jumping exercises and vertical training.

The signs, as they say, were not auspicious. To begin with, one of Spud Webb’s competitor~ in this year’s Slam Dunk Championship was his Atlanta Hawks teammate Dominique Wilkins. A slender 6-7, Wilkins is a prototype of the NBA’s small forward leapers. His body appears highly charged, packed with potential energy. Even his head-eyes slanted, ears pointed and swept back like Mercury’s wings-seems aerodynamically designed. He was also the defending champion.
Spud Webb, on the other hand, is 5-7, the smallest player in the league, and he weighs 135 pounds. He wears size seven and a half shoes, his hands are too small to palm a basketball, and he seems to have trouble growing a mustache. Not auspicious at all.
And yet, Spud won. He won. it seemed, not because of the quality or variety of his dunks, inventive though they were, but because of the very fact of his dunks, the repeated, visceral demonstration of
his jumping ability.     .
As Webb continued to hammer the basket, the fans in Qallas’ Reunion Arena finally gave up holding their numbered scorecards with the “10″ showing and simply tossed them toward the court. Calvin Murphy, who played in the NBA for years at 5-9, was showing courtside solidarity. When Webb nailed the clincher-one-handed, off a backboard toss-Murphy shook his fists over his head in jubilation. Even on press row, the earth moved. NewYork Post columnist Peter Vecsey, who has covered pro basketball for 17 years, laughed and threw down his pen. “I can’t believe this.” he declared. “Somebody get me God on the phone.”
Months later we are still on hold, still waiting for an explanation.
How does Spud Webb do it? For that matter, how does Dominique? Where does jumping ability come from? “I never really worked on it, it’s just a God-given talent;’ says Webb. The summer before his senior year of high school, he remembers, “I had been trying to dunk it hundreds of times, and I finally got one.” At the time, he was 5-4. How did the other players react? The Spud shrugs. “They said, ‘bout time.’”

That’s all I have time to write about today. In my next post I’ll copy some more from this article on jumping exercises. Till then!

PS – If you are looking for an amazing program that is guaranteed to increase your vertical by a min of 8 inches in 60 Days or the author WILL PAY YOU a $100, check out the Vertical Project HERE.

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