Just Some Dunking

sup

lots of threads on vert and a few on wanting to dunk etc…

here’s one i pulled off in december after hurting my knee real bad, i think i tore something up in it when doing some side shuffle sprints in nike free’s… the shoes just gave out laterally… NOT A SMART IDEA! anyway, i had to get a dunk on tape for some dunk contest so i did it anyway.

i could not dunk until november of 2007… i’ve played basketball my whole life & i’m 25… here’s a quick breakdown of how i put on ~7-8 inches on my running vert & 3 inches on my standing vert since 9/12/2007 … it may be helpful to some of those people who want to improve their jumping…

here’s one on a slightly bent rim, knee was healthy here: - YouTube

general breakdown of what i did:

9/12/2007 - 11/12/2007:
monday = warmup/agility/sprints/push & pull upper body strength/core/rope stretch
tuesday = warmup/agility/depth jumps or some form of plyos/lower body strength /core / rope stretch
thursday = warmup/agility/sprints/push & pull upper body strength/core/rope stretch
friday = warmup/agility/depth jumps or some form of plyos/lower body strength /core/rope stretch

lower body strength = 1 me lift (box squat/deadlift/etc), 2-3 accessory lifts (stepups, high stepups, elevated reverse lunges, walking lunges, bulgarian split squat, back extension)

11/19/2007 - 11/28/2007, 4 shock days
each day, 40 depth jumps from 30" box

12/01/2007 - 1/04/2008
monday workout 1: ~30-40 dunk attempts
monday workout 2: push/pull/lower max effort lifts/rev hyper/rope stretch

wednesday workout: ~30-60 dunk attempts

friday workout 1: ~30-40 dunk attempts
friday workout 2: push/pull/lower max effort lifts/rev hyper/rope stretch

push=db/barbell bench, pull=db row/heavy pullups, lower=trap bar deadlift or box squat

i found that glute/hamstring strength is #1 for myself in improving my vert… the depth jumping definitely helped me improve my running vert… and rope stretching was absolutely essential, any week i took off from it my running/standing vert dropped.

some keys i see:

  1. push the limits on the unilateral strength lifts, good depth & excellent form

  2. rope stretch (pnf or static) in the morning & after workouts, especially if you are tight… rope stretch the hammies, then throw in hip flexor/glute/calf/achilles/quad stretches,lats,post delt, and “dislocates” with a rope for the shoulders.

  3. do max effort jumps with a ball on some kind of rim… arm swing definitely helps you get higher so practice with a ball, it will actually add some power to your jumps when you don’t have a ball…

  4. plyometrics/depth jumps/sprints are a must.

  5. after say 3-4 weeks of strength, take 1 week to deload and only perform plyos or max jumps in low volume… then go back to strength, do this a few times, taper and boom.

  6. as for dunking/max effort running jumps… man the run up has to be aggressive and fast for each attempt…

peace

Impressive gains over the last part of the year. How much of your gains do you attribute to your 1 week shock cycle? Did you notice a big jump after that? I wonder to what to attribute the decrease in vert when you didn’t stretch? That is interesting as well.

Your keys are definitely very good. Dunking is a goal of mine as well. We’ll see how it works out, but I have focused first on shedding bodyfat and getting stronger. I have recently inmplemented low intensity jumps and stuff and plan to progress that as the months go on. Hopefully I will be dunking soon like you. Keep up the good work!

adarqui, how tall are you? What is your vertical at now?

I’ll probably never dunk for the sole fact that my hands are too small to palm the ball :stuck_out_tongue:

I might have missed it over initial read but how tall are you and whats your weight? Also when your playing a game can you easily dunk? I notice some people can dunk but in a game they can never pull it off and just lay up.

the shock cycle actually went 2 weeks, it was supposed to go 3 but the man himself (verkhoshanksy) told me to stop because of the aches i was getting in my achilles…

here’s how much i attribute to it:

  1. the months leading up to shock i could not dunk clean on the rims at a local street court
  2. i performed shock, did not do any dunk attempts because i was always achy. my jump height off a box increased bigtime… especially in my consistency at getting higher off 30" box… i took some good graphs if you are interested in checking them out… adarqui.blogspot.com has info for each shock day i did in blog format.

here is day1 vs day 2 vs day 3 shock graphs… look at day 2 it was absolutely insane how much power i had gained from one day of shock. day1-vs-day2-vs-day3.png (image)

you might have to dl that because of how blogspot works…

  1. after performing shock for two weeks, and professor verkhoshansky telling me to stop, i pulled off 3 extremely clean dunks on that street court i couldnt get any on.

no idea here… my running and standing vert would drop… in fact a few times i brought my rope to the court, and when i started feeling stale i would throw in some pnf with only a < 2 sec static hold, and it would give me a boost again on my running vert.

cool man, keep it up, again i couldn’t dunk until recently… i made attempts years ago with lifting etc and failed, this time i succeeded because i performed more important lifts & performed them harder, performed better flexibility routine, and performed real plyos that made me feel like crap :slight_smile:

thnx man.

i’m 6’1, 94" reach nfl combine style, 97" reach one arm reaching as high as possible.

bro, many people can dunk without palming it, in fact some of the greatest dunkers alive can’t palm it… heh…

i can barely palm it, i have to squeeze it to death before i run up… but i can also dunk it without palming it, by just dribbling up… you get a little bit higher that way too since you get more arm swing.

initial weight 9/12 was ~145 if i recall, i was about to compete at 140 in amateurs boxing… now i’m 159. i gained 10 lb. in december (when i pulled off my best dunks).

i havn’t tried in a games… with my vert the way it is right now i could only pull one off on a fast break… that’s why i want 5 more inches by summer.