Adding inches to where it counts- your vertical jump.

Have you ever gone up for a rebound, maybe a mark or to catch a bomb before scoring a try that you KNOW will be on highlight reels for years to come and the “remember when…” story whenever your team get together for drinks- only for the opposite player to jump that little higher, a few extra inches on their vertical to snatch your win, your story and your highlight reel right from your fingertips?

As a teenager that happened to me. Playing basketball- it may not have been to win the NBA world championship but bragging rights were on the line and the older, bigger kid jumped right over the top of me. Just writing this now it burns in me.

Chances are, if it’s happened to you- it burns in you too.

Some of us are blessed with incredible genetics that seem almost capable of flight. Some of us are very much land mammals- leaping to conclusions is the only form of leaping we are known for. The rest of us, we are somewhere in between.

I get it- you want to win. I wanted to win too- so I searched for how to jump higher, I looked wherever I could to find the secret to me slam dunking like Michael Jordan and blocking shots like Rodman.

Hopping, sprinting, squats, calf raises, bouncing, bounding you name it- I tried it. Did it help? To an extent. This is my scenario that everyone as an adult has “man, if I could go back to being a teenager knowing what I know now- things would be different”. I’m telling you, it would be different- if I knew what I know now back then- I’d be slam dunking like a madman, at least I like to think so.

Now, we may not be able to float through the air like Ja Morant but that doesn’t mean we can add a bit of pop to our hop.

We are going to go through three fundamentals of explosive jumping- things that you can work on and see noticeable change from in a short timeframe.

1.    Strength and Power

For obvious reasons these two athletic attributes are incredibly important however it is important to remember that more isn’t always more as quite often, the strongest athlete doesn’t necessarily jump the highest.

Power is an expression of strength and while they seem hand in hand don’t mistake them for being attached. We build strength first, remembering our jumping athletes are not powerlifters therefore don’t need double or triple bodyweight squats but they do need adequate strength to develop power and maintain a solid base for landing mechanics.

How much strength is enough? Well, that is going to depend.

Our core strength movements such as a squat, deadlift and split squat movements are going to play a key role in building that base- as will a strong core.

Take athletes in the NBA for example, body shapes and sizes play a role but athletes like Kevin Durant can barely manage to squat much more than the middle aged mum in a pump class but he will 360 windmill dunk over her in a heartbeat. Strength isn’t everything in vertical leap but for those of us not blessed with NBA level athletic power- it sure sets one hell of a base.

From there we build up and we do that with exercises that force our body to adapt by creating stronger, sharper contractions allowing the facilitation of explosive power. Really nice tie ins are Olympic lifts such as the clean and press or snatch or depending on your ability and time available as these lifts take time to master, modified versions such as the hang clean or hang snatch. Again the Olympics for weightlifting aren’t the goal so choose the path that allows a solid base but builds power your athlete can use on game day.

Therefore, step one- learn the basics. Build strength in split squats then progress to squats and deadlifts and then shift to power utilising squats or deadlifts then advancing to Olympic lifts.

2.    Learn to Jump, Properly

We assume that because it is something we have always done, that we must do it right. Chances are, that isn’t the case. Chances are actually quite high that there is room to improve and it could be by a lot.

As with any skill there is the good, the bad and the ugly and when it comes to jump technique we often think only of the bit where we pop. The jump. The glorious moments travelling gracefully through the air. We don’t think about the landing component or the steps leading up to the jump.

You see the chances are quite high that paying more attention to your jump, particularly the steps leading up to your jump you could make a biiiiiig difference. When we are talking inches, everybody knows that a couple extra inches makes a whopper of a difference.

These improvements might be minimal effort but time spent paying attention to detail. Imagine, just for a second that you honed your jumping and landing technique in to a fine art and THEN layered on a new level of strength and power.

Take the time to master the basics- the run up, the penultimate step (the one before the jump step) as well as properly utilising momentum throughout the full body.

The sport and subsequent position you play within the sport will dictate just how often you have to jump in a game or training scenario. For athletes in sports such as volleyball, basketball etc where there is a LOT of jumping it is important to also devote time to your landing technique. Athletes such as Derrick Rose- one of the most explosive NBA players for a long time showed through multiple serious knee injuries just how important landing is too, albeit much more toward longevity.

3.    Plyometrics

There is a reason this is number three- the order of 1 and 2 is fairly well interchangeable. Plyometrics are a bit of a different kettle of fish. It’s not to say if you practice them too soon that the chance of your legs falling off entirely goes up by 72%, rather there is often a LOT of improvement to be made from items one and two and in the hierarchy of training, there is a preferred order of operations.

There is a lot of improvement to be made with plyometrics- however far too often we tend to rush. We skip important progressions thinking faster progressions is better progress and for plyometrics, it is imperative to take the time to do them well to get the full benefit.

More time spent practicing and developing ability around our ankle and lower leg. Low intensity plyometrics that are dependent on our strength base and then building height, load and complexity. The higher we jump, the harder we land the more we need to be prepared for that landing. 

The only thing you would do prior to these three steps would be to assess your current vertical leap height. There are multiple ways across a wide variety of costs to test this.

The cheapest way, which is a freebie would be jumping against a wall and swiping a chalk line at the maximum height you can reach. It gives a very easy to see clear result however it may not be the most accurate as the line you draw is rarely (never) a straight line and often the athlete may draw on the way up or down rather than perfectly timing the peak of their jump. Again, it’s free and as an indication gives plain to see sight to improvements.

Vertec jump test

Mid range would be a Vertec jump test where the athlete jumps and knocks the highest possible tag to give an indication to the athletes vertical leap. Testing kits certainly aren’t cheap but can be home made utilising PVC pipe and a few hours of handyman work.

The most accurate method would be using jump mats or similar technology that tracks flight time among other metrics such as landing force and where the load is distributed. One of the strongest advantages of this method is its accuracy and consistency which should be one of the highest priorities when undertaking any testing.

The vertical leap is critical to a huge number of sports and is a fun metric to test as well- as soon as there is data in front of the individual, or the team- it’s on.

Remember when you’re looking to improve your leap abilities- start with assessing your current vertical jump then get to work building strength through critical jumping areas while refining jumping, landing and run up technique then adding plyometrics. Practice, practice, practice and the results will come.