Do you want to learn how to dunk a basketball? Only a small
fraction...well under 1% of the population of the earth over the history of all
mankind...has been able to dunk a basketball. Do you doubt me? Think
about it...most men are under 5'10"...that means only males who are tall
or high flyers even have much of a chance to dunk. Dunking is nearly
impossible for nearly all women...there are less than 10 women who have dunked
in a game EVER at either the college or professional level! In other
words, dunking is HARD, and RARE....but if that is your dream, I am here to help
you reach your goal.
First, how realistic is it for you to be able to learn to dunk? If you are
a woman, its going to be pretty tough unless you are a very elite athlete.
For men, you have your best shot if you are between the ages of 15 to 30, as
this is the physical peak for men. Dunking is not a walk in the
park, so attempting to do this when you are ' slightly over the hill' may be
more than you want to attempt. Likewise, if you are young, you can
try...but just understand that you may need a few more years to mature before
you reach your peak and can slam one down; in other words...don't get
discouraged too soon!
Second, what does it take to dunk? Here are the pieces to the dunking
puzzle:
1. Good gene pool. I'm going to put this one first since it really
does help. If your dad could dunk, you have a real head start over most
folks. Being tall of course helps, but "tall" is relative. Most
winners of slam dunk competitions...including the NBA slam dunk
competitions...are 6'2" to 6'6". That's tall of course, but not
gigantic. If you are under 6 feet tall, don't lose heart. Spud Webb
and Nate Robinson have both won the NBA Slam Dunk competition...and Spud is 5'6"
and Nate is 5'9" (which I don't think is actually true...he looks shorter than
that!).
2. Get strong. Just like a rocket needs a big engine to get off the
ground, you need a big engine to get off the floor and dunk. If you are
not dunking, get on a good weight training program that will help you make
progress. You can go to the website at the end of the article if you would
like recommendations for excellent programs. The important part to keep in
mind is this: strength is the easiest of all the vertical jumping puzzle
pieces to train, but is the one most often ignored.
3. Get bouncy. If you watch people who can dunk, many of them are
skinny. That may seem to contradict what I said in point #2 (Get strong)
but really it is no contradiction. Jumping high is comprised of not only
strength, but also what is termed reactive or plyometric ability. Think of
a rubber band...when you stretch it back, it shoots farther, right?
Plyometric ability is what makes you draw your arm back if you want to throw a
baseball...you pull the ball back, then throw it the other direction. Why
do you draw the ball back in the opposite direction of where you want to throw
it? Because you instinctively know that if you don't, you won't throw it
very far. You are like that rubber band, stretching your arm quickly back
so you can fire that baseball. Your legs work the same way...you bend down
before you jump up. How well you do this is a compilation of many factors,
but in general it falls under the heading of 'reactive' or plyometric
abilities. And the good news is, these abilities can be trained...you can
get bouncier. How do you get more bouncy? There are many programs
out there. I like some and some are a waste of time generally. You
can follow the web link at the end of this article if you would
like resources for more study on this topic.
4. Practice jumping. This is pretty basic, but it does matter.
The training principle is called SAID (specific adaptation to imposed demands)
and what it means in everyday language is that you get better at what you
practice specifically. So if you want to run fast, you should practice
running fast. If you want to jump high, you should practice jumping
high! I know this sounds pretty much like common sense, but you would be
surprised how easy it is to get off track when you start to look at the zillions
of training programs out there. The more you practice something the more
neural pathways are created in your brain. This makes your muscles fire
more quickly and powerfully since your brain knows exactly what you want it to
do from practice.
One fun thing to do is to practice dunking with different sized balls.
Start by trying to dunk a golf ball. Once you accomplish that, move to
dunking a tennis ball. Then go to dunking a softball. Achieve that
goal and then try to dunk a volleyball. Once you can dunk a volleyball,
your dream of dunking a basketball is within reach!
Double Your Vertical Leap - http://theveretia.key.to/
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