One of the most frequently asked concerns in the basketball and volleyball worlds is how to gain vertical jump. I probably don’t have to tell you it is not surprising for some of the most gifted athletes to have an impressive vertical jump. You might be searching for ways in which you can improve your vertical jumping capacity to be in a position to compete well with these leading athletes. I am going to share with you a couple of scientifically confirmed ideas that apply to jumping higher and improving agility.
These may appear like easy methods; however I guarantee that if you can master these 2 methods, you will quickly improve your vertical jump by 10 inches. I’m not positive why so many sports trainers and athletes forget about these fundamental principles. They would serve their clients and themselves much better if they followed them.
1. Landing mechanics. There are 2 reasons why correct landing mechanics are essential when jumping as high as possible as well as for agility. First, you must be able to maintain your balance if you are going to be able to effectively transfer your forward momentum to either vertical or horizontal changes in direction. An athlete that is unable to maintain this balance will waste valuable energy that is necessary to jump higher. Therefore they will not be able to jump as high as they could if they had good balance.
Secondly, in order to jump high or move quickly, you must have a strong foundation to push off of. A good landing provides that stable surface. Have you ever tried to jump from a surface that moves a lot such as a dynadisc or high density foam mats? It becomes more difficult because you have regain your balance before you can explode. A lot of energy is wasted in the process.
2. Transition Phase – the duration of time between the landing and lift off. Not too many people talk about this concept of how to gain vertical jump. However, your ability to keep the transition phase short is just as important as good landing mechanics. The amount of “stored” energy that your body is able to capitalize on is short lived. The longer you spend on the ground the less you have.
During a proper landing a muscle is stretched quickly. The elastic nature of the muscles allows that energy to be stored for a brief moment. Additionally, the nervous system responds by making a more forceful contraction. However, this stretch reflex doesn’t stick around very long. In order to get the most it, the transition phase must be as quick as possible. In fact, it is almost like jumping bare foot on hot rocks – you don’t want to spend too much time on the rocks.
I have only shared with you two of the most under-utilized techniques at how to gain vertical jump. If you can master both of them, I guarantee you will see an improvement in your vertical leap. Proper landing mechanics and short transition phases provide a stable base from which to jump as well as tap in to the body’s natural desire to jump.