How To Jump Higher For Basketball

 

Ever jumped up to grab a rebound and found that the opposing player managed to grab the ball before you, winning by mere inches? You were so close... and then the ball was snatched from your fingertips. No situation in basketball is more aggravating than dealing with an opponent who has a greater reach and higher vertical than you. Now imagine yourself in that same situation again, going up against an opponent for a rebound, but this time you soar far above them and reach the ball first, securing the rebound. Then you proceed to turn around and dunk the basketball right in their face – that’s victory. Learning how to jump higher for basketball is of extreme importance. It will significantly improve your performance on the basketball court and it will also improve your chances of winning..

The initial portion of learning how to jump higher for basketball is to strengthen the legs and lower body. Improved muscle strength leads to an improved leap off of the ground, resulting in a better vertical jump. A weightlifting program that works is irreplaceable for improving your vertical jump. Do not use a poor program or no program at all, as progress will not occur. A good program is the key to success for learning how to jump higher for basketball.

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An effective program will use several different exercises. The main movers in the vertical jump are the quadriceps and calf muscles, but every muscle in the lower body has to be exercised to make the best gains in your vertical jump. A few main exercises that should be in your program are:

Squats. No other exercise matches the squat for developing overall leg and lower body strength. There are a few important aspects of the squat to keep in mind:

-The bar must be placed on your back across your traps and shoulders. Never let the bar lie directly across your neck. Beginners usually complain of their neck hurting after squatting. If this happens to you, lower the position of the bar on your back.

-Your feet should point outwards at a little less than a 45 degree angle, and they should be slightly wider than shoulder width. You want your stance to be comfortable and natural at every point of the squat, not just the top.

Squat at least to parallel. You have hit parallel when the top of your knee is level with the point where the thigh and the hip joint connect. For maximum benefits from squats, you should be squatting a few inches beneath this point. Never squat above parallel. Not only is squatting above parallel useless for building the leg strength you need to jump higher for basketball, but it will also eventually damage your knees. Plus, it just looks stupid, so don't do it. Squats performed below parallel with proper form will build up the knees.

-Push the weight up through your heels, not the front of your feet (near the toes).

Deadlifts. Deadlifts are unmatched for increasing leg, ab, and lower back strength. These are all critical muscle groups to strength for being able to jump higher for basketball. There are a few things to remember with deadlifts:

-At the end of every rep the bar must come to a complete halt before beginning the next rep (thus the name deadlift—lifting from a dead stop).

-Push through the heels, not the toes, just like with squats.

-Ensure that your lower back never rounds at any part of the deadlift. If you cannot deadlift without rounding your back, you must do flexibility work before you can begin performing the exercise.

-The bar should be at lower to mid shin height. Ideally, have a 45 pound plate on either side of the bar, or create some way of elevating the bar to this height if lighter weights are used.

Calf raises. The calf muscles are stubborn, but forcing them to get stronger will have massive benefits for your jump. Calf raises, done properly, are probably the best way to strengthen your calves~Done right, no other exercise makes the calves stronger as well as the calf raise~{Performed precisely calf raises can be the most effective method of strengthening your calves available}~Performed precisely calf raises can be the most effective method of strengthening your calves available}. Unfortunately, of all the exercises performed in the weight room, the calf raise is the one exercise that I see done wrong all the time. Someone will walk over to the calf raise machine, have a seat, then bounce the weight up and down until they finally stop out of boredom. I saw one person in the gym actually read a magazine while performing the exercise like this. Avoid doing calf raises like this, this method makes them so useless that you may as well not even bother.

Ensure that every repetition is done properly. Fire the weight up as quickly as you can for every repetition, and then hold the weight at the top for a second or two, making sure to really feel the stretch in your calves. Lower the weight to the lowest part of the movement in a controlled fashion. Then explode upwards again. If you do not find the weight challenging, add more. You want to be lifting a weight you can only do with good form for 10-15 times.

Glute-ham raises. Glute-ham raises are certainly among the greatest exercises available~Glute-ham raises are without doubt one of the most powerful exercises available~Glute-ham raises {{are indubitably of the greatest exercises available}~are indubitably of the greatest exercises available}~{are indubitably of the greatest exercises available}~are indubitably of the greatest exercises available}. If your gym has one of these machines, get really well acquainted with it – the benefits are incredible. The same principles that we used with calf raises apply to glute-ham raises—explode out of the bottom, pause briefly at the top, then lower yourself in a controlled fashion.

For more effective exercises, and for an effective and individualized training program that can help you learn how to jump higher as fast as possible, check out http://www.skyhighvertical.com.