[QUOTE=Shawn Hansen;610551]Being able to dunk is as simple as increasing your squat strength. The squat will train all the muscles to work together. Remember the physics behind it are simple, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Increase the amount of force you can apply to the ground with your feet, and after a while start saying hello to the rim up close.

Im not sure where i read it, but an article i read years ago tested athletes from various sports on things like vertical jump, sprint speed, etc. Guess which type of athlete had highest avg vertical leap? Not NBA players, on average they have a 28" standing vert, and they do it all day long (jumping). The highest average vert among athletes came from powerlifters @ 33". Think about it, a bunch of dudes who look fat by comparison to other athletes can jump higher than your average pro ball player. The squat is one of a power lifters basic lifts they train for, they are very specialized in their training. Squat, Press, deadlift...thats it.

Wanna jump high? Apply more force to the ground. Want to apply more force to the ground? Squat. I would even go so far as to suggest front squats for vert gains. The position of the weight would probably be a more similar feeling to the body of having your weight moving forward before lifting off to jam it home. Front squats are harder than back squats, so if you can get really good and strong at them, youve basically turned yourself into a coiled spring when your knees are bent.[/QUOTE]


It's not that simple.

Problem: The vert averages for basketball players are very deceiving. Different players are going to play different roles that require different physical skills. Take a look at the NBA pre Draft Combine when we are evaluating players. There are only 5 test that have to do with strength and power, out of those 5 only three are going to be relevant for each given position (feels like I'm writing Tropic Thunder here). Point guards, the bench press and vert test are not going to factor in unless he's under 6'0" then maximum vert (three step) becomes a factor. Many guards who have gone top 5 in the draft could not complete 1 rep on the bench at 185! So vert and "power training for a guy like Steve Nash is not a big concern because his job is to run a team. He'll be judged more on Lane agility and 3/4 court speed results but mostly game simulation drills. the point guard position at that level is played more with the brain and eyes then with the body. Marcus Banks was a freak of nature athletically sat behind Nash forever and now is all but out of the league.

Also a guy standing 7'1" with a standing reach of 9'5" is not going to have his vertical jump play a factor in his evaluation either. A 28 inch vertical jump puts him at 11'8 inches or roughly the top of the square on the backboard. The only part of his jumping ability that will factor in is how fast he can go from 9.5 to 10.5 straight and off a pivot or drop in each direction and extension with left and right hand. He's a guy that would work hard on baseline strength and coordination but not nessaceraly the other two power phases and biomechanic factors of the vertical jump. Most of these guys will need to bulk up the upper body to take the grind of 82+ games

6'7" to 6'9" shooting guard/small forward standing reach of 8'7" to 9'1" Vert in this case will play a factor unless he is a knock down shooter, then ability to create space, shot release quickness, off ball footwork and pick footwork will be what he's judged on.

All of these guys factor into the NBA vertical jump averages which is going to bring the number down. If we take the "athletes" with similar roles and styles. Lebron, Kobe, Vince Carter, Nate Robinson, Derrick rose etc... and average out the verts you'd be at 38+ When you are talking about power lifters you are talking about guys who do exactly the same things and train for exactly for those few events and lifts. There are no sharp shooters with different jobs and goals in there diluting their averages.

Lastly just increasing your squat numbers is not a sure fire way to increase our vert and its not as good a indicator of vertical jump height as most think. Biomechanics must be accounted for. you have "leapers" and "jumpers" within those two categories you are going to have 6 sub categories which I won't go into because it would make this long post even longer. I work with and played with guys at 6'0" who could not complete a full squat with a 2" PVC pipe on their backs but could go nose high to the rim.

Individual biomechanics + Specific power deficiency= What type of training you should do to increase vertical jump. A guy with great baseline strength doing slow max squats is going to see his vertical jump development stop between 30 and 35. A leaper doing ton's of plyometrics will be lucky to see a 2 o 3 inch improvement on their verts. A jumper with great baseline strength, acceleration and explosive power could improve his vert by doing military presses, hanging cleans, reverse overhead medicine ball throws, incline bench etc... improving delt power and upper peck power would help with arm upswing acceleration, helps add upward momentum. Is your lower back straight during the decent and axis of transition? If so strengthening your lower back and working on your range of motion may add 3 to 4 inches alone to your vert. Does your lead plant leg have any lateral play on the plant or is it solid? Do you plant on your heel and transition your toes? Or the ball of your foot and transition to your toes? Or do you just plant on your toes? If you plant heel to toe you are losing inches during a static vertical jump your need to be transitioning to the balls of the feet during decent. Also are you at 90 degrees on the decent? lower or above 90? Look the acceleration spectrum of a squat 90% of your max, does your rep start fast at the bottom and slow on the way up? Or slow on the bottom and increase acceleration on the way up? All of these factors will tell you what you need to work on.

The Factors are just as varied for leapers. Do you create enough momentum with your swing leg? if not working on hip flexor power and ROM will give you a few inches. Does your upper body get too far behind your hips and glutes when you plant to go up, if so core work will help improve your vert and you may have a strength deficiency in your quad. Too far forward? dynamic balance + core and possibly a lack of baseline strength. Heel toe plant? Usually if your body is too far behind the hips you'll plant heel first.

Do a full vertical jump test (its a workout on its own 120+ jumps so split it up over 3 or 4 days. On second thought you are crossfitters you should be able to complete it in 2 or 3 minutes) It will diagnose most strength/power deficiencies. As far as biomechanics. I can give any of you who may be interested a list of guidelines and basic overview of causes and corrections as it relates to vertical jump training.

Applying more force is always a good thing (a very great thing really) but does not always lead to great vertical improvement.