Learning to Slam Dunk??

[JapFreak786]

Random and totally PH based,looking forward to alot of silly responces for sure .

I play alot of basketball,i can play a good,competitive game.
What I love the most,is that i'm only 5" 5 in height,and suprise nearly everyone on how I play,even though i'm not the tallest person on the court.

I've seen video's of NBA player's not much taller than me being able to slam dunk the ball,or atleast grab the rim at the proper regulation height,and would love to be able to do the same myself. Even if it's just to dunk the ball in the face of my 6ft+ mate's who can't dunk yet lol

Now,is there anything that I can do to try and achieve this,or even just a technique that I can keep on trying or use to be able to jump higher than what I can now?

I'm about 9"s below the rim atleast when I jump for it at the moment,maybe even more,just guessing from what I see myself.

Roll on the input

[JFReturns]

Well, Spud Webb was 5'7" and he won a dunk contest so it ain't as far fetched as it seems...

.... However, he was an exceptionally gifted natural athlete who probably didn't have to train to jump that high. If you are 9 inches below the hoop now, and bearing in mind you will need to get 12 inches above the hoop then you have a lot of vertical jump to gain.

I imagine calf raises will help, along with sqauts.

[ChrisMCoupe]

I know nothing about silly American sports, but it sounds like you want to improve your explosive power in your legs. Try plyometrics... standing box jumps, anything that means having to explode upwards from a static position.

[warp9]

I'm not sure you need to jump 12 inches above the rim to dunk the ball. If you hold the ball in the palm of one hand and flick your wrist up and over, you can pop it in. You'd only need to get your writs above the rim.

Fair play if you can do it though cos it's really not easy. I had trials for the Birmingham Bullets some 20 odd, cough, cough years ago and couldn't do it and i'm 6'1''.

[Highway Star]

I think Nate Robinson is about 5'7'' and he also does well at the Slam Dunk contest.

In the 90s when I was playing at school and wanted to dunk, there were videos you could buy. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a DVD on it now, check out Amazon.

I am 6'1'', but not the most explosive jumper and I just managed to do it a few times with a regulation sized ball. Once you can reach the height, start practising with a tennis ball, then a grapefruit, then a mini-basketball.

Oh yes, this might help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyf0YwUJcqk

[JapFreak786]

Right ok,i'll look into those mentioned thanks. I think I can jump fairly high for my height,been able to get the ball when I have jumped for it,against someone taller than me and I've won it back.

Really is something that I would love to do,not really into British sports as such,though I do like track based sports such as sprints,javlin etc,along with basketball. More towards American sport's,and naturally,motorsport

Watching "White Men Can't Jump" gave me the inspiration again,also helps having a decent paved area in the rear garden with a hoop to practise on

[JapFreak786]

I love watching basketball,not been to watch a live game by the Birmingham Bullet's in years though! And i'm from Birmingham

Use to train with the college team, worst time is when the team captain played me 1 on 1,he was just under 6" 10 i think,just dunked it on me without even trying lol

My opinion,it's harder than football,we use to have to run from one side of the court to the other while passing the ball within 5 seconds, if we didn't, the entire team did push up's!

[bobbylondonuk]

Used to play a lot in school....stopped after breaking my leg when I was 17.

The usual training for us since a young age was sprinting across the court, squat and jump. It will sort out your calf and thighs!


I havent bounced a ball in 15 years! I miss basket ball!

[Devilstreak]

warp9 said:

Fair play if you can do it though cos it's really not easy. I had trials for the Birmingham Bullets some 20 odd, cough, cough years ago and couldn't do it and i'm 6'1''.

I had trials for Derby Storm youth about 15 years ago

I miss basketball too! I hadn't thrown/bounced a ball for years until last week at our fair. Still got the shot

But can't dribble for st

[warp9]

Devilstreak said:

warp9 said:

Fair play if you can do it though cos it's really not easy. I had trials for the Birmingham Bullets some 20 odd, cough, cough years ago and couldn't do it and i'm 6'1''.

I had trials for Derby Storm youth about 15 years ago

I miss basketball too! I hadn't thrown/bounced a ball for years until last week at our fair. Still got the shot

But can't dribble for st

It's the general fitness that gets me now. I used to be able to run back and forth for a whole match and barely break a sweat. I played a 5mins each way match recently and was utterly fecked after.

[JapFreak786]

In the summer,I usually go to a local outdoor court in a park,and just run in between the two hoops back and forth,just doing lay up's constantly,try build up the stop start fitness and just keep cardio up. Use to do 10 lay up's,and then take a mini break,followed by another 10,varying speed between light jog to full on sprints.

When I was 16,couldn't really play to save my life but enjoyed it,only really got properly into it when I started training with the college team,and then would spend about 10hour's a week at least playing on the outdoor courts at college, had some immense,and highly entertaining games that would last for hours on end at times.

We should get a PH basketball game organised for then next sunday service - though i'm only 24,so judgying by the info above and some of the trials a few member's been to,your all old :-P

[Smashed]

I'm 6' and am also trying to get to this level! Let's race!

at the moment I can grab the rim but not really hang on, I've not really trained to be able to jump higher I do squats and deadlifts at the gym but that's not aimed at jumping higher.

Might try training with ankle weights?

[JapFreak786]

You've already got a 7" advantage over me so you'd win i'd guess,we could just play a game of some basketball sometime though :-D

I'm training at the moment to get my weight down again,will include these workouts into my routine,and take things from there

[Smashed]

JapFreak786 said:

You've already got a 7" advantage over me so you'd win i'd guess,we could just play a game of some basketball sometime though :-D

I'm training at the moment to get my weight down again,will include these workouts into my routine,and take things from there

Considering my other hobby (when the weather allows) is blading I should be pretty good at jumping but I'm just not. Still gonna give it a crack. And yeah sure always up for a game of 21.

[amare32]

What others said. Plyometrics, compound exercises, squats, calf raises and skipping helps.

Being 5' 5" is going to require big hops to be able to dunk a regulation ball on a 10ft rim. It's been done with Spud Webb but he is 5ft 6 and being an elite NBA athlete at the time also helps.

I used to play a lot of basketball at school and college level and at 5ft 8, I could dunk a mini basketball and not stereotyping but a lot of black guys who I've played were shorter and same height had MASSIVE verticals and could slam the ball doing windmills, tomahawks and alley oop jams. Must have been in the genes and flexible hamstrings.

For me, I just dunked by getting a boost jumping on people (like Jim Carrey on the Cable Guy ) or off a trampoline or NBA 2K11 on the XBox 360

[n_const]

im 5"10 and can grab the rim with both hands off two feet but have only dunked the ball once or twice and that was only at the end of a training session never done it in a game/scrimmage ! You being 5"5 and 9inches off even touching the rim i think you may be wishing lol.

[Justices]

6.3" here. I can dunk (regular, two-handed, reverse, 180, 360) and get my hand a good foot and a half above the ring. I don't train for basketball, just play 3-on-3 and full court street ball at least 3 times a week as it is brilliant for general fitness.

My movement is naturally fast and very explosive so my vertical jump is decent. I do 30-45 minutes of various skipping drills each morning. I also do track work (sprints, side skipping, karaoke steps, various line drills, resistance cords) 3-4 times a week to keep my fast-twitch muscle fibres in good shape, keep an explosive first step and to maintain speed and strength.

I have a friend who is 5.9" and can get his shoulder to kiss the ring which is incredible (and annoying) to witness as he seemingly floats up without any real effort. Needless to say I do my best to make sure I am not playing against him as he takes great pleasure in making me feel like both feet are still on the floor no matter how high I jump. His jump comes from his initial explosive movement which is incredibly deceptive, although I have suspicions that his father might be part-frog.

There are a million videos on Youtube giving training advice specifically related to jumping higher/dunking so I'd look through those and spend 20-30 mins a day applying yourself to increasing your vertical jump. Watch the surface you are training on however, don't practice on hard cement as that won't do your knees/joints any good. Another thing is, as obvious as it sounds, you have to visualise yourself dunking. If you cannot conceive it in your mind, it makes achieving any physical endeavour a lot more difficult than it needs to be. You have to will yourself to get up there and the desire will manifest itself in your efforts and in any training you do to increase your jumping height.

Good luck.

[Tiggsy]

At 5'5 it's never gonna happen! Forget spud and Nate, they are one in a zillion. You only need to be able to get a few inches above the rim to dunk but if you are nine inches bellow that's still a foot you need to add to your vertical. He only hope is if you are a child (you are tiny!) or very fat or unfit and so can change something a lot. To add 12" to an already quite fit jumper is a huge task.

If you want to try to just get higher then the three main areas are strength, explosion and technique (and being low body fat)

For strength you need squats, cleans, etc......plyo may help too and some you tube vids on technique. I know lots of 6.4 guys that can't dunk with poor technique.

I have an 8 year old who plays u12 league and is big (bigger than I was at his age and I'm 6'6). If I don't have him stuffing it by 13 I I'll have failed in life!

T (40 in 3 years and aim to still be dunking!)

[dom9]

Justices said:

Watch the surface you are training on however, don't practice on hard cement as that won't do your knees/joints any good.

This is very good advice. I used to play competitive basketball from the age of 15 to 19. When I started, I wasn't a great athlete (overweight etc) but I was relatively tall (6'3") and wanted to start participating in a sport and get fit. I never knew I would get into it as much as I did, but I lived and breathed training for a few years.

I used to do a lot of heavy leg squats and calf raises initially and then I moved to plyometrics and skipping. There is no substitute for plyometrics, you need the explosive muscle fibres, not just strength. I used to set out 4 x 36in high boxes about 2m apart and do two footed jumps over them, making sure I jumped over the next one as soon as I had landed. I would do maybe 50 sets a night. I would then set out 4 x 18in boxes, a bit closer and do single leg hops over them. I also used to drink pints of milk with egg whites in them (you need the protein to recover) but I am not sure I recommend that these days as there are some great shakes available (bear in mind this was 15 years ago).

All this plyometric work was on a cement surface...

I had a 40in vertical at peak (measured at the Science Museum - get me) and was also a very good high jumper, despite no training, and general athlete. Now the moral of this tale is that I only played for 3-4 years because I managed to get a stress fracture in the base of my spine. It hurt, a lot. I had to go for X-rays, MRIs and bone scans. The most interesting was the bone scan as not only did it show the 'break' it also showed my whole pelvis and where there is a lot of 'repair' activity (which is what shows up) you see a rainbow of colours showing damage and my hips and everything else you could see where in dreadful condition.

At 32 - I still go for a sports massage every week and I am still in pain (or can at least feel 'something' in my back) about 95% of the time. I play no competitive sport, though still hit the weights and as much as I would like to - I think that is me, done for life. Make sure you take at least a day off in between training, maybe even two days, eat well and rest up.

It probably didn't help that I was on steroids for a long time (not the good ones) that reduced my bone density, but this is a cautionary tale and at your height (requiring you to gain a lot of inches), if you rush it and push yourself too hard, you could get badly hurt. The shock loadings on your joints in plyometrics are huge, which is often why people recommend being able to squat something like 2.5x your body weight, before you even start.

Oh, I guess I also used to do it with a 10kg weight belt, which helped the muscle, but not the bones!

Be careful out there!

[Tiggsy]

In summary....at 5ft5 work on your perimeter game and hope you never get guarded by anyone taller than Ronnie Corbett