If you watch a high-level professional basketball game or any of the games in the March madness NCAA tournament, you’ll see many great players exhibiting phenomenal jumping ability. They seem to go 1-2 feet above their opponents and give the appearance of hanging in the air while they shoot. They give the impression of having springs on their feet.
They are the envy of fans and players alike. More importantly, they help win ball games. The question now arises: are these players made or are they born? If they can be made how can this be done?
Genetics accounts for about 30% of the ability to jump higher. This means that the athlete possesses a higher percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers that play the key role in the athlete’s explosive ability to jump higher. The remaining 70% however, can be trained.
In some cases with correct and proper training of this ability to jump higher, the athlete can out-jump the player who has greater genetic potential but does not train most effectively to fully develop this ability. For example, many athletes on the 1 x 20 RM strength training program at the native able to regularly improving jump height 5 to 6 inches in one to two training cycles.
One factor that is often overlooked in training the ability to jump higher is the role of technique. Yes, there is a most effective way of jumping for height! Understand that jumping is a neuromuscular skill. It involves the nervous system and the muscles in a coordinated manner.
There must be effective inter- and intra-muscular coordination between the joints, especially shoulder, hip, knee and ankle. In addition, you must strengthen the muscles that are involved in these joint actions in exactly the way they are used in the jump.
Also overlooked in many training programs is that the most important factor in jumping is power, not strength. To get power you must first develop a strength base and then literally convert the strength to power.
For more information on jumping specific exercises and training protocols see Explosive Basketball Training and Biomechanics and Kinesiology of Exercise.