• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

8 Key Tips To A Better Vertical Jump (Part 2)

You are here: Home / Other Sports / Basketball / 8 Key Tips To A Better Vertical Jump (Part 2)
8
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

June 13, 2014 by Travis Hansen Leave a Comment

Last Updated on January 28, 2015 by Jimson Lee

This is Part 2 of 8 Key Tips To A Better Vertical Jump.  Click here for Part 1.

This article is guest blogged by Travis Hansen, author of The Speed Encyclopedia.

He also wrote Why Acceleration is More Important than Top Speed in Most Sports and Building Your Horsepower – The Power Development Model Part 1 and Part 2, which are full excerpts from his book.

To read all his articles on this blog, click here.

In the football combine, the best measure is not just the 40 yard dash, but the standing long jump and the vertical jump test.

8 Key Tips To A Better Vertical Jump (Part 2)

Below is the list, and I will detail each of them specifically in the sequence they are presented.

  • #1 – Size
  • #2 – Speed
  • #3 – Strength
  • #4 – Power
  • #5 – Potentiation
  • #6 – Technique
  • #7 – Frequency
  • #8 – Anterior Hip Mobility/Flexibility

STRENGTH

Lower and Upper body strength output is going to have a profound effect on vertical jump performance according to a lot of legitimate real world evidence and research. For example, a study in 2002 from The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed at a parallel depth in the back squat, the Vastus Lateralis muscle, followed by the Gluteus Maximus were the most active out of all lower body musculature. These were followed by the the various hamstring muscles and remaining quad muscles. 6

Coincidentally, emg reports of active skeletal muscles during the vertical jump pattern indicated that either the hips or quads were dominant muscle groups. 7 8 10 It really just depends on the person, their body structure, and the technique they are accustomed too. Form follows function. If you have solid tone and size in the glutes and hamstrings you are probably going to hinge more at the hips and rely on their contribution to propel you upward, and vice versa. However, both are going to be the most active groups regardless though. If you watch athletes perform the test and pause at the bottom, you are going to notice differences in joint angles and their approach, of course, but the important thing here is that there seems to be far more similarity rather than differences between how the back squat/deadlift and the vertical jump in terms of how they affect our muscles. With that being said, these heavy resistance training movements are going to have vast carryover to your jumping capacity! Axial loaded exercises like the squat and deadlift generate high levels of vertical force, and so does the vertical jump, obviously. They all share similar joint angles and muscle activity levels. As a result, the squat and deadlift then become sound “Specific Strength” exercise selections for vertical jump development. Squat and Deadlift variations force you to recruit your muscles and apply force in a manner very similar to your specific jump approach. Let me put it this way. If you did absolutely nothing but squat and deadlift heavy over the long-term, you would put some inches on your vert.

POWER

In case anyone is still curious of the definition, power is strength x speed. The more force you can generate and the faster you can generate it, the more powerful you will be. Force plate measurements have identified this for us already. If two people weigh the same exact weight and one can recruit more force relative to the other person during the test, then they will accelerate higher and longer. It’s just simple physics. The Vertical Jump is a direct power assessment. That’s why it’s imperative to include not only strength and speed oriented training that was just discussed, but also direct forms of power training. Specific examples include hang cleans and snatches, jump squats, speed squats and deadlifts with and without bands and chains, power cleans, etc. The nature of these movements demand you to recruit your muscles fast and forcefully, so you will be better prepared to excel when the time comes to test.

Lets take the Hang Clean for example. The reason why this exercise and many others works so well for improving the vertical jump is because:

  • A, research supports it. I shared 3 studies that supported the Hang Clean for increasing sprinting speed in my book, and complements of Bret Contreras, I was able to locate one more taken from Hori in 2008 from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. The study found that 1RM Hang Clean ability scaled with 20 meter sprinting speed, jump squat power, and vertical jumping height!! 11
  • B, ground contact time is very short.
  • C, it’s at a similar location on the Force-Velocity Curve. Meaning it combines both speed and strength to perform well, just like with the vertical jump. And the technique of each will be pretty close, just like with the squat and deadlift pattern.

About the Author Click here for a complete guide to speed development

Travis Hansen was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club. He is the author of The Speed Encyclopedia.

See also  4 Tips on Soccer Speed Training

Category iconBasketball,  Coaching,  Training Tag iconTravis Hansen

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}