When playing basketball, it is always an advantage if you are able to jump high. Jumping higher in basketball means doing more. If you are able to jump high, you have more chances of making points, rebounds, and blocks. Basketball players who are able to jump high pose both offensive and defensive threats that other players give them respect.
Jumping higher in basketball basically requires focus and determination. To develop your vertical jump to perform better in basketball, you will need to strictly follow a training routine for a number of weeks. Changes will not happen overnight so you will need to repeat jumping exercises everyday for the next couple of weeks.
In adapting a training routine to jump higher in basketball, you might want to include sprinting, jumping, and lifting exercises in it. But before you start your training regimen, it would be helpful to do some warm-up exercises first. A good round of stretching is a great warm-up activity. Stretching relaxes your muscles and improves the circulation of blood flow into them.
After which, you can turn your attention to sprinting. Sprinting helps develop explosive power that you will need to jump higher especially in basketball. Sprinting also helps develop take off power and speed. Explosiveness and speed are two factors that help make a person jump higher. Try doing 40-yard dashes as a start.
Then, you can proceed to your jumping exercises. You can try doing depth jumps in this part of your jump higher routine. Depth jumps help improve and strengthen your fast twitch muscles. You can start doing depth jumps by standing on a platform. Then, step off the platform and as your foot touches the ground, explode upwards as high as you can. As a start, do this exercise in three sets of ten. You can then gradually increase the number of repetitions.
Another good jumping exercise is the jumping rope. Jumping rope offers full body work out as it works not only your legs but almost all your body muscles. You can also jump rope anywhere. When you are not doing your jump training routine, you can still jump rope, just like while you are watching a TV show.
To complete your routine, do some weightlifting – Olympic weightlifting that is. Properly executed weight lifting requires the muscles groups from your ankles to your hips to work. As you lift weights, you are able to develop jumping power in areas that are typically used in jumping.
There is no harm in trying these simple exercises, and they have their contributions in increasing your vertical jump.
