Dunking a basketball

May 3, 2005 6:00 PM

It's been a life time goal of mine to dunk a basketball. Any tips and advice on how to attain this goal?

I'm 20, 5'11" and in pretty good shape, but my vertical is near where it needs to be. If there was a pretty solid plan to achieve this, I'm pretty convnced I'd work decently hard at it. I'm open to trying anything!

posted by sicem07 to sports, hobbies, & recreation (19 comments total)

Can you touch the rim? I'm the same height, and the best I could do was get a couple fingers on the rim. I was running and skateboarding a lot, pretty strong legs then, and still nowhere near dunking it. Anyway this is a great question, if there are good answers it might revive a teenage dream of mine...

By the way, are you white? :)
posted by knave at 6:11 PM on May 3, 2005

Dude, you need some strength shoes!
posted by fionab at 6:16 PM on May 3, 2005

Outside Magazine recently did an entire story about this where a writer went an expertly-designed diet and exercise regimen.

You can check out the entire regimen here.

The regimen includes some expensive equipment for specialized exercise (available from fionab's first link, BTW), but a lot of the stuff you can do just in your local gym. The upshot is that even if you don't dunk as a result, you'll get in much better shape.

Oh, and author Josh McHugh increased his vertical by a startling 12 inches in six months -- but couldn't dunk, because he hadn't worked on his handle. Don't forget that.
posted by jeffmshaw at 6:30 PM on May 3, 2005

find a ledge about 2 feet high and jump up with both feet together, and jump down, and repeat about a thousand times. When you get to the point where you can do this without getting very tired, add weights. you dont have to strap anything to you, just pick up something heavy. This will give you "ups" and youll notice a huge difference.
posted by pwally at 6:31 PM on May 3, 2005

Oh, I forgot to link to the story itself and to McHugh's blog. He's giving himself another six months of training to dunk.
posted by jeffmshaw at 6:33 PM on May 3, 2005

"Jump really, really high" -- Tripper Harrison

It may not be possible. A large vertical jump is a function of the percentage of fast twitch fibers in your muscles. The ratio of fast/slow twitch fibers is set fairly early in life. If you have had good endurance vs. good jumping ability without specifically training for either one, chances are your fast/slow ratio is too low to easily realize your skywalker dreams.

Point your training towards exercises that stress the fast twitch fibers repeatedly. You're looking for explosion rather than endurance.
posted by forrest at 6:42 PM on May 3, 2005

I had a good friend who set the exact same goal for himself a while ago. He was already a serious volleyball player, so he already had good vertical height, but he was about the same height as you, and really wanted to dunk.

Those strength shoes were definitely the most effective thing he found, and he used them religiously for a while--don't think he ever made it to dunking, though.
posted by LairBob at 7:10 PM on May 3, 2005

Frankly, you are a little short for this goal. You might make it, but most at your height will not. The underworked muscles here are in your calves and how you explode off of your toes, at least for most people. Hand and arm control also matter to help get the ball above the rim, but the jump is the key. Good luck
posted by caddis at 7:18 PM on May 3, 2005

Don't worry about the height thing. 5'11" is sufficient. I know because I was dunking when I was 5'11" (in jr. high). Hell, think of guys like Spud Webb - 5'7" (?) and could make it look pretty easy. The biggest problem is that larger hands tend to go with height, and large hands help a lot (unless you can get high enough for a two handed stuff).

Here are a few things that I've always done naturally that I know have helped in the long run:
- I roll my feet heel to toe and really spring off the toes when I walk. I look like a complete idiot when I walk, though I've toned it down in recent years.

- I always took the stairs if they're available. I'd run stairs, on my toes (never flat footed).

Here's some of the training things (mainly learned by training for high jump) that I've done in the past:
- Lots and lots of jump rope - really quick with short little hops exclusively on the toes. But not stiff legged. You have to _spring_ off your toes. To do that you have to lower your heels, without letting them touch the ground (that's cheating yourself), and springing up. Do this lots, really really quickly.

- I'd also stand on a stair. Facing into the stairway, with my toes on the step and my heels hovering space behind me. I'd simply lower my heels and then raise them, a lot. After awhile, I carried dumbells for additional weight, but I doubt it had much effect.

- Lots of squats for powerful quads (pushing off comes from the thighs, exploding upwards from the calves)

By the time I'd graduated HS, I had about a 38" standing vertical with about 6" more with a short run up (I had developed a very smooth running jump technique via high jump).

Too bad I really sucked at basketball. Too skinny, too awkward, not aggressive enough. I can still get about 32" even now, while carrying my spare tire; wouldn't even bother trying to dunk anymore though.
posted by C.Batt at 8:27 PM on May 3, 2005

Oh yeah, one more bit off advice:

Stand tall and reach up as high as you can. Have someone measure the height from the floor to 1" below your extended wrist. 10' - (measured height) = how high you need to jump.

You need to be able to get your wrist over the rim, otherwise your just faking it and will more often than not just bounce it off the front of the rim. If it goes it it's because you kinda sorta dunked it, more like sliding it in. You won't get a really good stuff unless you can get your wrist well over the rim.
posted by C.Batt at 8:33 PM on May 3, 2005

A study showed strength shoes not to work:

Summary. A recent study found similar small gains (~1%) in sprint and jump performance when previously untrained young men trained for 10 weeks in regular shoes or Strength Shoes. Injury rate was much higher with Strength Shoes, probably a result of the inappropriate training program prescribed by the manufacturer. An earlier study of more experienced athletes showed trends towards better performance and less injury with normal shoes. I therefore cannot recommend Strength Shoes.
posted by callmejay at 9:04 PM on May 3, 2005

Rolly's Guide To Jump Training

Plyometrics seems to be where it's at.
posted by jikel_morten at 9:41 PM on May 3, 2005

I was actually just kidding about those shoes, I was surprised that people elsewhere had recommended them!
posted by fionab at 10:00 PM on May 3, 2005

I had this goal in high school, so I went back to my middle school and dunked on the 8-foot-high baskets like a mofo.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:30 PM on May 3, 2005

Read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving.
posted by Jackson at 5:42 PM on May 4, 2005

Jump squats will do wonders. I haven't seen a Powernetics SuperCat in years, but it was by far the best thing I ever did for my vertical leap.

If you live in a city or college town, the local basketball team's strength coach may trade 30 minutes of his wisdom for lunch or dinner. (just a thought)
posted by Kwantsar at 8:20 PM on May 4, 2005

Gentlemen, this is good stuff. In six months, the boys down at the park will feel my wrath.

Dumb question -- what the easiest way to measure your current vertical jump height?
posted by ph00dz at 6:19 AM on May 5, 2005

In high school at 5'11" I could easily dunk the mini balls that Pizza Hut used to give out during March Madness. Doing it with a regulation basketball is much much harder, and something I was only able to do a half dozen times, and then only without someone gaurding me. You'll need to practice dribbling to the rim and then palming the ball while jumping. The height is pretty easy, the mechanics of getting to the rim, without traveling or dropping the ball, are much more difficult.

I found dunking double handed a lot more difficult vertical-wise, but way easier handle-wise. It might be smarter to get to the point where you can easily bang the part of both wrists right beneath where you'd wear a watch on the top of the rim, and then transition to actually trying a basketball.

~10 years later I can touch the rim if I'm really inspired, but there's no way I could dunk a mini ball on even the best of days. If you don't keep up with it you'll definitely lose the ability.

In terms of measuring height most gyms I've been to have a vertical leap chart on a tall wall somewhere. Failing that I'm certain you can find one in a local NBA arena concourse or a college hoops gym.

I'm willing to bet that even if you don't make it to dunking you'll get really good at finger-rolls, which are impressive enough for most playgrounds.
posted by togdon at 8:02 AM on May 5, 2005

sicem07 - also, try it. See how you do, and note your improvement over time. Once you start getting close, it'll push you to get there.
Full disclosure - I can't dunk.
posted by hellbient at 1:49 PM on December 8, 2005