Let’s face it; every basketball player wants to dunk. That statement is even truer for short basketball players. Being a short guy myself, all I ever wanted to do is dunk the basketball over someone. I thought it was impossible since I’m only 5’7″ and standard basketball rims are 10 feet high. Yet you see NBA players like Nate Robinson (5’9″) who have EXPLOSIVE jumping power, which is why he has won Slam Dunk Contest three times! So how does someone so short get up so high? Let me give you 5 quick exercises for short basketball players so that you can also develop that explosive jumping power.
Contrary to popular belief, in order to increase your vertical you cannot just workout your legs. It is also important to note that even though strength and endurance don’t hurt, the key to jumping high is all about how EXPLOSIVE you are.
- Jump Rope: This is an excellent exercise for basketball players because it increases foot speed and strengthens calf muscles. Perform four sets of 100 (total 400 jumps).
- Sprint-and-Drop: SPRINT the width of a basketball court, drop and do ten pushups. Remember to focus on explosiveness, one second to push up, three seconds to go back down. Perform 10 sprints (total 100 pushups)
- Box Jumps: Set a two-foot high box in front of you. With your feet set shoulder width apart, perform a full squat and EXPLODE on to the box, step down and repeat. Perform four sets of 25 (total 100 box jumps)
- Truck Driver: This is basically a squat with the focus being on the way down instead of up. With your feet set shoulder width apart, drop as fast as you can into a 90-degree squat position. Hold for 4 seconds and come back up. Perform four sets of 20 (total 80 truck drivers)
- High Knee-Raise Sprints: Sprint the length of a basketball court staying on your toes and lifting your knees as high as possible. Be careful not to skip across the floor. Perform four sets of 5 (total 20 sprints)
Not only will doing these exercises for short basketball players help increase your jumping power, they will also make you a better basketball player overall.
That being said, if you TRULY want to develop your jumping power, you need more than just 5 exercises. You need dedication, a step-by-step training program, as well as videos and tutorials on different exercises. It was with these tools and training programs that made it possible for short basketball players like Nate Robinson and myself to explode and dunk on 10-foot rims!
