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i can dunk 5'8 small forward.

guest — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:33:08 GMT

If you are 5'8" and dunking that is awesome. If you want to play at the next level you should start working your pg skills. Unfortunately, you won't be a 3-man in college most likely.

How are you ball handling skills? I would say if you jump like this, you don't need to keep working on your jumping ability, but rather your skills (shooting, ball handling, defense, passing, etc.).

If you have this type of ability, with the right coaching you could get a scholarship offer in a few years.

Head to my site www.theworldofhoops.com for some info, or hit me up directly by e-mail joe@theworldofhoops.com.

Vertical Jump

guest — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:27:32 GMT

@PH12 - yes, these are their real verticals as measured at the NBA combine. You can also see their official height, weight, 3/4 sprint time, bench press reps @ 135#s, etc... this would be their result from their rookie year.

@Rebound 23 - most people improve by 2"-7" from standing to max vert.

@21Mamba - 28" is a good standing vert. How tall are you? How old?...room to improve, but that is a good starting point. If you really want to improve you need to train some explosive movements with heavy weight (i.e. back squat to full parallel depth or below, deadlifts, power clean, split squats with dumbbells) and mix in some plyos. Check out my website at www.theworldofhoops.com for more info or contact me directly.

@miamiHEATBOY - That puts you as a better jumper than almost all NBA players over the last 10 years - post a video?

Vertical Jump

guest — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:29:20 GMT

Hey guys,

A lot of people are confused about vertical jump. What exactly it is, how you measure it, etc...

Chances are you guys are not comparing or measuring correctly....

miamiHEATBOY - if what you say is correct, you have a higher vertical than: DWade, Blake Griffin, Westbrook, and Melo....

There are actually two types measured at the NBA combine. The no-step vert and the max vert.

The 2 types of vertical jumps

1. No Step Vert – The No Step Vert is exactly what it sounds like. The player stands with their feet planted, they then jump straight up and reach up as high as possible touching a wall, target, or the spinning tabs of a vertical jump testing machine. The highest point touched is measured. To get the vertical jump height, simply subtract the max standing reach from the highest point touched.

2. Max Vert – This is basically the same, except in this test, the player gets to take a short run-up before jumping. Again, the highest point touched is measured. To get the vertical jump height, simply subtract the max standing reach from the highest point touched.

We have all heard the claims of 58” verticals, 52” verticals, and programs that give you an extra 12” of vertical in a month. Let’s look at a few facts from the pre-draft NBA combine that takes place each year.

The highest “no-step” vertical measured since 1998 was completed by Nick Young in 2007, his jump was 39.5”
The highest “max vert” jump since ’98 was Kenny Gregory’s 45.5” jump in 2001, 2^nd best belongs to Nate Robinson at 43.5

Here is how a few of the current big leapers tested:

Dwayne Wade comes in at 31.5” & 35” in the no step & max
Blake Griffin measured at 32” & 35.5” (no step & max)
Carmello Anthony jumped 30.5” & 33.5” (no step & max)
Derrick Rose = 34.5” & 40” (no step & max)
Russell Westbrook = 30” & 36.5” (no step & max)

This info is from The World of Hoops, see the full article: Vertical Jump

The actual testing data from the NBA of players vertical jumps is available here: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/

Im 5 9 or 5 10 and i wanna play basketball. Also i have never played with a team before.

guest — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:33:13 GMT

The best thing is to just get to work training. You need to focus on improving your skills (shooting, passing, ball-handling, defense, rebounding, etc) because you will be behind players that started out years before you. Check out this basketball training site for a ton of information and drills (the "school of hoops" has a ton of videos, drills, guides, and information...and the blog has a lot of useful tips). You can also find a lot of good basketball videos here. The other thing you are probably lacking is game experience. Try to get yourself involved in pick-up games or a league where mostly everyone is better than you. In my experience, the players who are willing to play with people that are better than them are the ones who become very good.

- You need to have discipline (workout 4-5x per week, play pick-up/leage games at least 2x per week)

- You need to become a student of the game: watch HS or college games, get a feel for the flow of the game, watch the plays they run, notice defenses, how do they defend the pick & roll, etc

- You need to stay positive! You will be behind other players in development, but you need to maintain an optimistic attitude and believe in yourself

- You should set goals to acheive and keep records of your training...this will enable you to see your progress, and will give you the boost you need when things seem tough.

Good Workout?

guest — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:28:11 GMT

There are a lot of great workouts you can do, but you have to be careful learning them, because injury is possible if you aren't using correct technique. Start slow and with very light weight...master the technique, then start to build weight.

The best exercises are:

DB Split Squats

One leg deadlifts

Lunge switch steps

Box jumps

Glute Ham Raises

Power Cleans

Back Squats

close grip bench press

push-ups/sit-ups/pull-ups

Most of these focus on the major muscle groups of the legs: hamstrings, quads, calfs...but these also work the core and the upperbody.

Yes you shoot the ball with your arms, but powering 3 pointers and other jumpers mostly comes from your legs.

Let me know if you have any questions.

The World of Hoops website has a ton of basketball strength training info and basketball training info (click the links to head there)

My Skill/Workout Plan?

guest — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:17:28 GMT

I am currently a basketball skill/strength coach. There are a lot of factors that go into a workout plan. My first question to you would be...are you currently in-season? If you are in-season and practicing/playing games 6 days/week, you should scale back your workouts a little bit until the off-season...focus on maintaing strength and skill vs. big improvements. If you aren't playing/practicing in season that much, then you can ramp-up a bit.

If you are doing any strength training and skill training in the same day, you should make sure you always do the strength training first. Injury in strength training is much more prevalent if you are doing strength training while fatigued. So if doing both skill/strength in same day...always strength first.

When you say "Would it be ok to go to the gym first then practice my ball skills everyday, i heard that it help builds muscle memory.", do you mean go to practice then do ball skills...or do you mean lift weights then do ball skills?

As far as a routine, I highly recommend a lot of variance in your workouts. So, an example would be...one day do ball-handling only, the next shooting only, then do a mix of ball handling/shooting, then defense, then defense and shooting, then passing and ball handling, etc....Map out drills for each day.

If you go to my site, www.theworldofhoops.com you can find a lot of great drills if you go the "School of Hoops".

There are a ton of videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWorldofHoops?feature=watch

We do custom programming as well, you can find info on that as well. Good luck!

Ways in building muscle mass for basketball.

guest — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:13:01 GMT

Haven't heard from you, feel free to e-mail at joe@theworldofhoops.com if you are still interested.

Re: Making Good Quick Descions?

guest — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:03:03 GMT

There are three parts to this in my mind.

The first is making sure your ball handling and passing abilities are strong enough to handle the situation you are in. If your skills aren't up to speed, then you will have trouble in these situations regardless of decision making. Be sure you are continually trying to improve your handle and passing with both hands...both stationary but more importantly doing these things at full speed.

The second is experience in decision making. You need to make sure you have been put in these situations a ton of times. This comes from drills, pick-up games, camps, coaching, etc. How often do you work on dealing with double teams or heavy pressure in practice? When you are inexperienced in doing something, it is going to seem more difficult. It also probably seems like everything happens VERY fast during the game (but when you think back you are able to slow it down in your head, and you realize you should have done something else). When we aren't used to pressure players tend to panic, try to get rid of the ball, or pick up our dribble, we also allow ourselves to get trapped, turn it over, and everything feels like it's going 100MPH.

For pressure remember a few things...stay in a strong position. Put your body (butt) between the defender and the ball if dribbling. You can also pick up the ball and pivot...just stay athletic and low...don't stand straight up. Take your time.

Always keep your head up - see open teammates and see where the defense is

When you do dribble, try not get stuck in the corners or along the sideline...this makes things much more difficult b/c the sideline acts like another defender....these are also places you are likely to get trapped.

Stay calm, work your pivot foot and keep your head up...do not stand straight up...stay low and athletic try to step through or around the defender

Try to stay calm...you can always call a timeout if you get pressured really bad.

The third thing is - develop your patience and confidence. By doing the first two things...this third thing happens naturally. If you are used to running the break, getting pressured, getting trapped, etc...they will become just another part of the game to you. You will be confident about your decisions, abilities, and you will be able to take your time and slow down the game.

In the meantime...keep working on your ball-handling, coordination, and practice. If you have a few friends to practice with try this: ball handling drill Also check out the other WOH videos on that same youtube channel...a ton of great ball handling videos

I have a ton of basketball information like this at my site: Basketball Training

How do i overcome skinniness in the post?

guest — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:51:33 GMT

First off...there are some guys out there that should provide some inspiration to a skinny post player....Kevin Garnett comes to mind. It is possible to be effective in the post.

That said, here are some things to keep in mind.

In the short term:

Use your quickness and length. I assume you are quicker than the bigger guys. If you are quick, than you can use footwork to be effective post defender. Use that quickness to front the post if they are deep, beat them to spots (if the ball is swung around the perimeter, you have to bear them across the paint), keep your feet moving to get around them. When they do have the ball, sometimes bigger guys will try to lower their shoulder to out-muscle you, if they lower that shoulder, you can take a charge. You can also tire them out by making them chase you on defense. If you sprint the floor hard all game, you should be able to wear them down. Additionally, if you are taller than them...use your length to bother their shot.

In the longer term:

You should work on building your size and strength....this is done by a combination of nutrition and lifting. You want to make sure you are getting enough calories...especially from healthy fats and proteins. You should be getting plenty of protein (.7 - 1.0 grams per pound of bodyweight). It is okay to add in some supplements. You also need to be getting healthy fats from things like almonds, walnuts, pecans, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado etc...

Post workout nutrition is important...protein and carbohydrates withing 30-45 minutes of finishing up your workout. Stick with steak/chicken/fish + sweet potato (awesome post-workout carb) and some other vegetables.

Since you are on the lighter side...an extra protein shake with whole milk would be a good daily supplement. You are always probably playing and working out a lot...so you are going to need more calories than an average 17 year old kid....so make sure you are eating enough...you need to put ON weight. If you are hungry eat....just try to avoid pizza, candy bars, chocolate, etc...

In terms of the lifting. Basketball strength training needs to create players that are explosive, so you want to build Fast-twitch muscle fibers. This is done through heavy and explosive lifts. Some of the best lifts for basketball players are: bulgarian split squats, back squats, deadlifts, power cleans, glute-ham raises, glute-ham sit-ups, squat thrusts...plus you should be getting in a lot of stuff that deals with strength to bodyweight ratios: pull-ups, push-ups, squat jumps, dips....and finally some plyos for speed/agility/jumping (box jumps, weighted box jumps, box jumps with the ball overhead.

You should also work on improving your foot-speed and defensive technique. This will serve you well as you play against bigger players. Head to this site: Basketball Training at WOH

for more information, drills, videos, etc...

One more thing...don't forget about the other skills. If you want to play at the next level (college). You will again become a 2 or a 3 man. Make sure you are continually refining your handle and shooting in the off season.

Hit me up if you want to discuss an individual training program: joe@theworldofhoops.com

How can I jump higher?

guest — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:46:57 GMT

This isn't really up for debate at all by real trainers. The only "debate" that is out there is because of all the bogus programs which make erroneous claims of adding 12" or more to a vertical...and claim vertical jumps of 50" or more (check the NBA Combine results and you will see the highest standing vertical over the last 8 years or so was just barely over 40".) You are correct in one thing, that you need to focus on fast twitch muscles (more specifically Type IIb muscle fibers). You do this through heavy lifts and explosive movements (i.e. plyometrics) to the extent that it doesn't create muscle imbalances, and to the extent your programming has a sufficient build-up phases so your body can adjust to the impact of these exercises. The focus should be on the largest muscle groups (and these exercises should almost always be done when you are fresh): quads and hamstrings. While your training has a bias towards the type IIb muscles, you also need to be strengthening all the othe muscles in the body (abs, shoulders, calfs, chest, etc...). I agree completely that this is best started by working with a local trainer / strength and conditioning coach to assure proper programming and technique. I would look for someone with credentials from the NSCA (either a CSCS or CPT would be best). I am not sure what the scientific basis is for your comments around the calf muscles giving you speed but not height when jumping, or talking about focusing on the landing "shocks" the fast twitch fibers...I have not come across that in any research I have read...I'd be interested in hearing the logic behind those...