Can Blanka Vlasic dunk??

Look, no matter what Stones says, he could dunk. I'm 5' 11" and I could dunk, albeit only with a full running start. He certainly could.

That's Stones jumping there. Look how high his hips get. He could easily dunk.

I jumped 6'5'' in HS with about a 28'' vertical and I had good form. Stones could dunk. Vlasic could probably dunk.

Stefan Holm had a vertical way, WAY over 23''. That is completely and utter BS. The guy can jump over 6' standing. He can scissor 7'. He can clear two feet over his head. The guy has a vertical over 2 feet.

To all of you with the WNBA angle:

I don't think that OP was led to his/her question by the fact that VB is 6'4", but by the fact that she can jump higher than other women.

In terms of Stefan Holm...

He is tied, with Franklin Jacobs, for the unofficial, but well documented, world record in height-over-head jump at 23 1/4 inches. Holm is 5-11 1/4 tall with a 7-10 1/2 PR.

The current issue, with Ashton Eaton on the cover, of T&F News has a nice all-time list of this obscure but really cool accomplishment. My favorite is Cindy Holmes, 5-0 tall with a 6-0 PR! At five feet tall, whatever made her think she could high jump?

When did she ever look hot?

She is a beast even with the new nose!

Stefan Holm 23" vert...hilarious!

Who in their right mind would believe that? Nobody, that is who.

I used to dunk volleyballs regularly.

One of my proudest stretches ever was the span of time during which I could dunk a basketball. To guys for whom it's easy, let me tell you, it's a real achievement for those of us for whom it's hard.

Those days are gone, but I remember them well.

I went to high school with Corissa Yasen who broke the Idaho HS record in the high jump and qualified for the Olympic trials. She went to Purdue where she was a 9 time All-American and won the NCAA heptathlon title her senior year. In her last year of eligibility, she played basketball and dunked. She was then drafted into the WNBA, but didn't get much playing time.

Her indoor school record is 1.91m/6-03.25, but I couldn't find her outdoor school record.

So there's an example of a high jumper who could not only dunk, but got drafted into the WNBA.

Just found Corissa's outdoor Purdue record: 1.92m/6-03.50

She beat Amy Acuff in the national high school meet, but Amy's PB is 2.01m and Blanka's PB is 2.08m. So Amy and Blanka can high jump higher than Corissa, but it's not clear that they can dunk like Corissa could. At least they weren't drafted into the WNBA...

Sprint Geezer wrote:

Stefan Holm 23" vert...hilarious!

Who in their right mind would believe that? Nobody, that is who.

I used to dunk volleyballs regularly.

One of my proudest stretches ever was the span of time during which I could dunk a basketball. To guys for whom it's easy, let me tell you, it's a real achievement for those of us for whom it's hard.

Those days are gone, but I remember them well.

It might be a crock BUT it's all over the internet on multiple threads (where there is smoke, there's a fire). The documentary where his standing vertical is listed at 59 cm has been removed from youtube but there are translations of it in all of those threads.

The whole point is that transferring velocity into buoyant force and rotation is very different than dunking a basketball which means that Blanka Vlasic dunking is NOT a given.

Easily. She's 6' 4", so she has a reach of about 7' 10", possibly 8' or more. Her vertical must be over 29", which is what she'd need to dunk.

Wheating fanatic wrote:

There are plenty of male NBA players who can't palm the ball.

Blanka can palm my ball... either one... anytime.

chikin wrote: It might be a crock BUT it's all over the internet on multiple threads (where there is smoke, there's a fire).

Or alternately, when someone makes a completely ridiculous false statement on the internet, there are enough credulous fools that it spreads like wildfire.

Seriously, let's do some basic physical thinking here.

(1) You claim Holm's vertical is 23 inches.

(2) Holm's high jump PR is 23 1/4 inches greater than his height.

That means that if Holm set the bar at his HJ PR, then stood underneath it and jumped as high as he could vertically, he wouldn't even be able to touch the bottom of the bar with his head. And yet, somehow, when he high jumps, he magically transforms horizontal motion into vertical motion and gets his whole body over the bar?!

Even at his IAAF bio (http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=swe/athcode=20596/index.html), it clearly states that he high-jumped a height 59 cm (23 1/4 inches) greater than his own height. That's obviously where the misunderstanding originated, possibly due to mistranslation. The bottom line: stop and think before you repeat something you read on the internet, especially after multiple people point out that it's completely implausible.

Yep, 23 inches.

The truth is none of us know his vertical leap for sure. And yes, I shouldn't present evidence that is suspect at best. I did say that it has been reported that it was only 23". And where's the proof that it is completely implausible?

If you look at the youtube stuff, pause when he is about to jump and pause when he is at his apex. There is not that much displacement. Just because he has the flexibility to get his feet above his hips on a running jump or hurdle (which I do find unreal) doesn't mean he has a tremendous standing vertical leap. What kind of leap do you think he has?

Again this is about Vlasic dunking. And that she is a lot less attractive than she and some misguided individuals think she is.

It's also interesting that on lists of those with the greatest vertical leaps, they are all basketball players, a few football players, and a couple volleyball players.

Don't see any track athletes. Do track athletes just not measure their vertical leap ever? Or are they really not all that impressive?

At least we can agree she's ugly.

POINT: How has nobody brought up that vertical jump is measured from a standstill off two feet? Totally different from dunking or high jumping.

As to your point about measuring vertical jumps, I would posit that track is much more strict about the numbers than those other sports where bogus stats increase your contract.

Finally, don't presume to lecture me on physics when you didn't know the fundamental advantage of the Fosbury Flop.

Honestly the WNBA argument is really strong. I believed Vlasic could dunk before I thought about that.

The fact that shes 6'4 is part of the reason she can jump 6'10, so her height in reference to her high jump is kind of irrelevant. If she was only 5'10, for example, she probably would not be able to clear 6'10.

This is actually a tough question, but given that only 4 WNBA players have ever dunked, it seems unlikely that Vlasic could do it.

It would be like claiming that the fastest high school soccer player in the country (who is very well conditioned) could go out and run sub 4:00

well.... wrote:

This is actually a tough question, but given that only 4 WNBA players have ever dunked, it seems unlikely that Vlasic could do it.

Does it seem unlikely when you phrase it like this:

Take all the women who have ever competed in track and field at a world class level.

Now, take the (second) best high jumper of all time. Who happens to be 6'4" (with the added torso and arm length that provides). Does it seem likely she'd be able to dunk?