Can Blanka Vlasic dunk??

"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"

No, it would be like claiming the fastest sprinter in the country would go out and be the fastest soccer player.

The arguement that only 4 WNBA have dunked and therefore Vlasic probably can't is pure idiocy. They're training to play basketball and have to do it while dribbling the ball in a game and with people defending them. I would bet MANY more than 4 could do it if it were in practice and they were allowed to carry the ball.

Also, they are not training to dunk a ball. They are training to play a game that is physiologically MUCH different than the high jump.

High jumpers are training to jump high. Pure and simple. Chikin might be the newest biggest dolt of the year if he honestly believes that Vlasic could not dunk and that Holm has a 23 inch vertical.

Wendell Gee wrote:

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.

Not trying to lecture anyone on physics and yeah, I know I screwed up the center of mass thing (under the bar, not in the hips). But if the vertical for those athletes are completely bogus, why is 23" for Holm totally out of the realm of possibility?

Michael Jordan supposedly did 48". 4' onto a 6'6" athlete who could probably touch 8'6" standing, 2 feet for his reach but probably more. That's 12'6" off a standing vertical. That would mean he could easily get eye level with the rim from a standing position. He could hardly do that on a running start. His vertical was probably closer to 30'. Kadour Ziane supposedly has a 56" vertical. 5'11". 2 feet for his reach. 7'11" with a 4'8" vert. 12'7" is what he can touch from a standing vertical. Sure..... and the top of the backboard is 13'.

Holm is 5'11". Give him 2 feet for his reach. 7'11" with a vertical of 23". 9'10" does seem a little short but do you really think his vertical is much more than 23"? Maybe closer to 30" but not nearly what some have hinted at.

Again, how much does the high jump rely on vertical leap? Not as much as one might think. So, I doubt Vlasic could dunk.... but anything's possible.

Isn't dunking also the transfer of horizontal motion to vertical. Therefore, how much does dunking rely on vertical leap? Not as much as one might think.

I think that Holm had a tremendous vertical leap, because he jumps so easily over those hurdles in the one video, from a standstill, I think, but if you want to compare vertical leap to high jumping, you need to look at the differences. Holm is a speed high jumper, whereas Donald Thomas (discovered dunking in a pickup basketball game) is an explosive leaper with a slow run up. Thomas doesn't use speed to get over the bar, whereas Holm goes very fast on his way to the bar. The fancy dancer, Blanka Vlasic, is not a speed jumper. She takes the giant slow steps to match the slow clap, so she must have a good vertical.

Not training to dunk a basketball?! Why wouldn't they? It's the easiest way to score. If they could do it, they would do it. And to assert that they don't try is just stupid. Candace Parker was constantly trying to do it in a game. Griner's done it in a game and her whole high school highlight reel was her dunking. Why does ESPN and youtube make a big deal out of it? Because it is a freak occurrence. But they don't dunk..... because, outside of a select few, they CAN'T dunk!

Vlasic isn't just training to "jump high".... she's trying to clear the bar and do it anyway possible. It's body postion and transitioning horizontal force into vertical.

And high jump is physiologically MUCH different from dunking a basketball.

heh come on this guy's obviously trolling.

He says the world record/best holder for greatest height above his height has less than a 2 foot vertical. My 2 step verticle was 24. I'm 6'1 and can barely dunk. There were three guys (of about 13) in 9th grade PE class with higher verticals. They weren't great athletes or sprinters.

Ever see a dunk contest and guys' heads are consistently at the rim? If a guy is 6'4 that's a 44 inch jump. Maybe they should learn to high jump like Holm then clear 10 feet.

only 4 wnba players have dunked IN A GAME. More than 4 can dunk retards. A hs girl won a dunk contest. HS girls can dunk.

6'1" dunks easily

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAJ0q4F3JjQ

go to 1:25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3FnknDkMH8

you guys are f***ing retarded.

I knew a guy in college that was 6' or 6'1" and could take one step and head butt the rim.

I had a 30" vertical in college and am 6'2", so I could hang on the rim off vertical, but not dunk. I had very good form and was much better at running and jumpIng than power jumping.

My point is that he might only have a 35" vertical, but anything under 30" is laughable. No serious person would even entertain the idea.

"Not training to dunk a basketball?! Why wouldn't they? It's the easiest way to score."

Apparently not if its only been done 4 times in the WNBA

"If they could do it, they would do it."

So, you're saying its not the easiest way to score or it is? I'm confused because these 2 quotes don't seem to go together.

"And to assert that they don't try is just stupid. Candace Parker was constantly trying to do it in a game. Griner's done it in a game and her whole high school highlight reel was her dunking."

I never said they don't try. I said they're not training to purely dunk. The question was about dunking. A single event that takes a few seconds of "transitioning horizontal force into vertical" which sounds surprisingly like the high jump, eh? Basketball is much more like a short attention span fartlek.

"Why does ESPN and youtube make a big deal out of it? Because it is a freak occurrence. But they don't dunk..... because, outside of a select few, they CAN'T dunk!"

Yes it is a freak occurence in a game, and only a select few can do it, and almost none of them has the physical capabilities on the level of Vlasic. Also, once again you're now saying this is tough, but I thought it was the easiest way to score. Make up your mind would you.

"Vlasic isn't just training to "jump high".... she's trying to clear the bar and do it anyway possible. It's body postion and transitioning horizontal force into vertical."

Correct.

"And high jump is physiologically MUCH different from dunking a basketball."

Incorrect. You are getting dunking a basketball and playing basketball confused with one another.

she can dunk wrote:

only 4 wnba players have dunked IN A GAME. More than 4 can dunk retards. A hs girl won a dunk contest. HS girls can dunk.

6'1" dunks easily

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAJ0q4F3JjQ

go to 1:25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3FnknDkMH8

you guys are f***ing retarded.

Okay.... that's Candace Parker in the second clip.... she plays in the WNBA.... she's one of the 4 mentioned.....

The other chick, impressive. That makes 5. 6 if you count Lynette Woodard. Count Acuff (if that goal is 10'). That's 7. What other evidence is there that Vlasic can dunk, other than her high jumping ability?

6 women who play the game in which dunking is a desired skill and people still swear Vlasic has to be able to dunk.

In the game of basketball the shortest shot is the best shot for scoring points.

A basketball player wants to score points the easiest way possible.

Dunking is the easiest way to score a points because it is the shot that is the shortest.

For women it is a shot that only 4 women have achieved but many train to be able to accomplish because it would be the easiest way for them to score and therefore win games.

Unfortunately for the vast majority of women this is very difficult to do (4 women in the WNBA).

This is not for a lack of trying to dunk.

They aren't able to dunk.

So what makes you think Vlasic can dunk and these women, who's sole goal in playing basketball is to get the easiest shot, can't and don't dunk on a regular basis?

Did I explain myself adequately? I put spaces in between the sentences because it seems you needed that in your earlier post.

Wow, really? That's what you're going with? That is a whole new level of stupid there. The only thing I can go with is that you're just a troll and are going to stick with saying the dumbest thing that pops in your head. I will not have a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

no sanity here wrote:

Wow, really? That's what you're going with? That is a whole new level of stupid there. The only thing I can go with is that you're just a troll and are going to stick with saying the dumbest thing that pops in your head. I will not have a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

No response? I'm totally open to criticism... if it has any basis in logic or fact. I backed down from the Stefan Holm thing, though I still don't think his vertical is as spectacular as some may think.

To think that a female, non basketball player can accomplish a difficult basketball skill that the vast majority of female basketball players can't accomplish, is stupid.

OXYRUNR wrote:

A couple of things some of you are missing. First, in at least the flop style your "center of mass" passes under, NOT over the bar, though at one time or another all of your body does travel over the bar. Second, HJers do not necessarily have good vert jumps. What they are good at is converting horizontal motion into vertical motion - perhaps the best example was Dwight Stones (and perhaps the best student of the event, and a 2 time OLY bronze medalist).

this

I have read some stupid posts on these boards throughout the years, but you sir, are the moat ignorant poster ever.

You speak as though you are an authority, but what is obvious to the other posters in this thread is that you obviously have never been around an elite, tall, female athlete. I workout in the shell at the University of Wisconsin and I have seen at least 3 of their women high jumpers hang on the rim with both hands. I have also seen their best high jumper who is about 6'2 hammer a volleyball dozens of times in her warm-ups with both hands. And I think she has a PR of 6'3". It is beyond the pale to me, having seen this with my own eyes, that you would think that arguably the best high jumper in the world couldnt dunk a ball.

Your ignorance is disgusting to me.

If high jump was just about vertical jumping ability, then why do they run at the bar?

HJ coach, I understand your question and agree with what you're alluding to. My thought when reading this thread is that when I could dunk, I had to run at the rim as well. Would both these acts follow similar dynamics, or am I simplifying it too much?

chikin wrote:

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 my college most of the athletes on any team had their vertical jump measured. And they were posted on a big board in the student gym that listed all the top marks (including marks for some other tests of athleticism). I remember the top high jumper on our track team had like a 36" (his high jump PR was 7'3"). Then myself and a couple other sprinters had 33s. A couple basketball guys were like 37-38". And then there was a baseball player who was over 40".

It's been said before, but this is true: In general, the best athletes play other sports because football, baseball, and basketball get you the money and the women.

making up verticals is fun! baseball player over 40" LOLOLOLOLOLOL