Can any of you guys dunk? Or what was your highest vertical jump?
I understand that fast twitch muscle fibers are necessary for jumping high which distance running goes against but how many runners do you know can actually jump fairly high?
Also a follow up is it possible to build mileage while increasing vertical jump?
Anyone who is a sprinter.
I could somewhat dunk in between cross country and track. I say somewhat because I couldn't palm the ball and I'd lose control of it most the time. Alley-oops were easy if placed right. Volleyballs were easy.
For the second part, I doubt it. My vertical would go from 28" down to 14" when I was at peak mileage. I didn't do any explosive work so maybe you can do both. I think it'd be hard to do though.
How tall are you and what kind of times were you running?
Pappy wrote:
I could somewhat dunk in between cross country and track. I say somewhat because I couldn't palm the ball and I'd lose control of it most the time. Alley-oops were easy if placed right. Volleyballs were easy.
For the second part, I doubt it. My vertical would go from 28" down to 14" when I was at peak mileage. I didn't do any explosive work so maybe you can do both. I think it'd be hard to do though.
What? 28" Are you like 8ft tall?
Alexavier wrote:
Can any of you guys dunk? Or what was your highest vertical jump?
I understand that fast twitch muscle fibers are necessary for jumping high which distance running goes against but how many runners do you know can actually jump fairly high?
Also a follow up is it possible to build mileage while increasing vertical jump?
I was just under 6'2" and could dunk in my youth, also standing two hand dunk but just barely. Running I could touch the top of the painted square above the rim. I was a distance guy, a bit over 15 min for 3 mile.
I gave up basketball which I was actually better at for running, which I loved more. Happy idiot I guess. I felt it stressed my knees and rolling the ankles was terrible for them later in life.
Dunking Donutz wrote:
Alexavier wrote:
Can any of you guys dunk? Or what was your highest vertical jump?
I understand that fast twitch muscle fibers are necessary for jumping high which distance running goes against but how many runners do you know can actually jump fairly high?
Also a follow up is it possible to build mileage while increasing vertical jump?
I was just under 6'2" and could dunk in my youth, also standing two hand dunk but just barely. Running I could touch the top of the painted square above the rim. I was a distance guy, a bit over 15 min for 3 mile.
I gave up basketball which I was actually better at for running, which I loved more. Happy idiot I guess. I felt it stressed my knees and rolling the ankles was terrible for them later in life.
Riiiiiiiiiiight!
I'm 6' and was running in the 14's and 15's for cross. 1:58 800, 4:20 something 1600m, 9:24 3200m for track.
In HS, I could touch the rim on a vertical jump and I was about 5’10. So I figured I had above a 30 inch vertical considering I had an average wingspan, although I never measured.
I could grab the rim off one step and dunk a volleyball however not a basketball. Couldn’t palm it unfortunately. I was also more of a 2 foot jumper instead of one (which requires more fast twitch and reactive strength). I could grab the rim with one foot but it felt awkward.
I ran a 51.x 4x4, 2:05 open 800, and a 4:48 mile. Didn’t run many miles per week but I was able to squat almost twice my body weight. I was about 140 and could do 255.
To answer your question, I’d say it’s possible, but you’d need to do a strength program based on plyometrics, lunges, and squats with good form. If you’re a one foot jumper, sprints and bounding work well. Also Bulgarian one leg split squat.
I have always been pretty athletic and coordinated. In high school I could throw a football farther than pretty much anyone and I am stronger than average without any lifting. But my vertical jump has always been unusually bad. Like ridiculously so. I probably couldn't dunk on an 8' rim and I'm 6 feet tall. Does the really poor vertical jump imply that I'm slow twitch dominant, even though I'm at the other end of the curve in terms of throwing ability?
As a high school freshman with no training and mot much more than PE running and a little soccer, I had a 21-22 inch vertical and ran a 1:34 600 yard dash for PE. Got into running later in high school. In college at 70-80 miles per week and a 3:55 1500 PR, I had an 18-19 inch vertical. Old and fat now, probably a 5 inch vertical. hehe
twitch confusion wrote:
I have always been pretty athletic and coordinated. In high school I could throw a football farther than pretty much anyone and I am stronger than average without any lifting. But my vertical jump has always been unusually bad. Like ridiculously so. I probably couldn't dunk on an 8' rim and I'm 6 feet tall. Does the really poor vertical jump imply that I'm slow twitch dominant, even though I'm at the other end of the curve in terms of throwing ability?
I've been able to dunk since I was 18 (34 now, got it on video at this age finally haha). I'm almost 6'3, so even when I was doing high mileage it wasn't much of a challenge as I didn't need that much of a vertical. After a few minutes of loosening up at the gym it was easy to throw down (even two-handed, although at my age now that would probably take a bit of work).
Alexavier wrote:
Can any of you guys dunk? Or what was your highest vertical jump?
I understand that fast twitch muscle fibers are necessary for jumping high which distance running goes against but how many runners do you know can actually jump fairly high?
Also a follow up is it possible to build mileage while increasing vertical jump?
In all seriousness, due to traditional training and body types of many developing XC and Distance runners from Middle School onwards, I'd bet unless a kid is exceptionally athletic, you won't find many pure runners dunking a bball. Take a kid who played a variety of sports in their youth, and began an athletic function type strength circuit early in HS, he'd be more likely to have the ability to potentially dunk a bball. Dunking a bball in HS even for well above average athletes isn't as common as you'd think though. Hand and hip/glute strength are huge factors, and unless they're genetically gifted, you'd probably see him touch rim before having the ability to throw down a dunk. 400-800 m runners at the HS level at least usually do more than just run year round unless they're true elite from early on. Idk, that's probably the extent of runners being able to dunk before college age development and even then, they're probably an outlier.
I was a D1 high jumper decades ago and won a slam dunk contest in 1982. Became a hobby jogger after college. Never good at distance running so don't know if I count for this question. Dunked on my 50th birthday 5 years ago, haven't tried since. I'm 6'3".
5-11
155 lbs
Vertical jump - 42
Can dunk one handed
Can hang from the rim
Ran 1:58 & 4:42 in HS
I did it a few times when I was 15-16 yrs old. Haven't been interested to do it since then...which was almost 20 yrs ago. I guess at 6'4" it doesn't require that much effort anyway. Been trying to get into running the past 5-6 years. I'm finding that running a sub 17 5k is much more difficult.
Dunken Dan wrote:
5-11
155 lbs
Vertical jump - 42
Can dunk one handed
Can hang from the rim
Ran 1:58 & 4:42 in HS
If you're 5'11" and have a 42" vertical, you can hit your elbows on the rim from a standing start.
Jack Bacheler, one of the founders of the Florida Track Club, was 6'7" and 165lbs, and could dunk easily. Bacheler started on his high school basketball team and averaged nearly 15 points and 10 rebounds per game including several jaw-dropping windmill dunks. His senior year, he went out for cross country, because he liked to run. He ended up running in college and went on to qualify for the '68 and '72 Olympic teams.
Jose el Plomero wrote:
Jack Bacheler, one of the founders of the Florida Track Club, was 6'7" and 165lbs, and could dunk easily. Bacheler started on his high school basketball team and averaged nearly 15 points and 10 rebounds per game including several jaw-dropping windmill dunks. His senior year, he went out for cross country, because he liked to run. He ended up running in college and went on to qualify for the '68 and '72 Olympic teams.
I would be far more impressed if he was 5'7" and could do a windmill dunk. Being impressed at someone dunking at 6'7" is like being impressed that a 400 pound guy can devour 18 hot dogs in one sitting.
I dunked for the first time as a senior in high school, and can still dunk now (30 yo). I've found, contrary to several others on here, that my vertical doesn't change for the worse when training volume and intensity rises. It may take me longer to loosen up when my mileage is higher (70 mpw for me is pretty high), but I find that I actually jump a little better with more running volume.