Runners that can dunk

Pappy wrote:

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.

You were 6 feet tall and an 28" vertical jump and you could dunk?

That does not seem to add up?

How long are your arms?

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?

Well throwing involves the legs only some. Jumping is all legs and glutes.

Peyton Manning could throw the ball a long way and was slow even in college. Same for Tom Brady.

Then there was Majikowski of the Packers in the late 80s who was a very good HJer.

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.

Being 6-7 certainly gives one a leg up on being able to dunk.

Heck Larry Bird could barely get off the ground and could dunk. But he had pretty good endurance. A quote from a coach about me applies to Bird "You are just as slow at the end of the (basketball) game as you are at the start".

Runs like 29's at a crappy college wrote:

Alexavier wrote:

Also a follow up is it possible to build mileage while increasing vertical jump?

No

I would say this is very difficult. One of the adaptations to endurance exercise is that fast twitch and the intermediate (fast, oxidative FOG) muscles become "slower". While they do not convert to slow twitch, these fibers become less fast. For a distance runner this is good as you want to be able to recruit them and have them be more resistant to fatigue.

This is one reason why you would never want a sprinter to do long slow runs.

My guess is that 800m runners likely have the best VJ on average and as you increase the distance the VJ will decrease.

Luv2Run wrote:

Pappy wrote:

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.

You were 6 feet tall and an 28" vertical jump and you could dunk?

That does not seem to add up?

How long are your arms?

No one asked If I could dunk from a standing position. I could not. This may be why it does not add up for you. Jump technique matters.

I could dunk before I started running, but probably not anymore. I could probably get it back in a few months with practice and squats.

Yeah, yeah, everyone could dunk, or could get up high enough but just couldn't palm the ball. I hear this all the time, but NO one can ever show me. All you skywalkers, just post a vid of yourself dunking on a ten ft rim

Im calling BS on all of you. Especially Karelite

XY wrote:

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?

not the OP but thats about right for me. I never could dunk more than a volleyball, but then again I didnt quite have that kind of vert.

I topped out around 27" vert at 6'2"

For reference, on tip-toes, my reach allows me to touch the bottom of the net and that point is ~24" from the rim [my ape index is flat, reach is 75"]

With just a little better run-up I always thought I shoulda been able to dunk. Always banged it off the back of the rim tho [when I wasnt getting stuffed by the front of the rim, heh]. In truth my vert was usually closer to 25-26 I think, it was just on rare occasions I could get a 27", which is similar to the effort to 'grab the rim with both hands'

28" vert is where it starts being normal I think to dunk.

Mugsy wrote:

Yeah, yeah, everyone could dunk, or could get up high enough but just couldn't palm the ball. I hear this all the time, but NO one can ever show me. All you skywalkers, just post a vid of yourself dunking on a ten ft rim

Im calling BS on all of you. Especially Karelite

There you go, genius.

That's 12 years after my dunking prime, after a hard lifting session and not even loosened up.

This forum certainly loves talking about vertical leap.

I am 5'11 and can easily two hand slam with a ~40 inch running vert and ~36 inch standing vert. (This is off-season, in season I struggle a bit more and have to use only one hand.)

I can just about dunk a ball into a trash can.

ACL Thief wrote:

This forum certainly loves talking about vertical leap.

I am 5'11 and can easily two hand slam with a ~40 inch running vert and ~36 inch standing vert. (This is off-season, in season I struggle a bit more and have to use only one hand.)

With all due respect, STFU.

A 5' 11" guy with a 40 inch running vertical should be able to touch the top of the "square" on the backboard. That's NBA All-Star , Dunk Competition type hops.

I know a 5'11" guy who can two hand dunk but he also high jumped 6'-8". He actually did run XC one season in hs but never broke 17 for 5k.

No way does any competitive distance runner have a standing vertical over 30". If you did, you wouldn't and couldn't be a good distance runner.

Post a video of you touching the top of a square and a link to a sub 16 5k performance and I'll believe you.

Clarification: video touching the top of the "square" on the backboard. Floor and backboard in same frame please.

I am 6'1" and can dunk fairly easily. 14:41 5k PR.

MaineRnr wrote:

I am 6'1" and can dunk fairly easily. 14:41 5k PR.

I believe that. It's impressive but I believe it's possible. I don't believe ACL Thief and his 40 inch vertical claim. Ok, I'm done posting on this thread.

5’8” could touch rim when young never measured vertical jump back then was a skinny distance runner. Currently 57 years old with 37” standing vertical jump. Thinking may try for 40” if I can ever lose more weight and get in shape 15 pounds overweight (was 25 pounds overweight).

twitch confusion wrote: 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 believe that the ability to throw a football or baseball very hard is not correlated to the ability to run fast or jump far. Throwing is a movement in the transverse plane (twisting), whereas running is more sagittal plane dominant (up and down, back an forth) with a slight transverse twist in each stride.

Witness the number of great quarterbacks who cannot sprint to save their lives, like Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. Or pitchers who aren’t good at anything else.

Old Man jumping wrote:

5’8” could touch rim when young never measured vertical jump back then was a skinny distance runner. Currently 57 years old with 37” standing vertical jump. Thinking may try for 40” if I can ever lose more weight and get in shape 15 pounds overweight (was 25 pounds overweight).

Wow! You're 57 and have a standing vertical higher than any NBA draft prospect last year! Highest was 2018 Slam Dunk Contest winner Donovan Mitchell at 36.5".

At 5'8", your reach is likely about 7.5 feet. With a 3'1" standing vertical, that means that you can get about 7 inches, or a whole hand length, above the rim from a standing start. You can dunk easily now from a standing start and your vertical is way higher than when you were young. That's awesome!

At 57, you jump higher than the slam dunk winner (but he has a five inches on you):

I have never had an affinity for anything sports-like, however I did everything I could growing up. I remember my friends and I would always run around the properties and climb trees and such. I think almost every day up until I moved in around ~6th grade I jumped on my trampoline for a few hours. During elementary, I did a lot of soccer and ended up quitting it 6th grade year for cross country. Between cross country and track, I did a lot of longer distance running and I could hardly touch the net. Going into 7th grade, however, I grew to 5'7'' and did mostly longer sprints of 3-4x400 just to stay in shape. I ran a 5:24 mile and could touch the backboard. 8th grade I was 5'9'' and I measured my vertical at 26'' standing and (maybe) 29 running. I could get well up the brick of the rim. 9th grade I got my first dunk and I was around 5'11-6'0''. I lifted 3x a week, played bball 3-4x a week, and did around 40 mpw. My standing reach was around 7 and a half feet or so. Now, I'm 6'4'' and a junior. My 1600 PR is 4:17 as of this season. I haven't increased my vertical much since, but I can say there is more of a developmental aspect to jumping rather than genetic.