awesome article raptor! im definitely the strength jumper with the longer runup. u nailed it though for me with the curve in runup, longer gct, long last step, hip dropping, and  hip rotation.

EDIT- I do wonder why im a strength jumper when i have a low squat (~1.3 bw) and weak lunge (~1.2bw)  my reactivity is good as evidenced by my 8-10 inch gap between svj and rvj and my long runup

A strength guy always has the option, in my opinion, of going for the reactive way of training because he has the strength. It's going to be a period of adaptations where things might suck but well...

One reason, beyond the obvious "this is a new thing", is that maybe the stabilizers and posture are not suited for that kind of jumping because of all the previous programming that basketball has done for a strength guy to jump the way he does.

So I believe it's only a matter of patience and "wanting" to do it.

Yeah well in the past I was definitely a reactive jumper with all that it implies... I was jumping at an established speed with a long run-up at ~7-10 steps I suppose. All I was doing was pre-contract isometrically before my jumping leg was hitting the ground and then just extend at the hip...

I still do some of those things now but it's obviously a strength jump because jumping to a rim, that's higher than you and you need to "reach" towards it makes you become such a jumper.


You could try what I was suggesting to Nightfly (and what I'm going to do myself): a 5 step acceleration followed by like a 10 step constant speed and a submaximal jump over a low rope (high speed approach). You can also use a sprint into a submax jump. The idea is for the jump to occur at a constant speed so the muscles aren't forced to voluntarily create concentric power, just contract isometrically and absorb the shock.

In time you can get the rope higher as you get more efficient.  One important thing to keep in mind though is that full hip hyperextension should occur (should be the focus of the jump) regardless of the jump height (well, that's important too but not as important as the hip extending properly).

It's strange that your right leg was better... it's usually the first leg you plant in a two-leg jump that's stronger and you have more control onto that, because you also rotate on that leg and therefore it's your "base" leg. The 2nd leg you plant off two feet is your "block" leg which doesn't contribute that much into the jump. I'd say the 2nd leg is more quad involved than anything if you look at the angles.

That might as well be the thing. It's also probably loading different, but I think you nailed it. Interesting adaptations occur over time...

Yeah it might be. I think those that scrape the ground with their non-jumping foot load the quads more, while those who come with the heel to the butt before the jump load the hips more, because the center of gravity is higher and closer to the hips, and they benefit from a longer lever to jump off.