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^^^good post, raptor. this was too high for me, i think. you're right, i'm terrible at consecutive backboard jumps. terrible. never really tried hurdle jumps.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPipj7rCxtg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPipj7rCxtg</a>

quick-and-dirty freeze frame analysis suggests...29"? these did not feel very good.

that post is making me fantasize about quitting my job and finding something more flexible to pay the bills.

if you're going to jump every day and do heavy strength work twice a week, don't do separate intense plyos. for the time being you'll get more out of just practicing jumping. this is the lesson of my journal. practicing jumping has to supersede everything else if you're not naturally a gifted jumper, which you and i are not. you could do something like this:

monday: jumps x 20-40, explosive work (e.g., med ball or shot throws, max effort standing verticals, jump squats)
tuesday: jumps x 20-30, weights (squat focus, p-chain rep work, upper push/pull, core)
wednesday:
thursday: jumps x 20-40, explosive work (e.g., med ball or shot throws, max effort standing verticals, jump squats)
friday: jumps x 20-30, weights (p-chain focus, squat rep work, upper push/pull, core)

squat focus could be 3 x 5, adding weight as often as you can -- even if your stats are out of date that's pretty weak so you've got nowhere to go but up. p-chain rep work can be RDLs, hip thrusts, GHR/natural GHR, hypers or reverse hypers. pick two of those and do 3 sets of 10 each. p-chain focus could be dead lift 3 x 5, again adding weight as often as you can. squat rep work can be like 5 x 10. YOU MUST HAVE PROPER FORM, WITHOUT PROPER FORM YOU MUST NOT DO THE LIFT.

if i were 16 and know what i know now, and had the infinite time and recovery ability of 16-year-olds the world over, this is what i'd do. replace the ultimate with a sport or sports of your choice. bit of pickup basketball and jumps at the rim here and there:

sunday: ultimate frisbee or variant (goaltimate, short field, indoor, etc.) x a couple of hours
monday: track speed work + throwing around and easy drills + extensive tempo
tuesday: track short speed work + weights + throwing around and easy drills
wednesday: ultimate frisbee practice
thursday: track speed work + throwing around and easy drills + extensive tempo
friday: throwing around
saturday: weights + ultimate frisbee or variant (goaltimate, short field, indoor, etc.) x a couple of hours

you're a teenager, you're fucking invincible and your body is literally on steroids right now. take advantage while you can.

you are almost exactly 10 years younger than i am (i'll be 27 the day after you turn 17). excuse me, i'm going to go throw up in a trash can and then weep over my wasted youth.

you seem to have missed that i was comparing his dorsiflexion to mine, not making a general statement about it. i can barely do a pistol in sneakers and not at all barefoot. oly shoes or some other heel elevation? no problem.

also, using plates is cheating. 

today AM:

WEIGHT: ???
SORENESS: none
ACHES/INJURIES: none
MENTAL STATE: good

- warm up

- one-step x 5

- two-step x 12

- three-step x 5

not as good as yesterday but still okay. about one in every five jumps "clicks" and feels noticeably better than the others. i get about 0.5" higher on those than the rest of the jumps.

WEIGHT: ???
SORENESS: none
ACHES/INJURIES: none
MENTAL STATE: good

- warm up

- intensive tempo 200m x 4, 100m recovery
this whipped me, as it did with t0ddday the other week. i did the 200s in 33-35s rather than 30 so i did manage to finish all the sets strong. thought about starting up another set but jogged home very slowly instead. baby steps.

some n=1 personal advice: when we talk about "athleticism," in most of our cases we mean jumping and/or playing basketball or some other sport. in other words, a specific skill set that degrades with neglect. KF got good at SVJ by doing SVJ. sprinting 200m will help keep you in shape and build some of the physical characteristics that make for good jumping, but it will not really help you hold on to your basketball-specific jumping ability. this has been my stupidly obvious lesson of the past year: nothing can replace skill practice. so my advice is: sure, sprint a few times a week. hell, if nothing else it's just flat-out fun to do. but don't limit yourself to one day a week of jumping. i'm trying to practice jumping at least three days a week and even that's not enough, but it's what i can manage at the moment. those workouts don't have to be draining, either. 15-20 jumps doesn't exactly take a lot out of you.