How to Improve Jumping Ability

By Dr. Jeff Schutt

Question:

Hey Doc and C.J.,

      What do I need to do to jump higher?

    C.J. and I get this question almost every week from either an athlete or their parent.  Jumping higher is very important in sports performance development. Generally, the athletes with the higher vertical jump are generally the faster runners and better performers on the field or court. This is because the power and explosiveness it takes to jump high translates well into sprinting and cutting faster as well.

    The problem with jumping higher is that it is not a quick fix. One week of training will help, but it will not put you at the elite level of jumping. It takes time to train the body to jump higher. It also depends on the athlete’s genetics to begin with and their diet believe it or not. To develop good jumpers, we need to train their bodies to be like a spring. The passive elasticity of the fascia and connective tissue needs to be consistently trained to so it will remodel itself to have spring like patterns in it. The kangaroo is a great example of an animal that jumps a lot. What is fascinating is that is not the muscles of the kangaroo that allows it to jump all the time, but rather the tendons and fascia of the kangaroo that gives the never ending bounce to it. In fact, the kangaroo will tire easily if it has to walk using the muscles of the legs because the muscles are using a lot of energy in order to work. However, once the kangaroo starting jumping, the passive stretch and recoil of the tendons and fascia allow it to jump for long periods of time without wearing down.

    The sports of volleyball and basketball require a lot of repetitive jumps. Some are smaller jumps and some are maximum effort jumps such as in spiking, blocking or dunking. An athlete that plays every day will soon find it easier to jump the entire game as compared to the weekend warriors who play only once or twice a week. This is because the body constantly has stimulus applied to it telling it needs to jump and be efficient about it. The body then adapts and restructures itself to handle the jumping and makes it easier for the body to do. Consistency of training is the key with the right exercises. 

    The art and science of being a sports performance instructor is to balance the jumping stimulus with the rate of adaptation of the individual so the body does not break down and become injured. Too much stimulus (too hard of a workout) and not enough time to recover leads to injury. Too little stimulus (not working hard enough) and long recovery periods (too much social distraction) and the athlete will not get any better at jumping.  A proper balance must occur. I used this long term balanced approach with my four sons who all learned how to jump much better than I ever did growing up. My oldest son which is C.J. by the way, had a 35 inch standing vertical jump while weighting 250lbs. My second son Jake could run and hit 11 foot 6 inches. My third son Colton who is the fastest of the four boys had a standing 38 inch vertical at one time. My youngest son Jaden won the max vertical jump test at Duke his freshman year with a 42 inch running max vertical jump. 

     At Schutt Performance, we have had other success stories as well. Micah Schnyders started training with us his senior year in high school and six months later could dunk the basketball and he earned a D1 scholarship. DJ Douglas Jr started training with us the middle of his sophomore year in high school. He was unable to dunk the ball and after six months of training, he was dunking. D.J. also went on to set our school max vertical running jump at 11 foot 9 inches. D.J. is now playing D1 basketball as well.

    So how do we train athletes to actually jump higher? We start by measuring their current level of jumping ability. We test the athletes to see how strong they are and where they might have mechanical weakness or technique break downs. Then C.J. and I set up a program to retrain and re-model their body into jumping machines. We also talk about diet because fat doesn’t fly well. The body needs good nutrition in order to build the connective tissue stronger and springy. Bad foods do not build the connective tissue, but can actually slow the process and break down the connective tissue. As a parent, if you buy your kids pop and junk food with a lot of sugar in it, you are hampering their bodies from developing that athletic spring.

    The next step is to start with low impact jumping to stimulate the connective tissue to start developing the spring pattern, but not with too great a demand yet so the body breaks down. Start jumping rope for speed. Most kids cannot jump rope anymore due to coordination problems.  Try to get over 100 two foot jumps in 60 seconds. These are low quick jumps for speed.  After that, I cannot specifically lay out a plan for you because everyone is different. Some athletes need a strength base first, then plyometrics, and some have good strength and are ready for more intense jumping right away. We usually start with jumping on a padded judo spring mat so we can get the spring stimulus in the connective tissue without beating up the joints. We then progress to specialized machines that are made to improve jumping and other weight room lifts that will help an athlete jump higher. The next phase after that is to teach the athlete how to apply this jumping ability into their sport.

     If you are interested in learning more or working with Schutt Performance and Fitness ( SPF) to improve your vertical jump, contact us at drjeffschutt@comcast.net   or text me at 630-728-1963.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jeff Schutt