Ever wonder how your vertical jump stacks up against some of the best athletes around? At least a partial answer is provided herein. This is not a comparison with older, well established professional athletes but instead with aspiring pros in one sport, basketball, most all of whom are well established major college hoop stars. The numbers are taken from the June 2009 NBA Combine that is comprised of mostly college juniors and seniors who are considered legitimate pro prospects. Not all of them will make it into the NBA but the fact is that they are being seriously considered as possible draftees. So here is where your comparison can begin. Rather than provide the entire list of prospects, for the purposes of this article a range will be identified in two categories.
Make note of the following. NO STEP VERTICAL JUMP: Low: 24.5 inches- Greivis Vasquez, Maryland High: 34 inches- Jermaine Taylor, Central Florida MAXIMUM VERTICAL JUMP: Low: 28 inches- Greivis Vasquez, Maryland Austin Daye, Gonzaga High: 40 inches- Jonny Flynn, Syracuse When you see teams like Maryland, Gonzaga and Syracuse listed, it is clear that these are well established athletes from schools consistently ranked in the Top 25. If an athlete starts on those teams, they are certainly good players and if they are invited to the NBA Combine based upon their intercollegiate performance, they are very good players. Consider the low end measures. Greivis Vasquez, a well established ACC star who is currently leading Maryland into the NCAA Tournament, has a 24.5 inch standing vertical and a 28 inch maximum vertical.
That is the perfect place to start your comparison. How does your jump reach measure up to that of a major college star and probable pro hooper? The truth is you either may not be all that far behind, you may already be in the same range or your numbers may be better. And should you already be feeling a little bit more pleased about your vertical jump, consider the following as well. If your current standing vertical jump is at: 16 inches- it could be at 26 inches 18 inches- it could be at 28 inches 20 inches- it could be at 30 inches 24 inches- it could be at 34 inches 28 inches- it could be at 38 inches and so on up the ladder. Although it may see like an unbelievable stretch, adding ten or more inches to your vertical jump reach can be done by the vast majority of athletes. But that requires that you know exactly what to do and how to do it.
Vertical jump development is a comprehensive, multi-faceted science based task. Without the proper knowledge those big increases cannot be achieved but with an established and proved training program, ten inches or more is doable. Of course, a strong work ethic is also required. Once you know exactly how to train the most important factor becomes the training itself. As is the case with literally everything else, there is no free lunch when it comes to getting yourself into the NBA Combine jump measurement category. Sweat equity is fundamental to this particular level of achievement.
The truth is that 24.5 inches is a number that almost any competent and dedicated athlete can reach. Frankly, so is 28 inches. What holds you back from that kind of greatness? More than anything else it is proper training information. The link below is provided so that you can review one of the most successful comprehensive vertical jump training programs available. If you take the time to read about it you will get an excellent idea of what is required. More to the point, if you train in the fashion that is outlined there, others will end up comparing their vertical measurement to yours. Not a bad turn of events.