The best way to jump higher is to do plyometrics, right? Well, sort of. Depends on what your definition of plyometrics is.
For many athletes, doing hurdle hops and bounding complexes will skyrocket jumping ability, but there is a catch: it should be done on a base of jumping learned in team sport which is both instinctual and triplanar. Check out this dunk by Mac McClung closely for just how much timing and frontal plane action is involved in the art of the dunk.
What I mean by this is that in basketball oriented jumping and dunking, transverse and frontal plane action is a critical key to success, not to mention the precise timing that is built by the need to jump in a variety of situations. By doing plyometrics that are focused in the sagittal plane, and getting far away from team sports, athletes lose strength and power in the frontal and transverse plane, as well as timing of limbs.
At the end of the day, plyometrics should be routinely tweaked and progressed to keep athletes engaged, keep training fun, and challenge an athlete multi-dimensionally. One thing I recently heard was Rob Assise (who will be our next podcast guest) doing curvilinear sprints for his track and field jumpers. This is an awesome training piece that covers a lot of bases, and really connects the dots between team sport and track and field training. Basketball players frequently waltz off the court in February and March to jump very high at the tail end of indoors, and then fail to hit the same marks in outdoor.
Connecting dots is key.
To this end, I enjoy thinking of twists and tweaks on commonly performed plyometric exercises, and having fun in the process. Today, I came up with “curvilinear bounding”, which is combines elements of power, steering, ankle strength and hip rotation. As the bounding is performed at a slower speed, why not finish the created rhythm with a jump at the end?
At the end of the day, plyometrics are an assist to jumping in the context of sport, but by finding nuances to add in important elements, athlete engagement and joint dynamics are greatly enhanced. Whether you coach high jumpers in track and field, or just want to give team sport athletes a new way to move and jump, the serpentine bound has a lot to offer.
If you enjoy this series, and want to see how to put these exercises together in context of a complete program, check out our books and training groups, particularly “Vertical Ignition” and “Legendary Athleticism”. Be a part of the revolutionary training systems that are getting dozens of athletes to lifetime bests in speed, jumping and explosive power!
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