On Saturday, February 14, 2015, the NBA hosted their annual dunk contest on TNT. The dunk contest is where four of the best dunkers in the league come together on one stage, and show off their jumping ability. There was one stand out performer of the night, and his name was Zach LaVine from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here all the highlights of his legendary performance.
While I was watching LaVine take flight, I thought to myself, "Hopefully I will be able to do that one day." However, I was not blessed with the incredible leaping ability that Zach LaVine was blessed with, so in order for me to dunk, then I need to find some sort of training. After researching ways to increase your vertical, I came across a certain way that many people loved, even professional athletes.
Learning how to dunk through plyometric training means a lot to me, due to the fact that I have a love for basketball, and I play for the high school. This year, I was placed on the junior varsity team, and was unable to get any playing time at the varsity level. My goal that I made at the end of the year was to be a starting small forward on Coach Wilson's team next year, and I believe that becoming more athletic and explosive can be a contributing factor in making the team. However, the plyometric training won't just allow me to dunk, but my defense would reap the benefits as well. I would be able to block shots, get down the court faster, and I would be able to grab defensive rebounds with ease.
Unlike typical strength training exercises that involve long, slow movements to increase muscular strength and mass, plyometric exercises involve quick, explosive movements designed to increase speed and power.
Phases of Plyometrics
Eccentric: This is the first step of plyometrics. Eccentric contraction is a rapid muscle lengthening movement where energy is stored in the muscles in preparation for the amortization stage.
Amortization: The second stage is where there is a short resting period in the muscles, which stabilizes the energy and the muscle for the concentric stage.
Concentric: This is the final stage of the training. The athlete engages in an explosive muscle contraction where the muscle shortens. All of the energy is released that was stored in the muscles as the athlete springs upwards.
The goal of plyometrics training is to decrease the time in between the the eccentric and concentric movement. By doing so would, the athlete will become faster, more powerful, and of course, more explosive. These are three traits necessary in order for me to dunk. Now you might be wondering, how do plyometrics increase your vertical, or make you more powerful? Well, physical power is defined as the ability to convert strength into speed as quick as possible. In order to increase your power, you have to strengthen the muscle fibers responsible for turning strength into speed. There fibers are also referred to as "fast-twitch fibers". The stronger the fiber, the faster the muscle contraction, the more power you possess.
To wrap up my first blog, here is a man doing power skips, which is a beginning plyometrics exercise. Since I don't have any experience in this type of training, I will be researching for a beginners workout program to start, and as time progresses, I will add more and more, creating an intense program by the 5th or 6th week!
I don't think this is fully completed yet, but I don't really understand what plyometrics are. I understand that they are strengthening exercises but what do eccentric, amortization, and concentric mean? Are you just going to be jumping and skipping around for the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you are learning to dunk, how are you going to measure progress? By how your vertical leap increases?
Finally, what is your final goal? I know your pretty tall so are you aiming to dunk on a ten foot basket or higher? Just some things to think about.
Other than that, I like how you are incorporating your gifted project with your basketball practicing because then you are killing two birds with one stone.
Hey Matt! I'm sure i could explain it a little further for you. If you see the graph above of the three stages, you can see the three different stages in action. The eccentric phase is where the muscle lengthens when the athlete squats. The amortization phases is where the athlete rests at the bottom, and the potential energy is stored in the muscles. Then comes the last stage where the athlete springs into the air, and the energy is released. I will be doing beginner exercises for the first two weeks, then will develop into more complex plyometrics. I will be measuring my progress by measuring my vertical jump every week. My end goal of course is to dunk, but plyometrics will also make me a better all around player since it increases explosiveness and speed, two key traits of a great player. Thanks for the input!
DeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think it's great that you have a goal beyond dunking - making the varsity high school time. I'm interested in seeing how this project turns out. However, you're project is similar to mine in that we both have things that can not be measured until a final performance. Basically, you need to be able to dunk by the end of this project. What if, for some reason, you can't achieve this goal? Still, I believe you will be able to dunk because you are a very athletic person. I'll be sure to keep up on your blog and view your progress! Good luck!!
Alex, I think this is a great idea. Learning to about plyometrics can help you in many ways other than just dunking, which I think is really important. I like that your goal goes beyond just dunking, which puts you on a great track. Wiss could really use a varsity player that could dunk!
ReplyDelete