Friday, August 19, 2011

Jump Manual (Round 2) + Freak Jump Technique - Week 1

After taking a couple weeks off for vacation and to rest and recover from my first 12 weeks of Jump Manual training, it's time to get back to work!

I've now completed my first week of "Round 2" of Jump Manual training which is a modified version of what I did the first 12 weeks. I'm also working hard on my technique using the Freak Jump Technique program.

And...I'm already seeing a difference in just the first week which is super motivating and exciting. I just feel more explosive and aggressive in my jumping. As I mentioned in my last post, I got a really good dunk this week (but no video to prove it). It was by far my best dunk since I started this adventure.

One of my dreams is to dunk in a game and so I've started practicing dunking off the dribble on the low rim (9'10") where I play hoops a few times each week. It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't dunk on this rim even with someone tossing the ball right above the rim (the easiest dunk) and now I can dunk pretty easy off the dribble. Feels really good.

Here's a short video from today's dunk practice on the low rim. Thanks for reading and watching.

Monday, August 15, 2011

My best dunk so far...

As I shared last week, I started my second round of Jump Manual training with some tweaks to my workouts in conjunction with Freak Jump Technique Program. I'm crazy EXCITED because I can already see and feel a difference.

Today, I got my best dunk by far since I started my training back in April. And what made it extra sweet was the guy who about 8 weeks ago told me I would NEVER dunk saw the whole thing. I took advantage of the opportunity to rub it in a bit. We both laughed and it was fun.

The bad news is my video camera was still in my bag and I'm regretting that big time. I've been working hard on my technique and anxious to see if I'm making as much progress as it feels like. I'll be back on the court on Wednesday and this time will make sure my camera is rolling.

Stay tuned for my next video coming later this week. Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Round 2 of Jump Manual Training + Freak Jump Technique Reloaded

I recently finished 12 weeks of Jump Manual training and have been thinking a lot about what do next to continue improving my vertical. In a few months, I've gone from getting my fingers a little over the rim to being able to throw down a basic one hand dunk. Pretty cool...but I'm not satisfied. I want to dunk in a game and to dunk with AUTHORITY! This means I probably need to increase my vertical another 6 inches. That shouldn't be too hard...right? :-)

I have been talking to Jacob Hiller (creator of Jump Manual) and also attending his weekly coaching sessions. He asked me to provide him a video showing my squat form and jumping form. After reviewing the videos, he had some great insights and also gave me a modified workout which I'm really excited about!

In addition, I've had some people comment on my YouTube videos that if my jump technique was better that I would be dunking really easy. At first, I kind of dismissed these comments but enough people brought it up that it made me start to wonder. So I watched a ton of dunk videos as well as jump technique videos and I finally started to see some of the things I was doing wrong. Turns out my technique does need significant improvement which is actually GREAT news. Improving jump technique has got to be easier (hopefully) than doing more squats, deadlifts, plyo's, etc!

To improve my technique, I purchased Adam Linkenauger's Freak Jump Technique Reloaded program and started it yesterday. There is so much more to jumping than I ever imagined. I'm confident by combining technique training with the modified Jump Manual training, I will get those 6 additional inches.

So here goes another 12 weeks of torture! I mean fun! It is mostly fun, but some days training really sucks and I'd rather just stay in bed. The results are worth it though in the end for sure.

I hope you will continue to follow along during my next 12 weeks of training. Thanks for reading!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

12 weeks of Jump Manual completed!!!

I'm very pleased to say I have successfully completed 12 weeks of Jump Manual training. I'm even more pleased about my results!

Today, I got my first dunks jumping off one foot since starting my training. It was totally unexpected because my left knee gives me problems sometimes. I don't think it will ever be the same after tearing my MCL about 18 months ago. But, today it felt great and just felt so easy to jump.

My 2 foot jump also felt really good until I had the ball in my hands. I wasn't able to get down any dunks jumping off 2 feet today. I have been focusing a lot on my technique for the last week and think it will help in the long run. But, today I felt kind of uncoordinated when trying to dunk off 2 feet. I've had several people comment on my youtube videos that if I improved my technique that I would be dunking really easy. So I'm definitely going to keep working on it.

Now that I've finished 12 weeks of Jump Manual workouts, I'm working with Jacob Hiller (creator of Jump Manual) to take my training to the next level. My new goal is to be able to dunk 2 hands with AUTHORITY. No more of these weak dunks!

Well, here is my latest video. Thanks for reading and watching!