How to Dunk - Slam Dunk Like a Pro
Whether you’re schooling your friend on the blacktop or thrilling the home crowd at your high school championship, nothing is as exhilarating or exciting as a slam dunk. No doubt you have your exceptions like Steve Nash, John Stockton or Magic Johnson (who could “dunk”, albeit the ugliest dunk ever for a 6’9 player!), but being able to dunk really separates the ballers from the boys on the court.
Even if you have the necessary height and mad hops dunking takes exceptional timing and technique. Here are 5 pointers which you can practice and will dramatically improve your dunking ability.
1. Warm up properly: there’s a reason players stretch and have a shoot around before games and it isn’t just so they won’t pull a muscle! Your quads (top of your thigh) and hamstrings (bottom of your thigh) work in an inverse relationship with each other along with your calves to form the primary power supply for your take off. By warming up these muscles you increase their flexibility, allowing for the maximum elasticity which lets you spring upwards as your muscles contract.
2. The Approach: with dunking timing and momentum are everything and your approach is just as if not more important than your actual jumping ability. Get as much forward momentum going as possible during your approach without losing control of the ball. Pick up the ball from your dribble at about 10 feet from the basket.
3. Exaggerate the last step: exaggerate your last step before takeoff by about twice your normal stride. The additional length forces you to lower your body, causing all your muscles to contract to their full potential before exploding upwards. If you’ve ever watched high jumpers or long jumpers doing track and field you will notice them doing the exact same technique.
4. Use your whole body as well as the ball for momentum: before you explode upwards you want your body as low as possible so you spring upwards with all of your muscles, not just your legs. Get your arms down as low as possible and then swing them up above your head as you jump. There is a reason why dunks usually come in at an angle rather than just straight down and that’s because the player’s arms are moving forward for added momentum. Also be sure to use the weight of the ball for a little boost of momentum – every bit counts!
5. Transfer your momentum upwards: this is primarily a vertical jump, not a horizontal jump, so you want that forward momentum to be transferred upwards not sideways. In order to do so there needs to be a changeover where the transfer of energy takes place. This has to be extremely fluid and obviously when you’re good it happens so quickly that it isn’t even noticeable but as you’re learning it’s ok if there is a visible pause (just remember this will usually be travelling in a game).
When learning to dunk always keep in mind that good technique and timing are as critical as your actual jumping ability. You need to be clearing the rim by about 6 inches to dunk one handed properly and 8inches for a two handed or tomahawk jam. If you’re not then you’ll need to work on improving your vertical jump but always remember that the elasticity and flexibility of your muscles is more important than pure power.
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