[quote]and1bball4mk wrote:
I’ve read tons of articles that say vertical jump is directly related to speed and overall total explosiveness, but my question is why am I so dang slow when I have a 36 inch vertical jump ??? I’m 5’11 at a really lean 185 and I can throw down some pretty nasty dunks too ,I play wide reciver for out football team, while most of our reciveirs ran sub 4.6 forties I ran a 5.2, I also had better form then them because I’ve practiced using correct form.
My numbers are
5’11
185, really lean
15 years old
Squat- 300
Deadlift- 405
Powerclean- 210
Bench- 215[/quote]
The vertical jump is a good indicator of, and directly related to, jumping. The vertical jumps that I train people with go a little beyond that. First, the vert is 3-4 steps then exploding upwards. Unless you can do the 40 in 3-4 steps, it won’t directly relate. Indirectly, as you should have a powerful/quick start. Overall explosiveness, yes; sprinting, no.
Different muscles are used in different ways with the vert vs sprinting. The alternating one legged hops? Kinda, but not. Some of the reasons that your vert may be exceptional may include:
- Rapid deceleration into take off position;
- The quicker the SSC in deceleration, the quicker you “bounce” back in vertical explosion;
- The major jumping muscles are found in your thighs (front and back), your butt, your erectors, and your lats, yes, lats: see #1 Above; and your shoulders.
Several of those jumping muscles are different for jumping when compared with sprinting. For example, hip flexors don’t have anything to do, directly, with jumping, whereas, with sprinting, much more. Your erectors don’t have much to do with sprinting, directly, but do with jumping.
The direction of the vertical jump is significantly different than the direction of the sprint, hence, different muscles and different motor skills.
Hope this helps. Any questions about jumping, don’t hesitate to ask