And1 the teacher, or how to increase the vertical jump
In case you didn’t know, the 5’10” skinny guy from the And1 streetball team named The Professor, who is well known for his excellent ball handling, can actually shoot dunks! And sure enough, he’s white! !
Like many notable ballplayers, Grayson Boucher, aka The Professor, has a set workout that he sticks to.
“Every day I’m in the gym for a minimum of 2 hours. Lately I’ve been up at 5am every day to finish my early morning basketball workouts. Then I run 2 miles and lift weights for about an hour. So am I , all you put into working on your game is what you get out of it. It’s all about your investment of time and dedication. When you go to the gym, it’s never going to be a good workout. You can’t just go to the gym and casually throw and I hope to improve. I lift at least 500 every time I’m there and push myself with dribbling drills all over the court, then finish the workout with some free kicks. When I run 2 miles I try to keep a hard pace the whole time. Right now i run 2 miles at 1330 which is hard to do every morning but when you start to see results you start to like it and you go stronger I used to lift weights and it would get heavy at one point and I found that speed is more important to me than bulk weight. This year I’m concentrating on working my legs harder than ever, because my goal for next season is to dunk regularly.” – The Professor
In case you’re wondering which exercises will strengthen your legs, here are a couple:
jump the rope:
Almost all NBA players use this “old” drill. Jump rope is a great way to build stamina and build leg strength. In addition, it develops jumping ability (explosiveness, calf strength, etc.).
Squats and wall squats:
These exercises will help you build leg strength, which is a key component of athletic fitness and therefore jumping ability. Remember to only use a weight that is comfortable for you and always have a trainer or training partner working with you.
But remember that the vertical jump is part leg strength and part explosiveness. And the explosiveness part is the more important of the two. Just like the teacher said, it’s not about the size of your leg muscles or how much weight you can handle in the gym. It’s all about your athletic ability, coordination, and your ability to explode and get off the ground.
If you really want to improve your vertical and are looking for specific exercises, I recommend The Jump Manual: