Gerald Green Dunks Or How To Increase Vertical Jump

Ok, Gerald Green finished second this year in the Slam Dunk Contest (2008). His birthday-cake-dunk was sick, but the one between the legs with no shoes on wasn’t necessary – he can do better!

But have you seen Gerald Green’s 2005 summer league dunk where he – just like Vince Carter at the 2000 Olympics – jumped over a 7 footer for the dunk?

What about the 2005 McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk Contest that he won? And in case you forgot, Green won the NBA Slam Dunk contest in 2007!

In this contest, Green first made a two-handed slam on an alley-oop pass off the side of the backboard from teammate Paul Pierce. Then he jumped over fellow finalist Nate Robinson while wearing the No. 7 Celtics jersey of 1991 dunk champion Dee Brown – and shielding his eyes in the crook of his elbow in an homage to Brown’s memorable no-look dunk.

“I knew they were going to be tough, because those guys had the creativity and the dunking style,” Green said about the famous judges Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Julius Erving.

“I tried to come out with something they never did before, and hopefully they could give me a score.” – Gerald Green

At the end of the contest, G-Money effortlessly leaped over a 3-foot table for a windmill jam.

“That boy has some serious hops,” Nate Robinson said after that dunk, eyes wide. “Kid can fly.”

Actually, Gerald Green has the highest vertical leap in the NBA by now – 48 inches!

The 6’8”/ 200 lbs. shooting guard jumps so high, he has to watch out not hitting the rim with his head! On one occasion in high school, Green went higher than expected and cut his head on the rim.

“If you’re trying to glide, you want to get your footwork right,” said Green. ”If you don’t get your footwork right, you won’t accelerate as far or glide as far or get as high as you need to get. Then, at the height of the dunk, you want to reach your peak. That’s where you want to get the ball where it needs to be. Sometimes I don’t reach my peak. I dunk and then I seem to go a little higher then I fall down. It has happened before. I’m just trying to put the ball in a certain area.” – Gerald Green

By now, you may think:

So what? It’s great for him that he can jump that high,

but how can I increase my vertical?

Well, besides the excellent, but common exercises like jump rope, calf raises and squats, there are some very effective exercises only few people know about:

Thrust ups:

Starting position: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and close your knees. Then jump up only using your calves, only bending at the ankles. When your land, go jump again as high as possible.

Burnouts:

Starting position: feet shoulder width apart, knees closed. Now go up on your toes und jump up only using your toes.

Laundry Jumps:

Take an object – a bag or something like that – and try to jump laterally over it. It can be between 10 and 20 inches high. Try to jump as high and far as you can back and forth over object.

Power Skip

Jump and try to bring your left leg up to your chest. Then do the same with the other leg.

For more exercises and crucial things to know about vertical jump (f.e. why often what you “don’t” do is more important then what you “do” do) please take a look at this page I strongly recommend:

http://www.howtodunk.org

p.s.

Did you know that Green plays with only four and a half fingers on his shooting hand? He ripped his ring finger on a nail when he was about eight and doctors were forced to amputate down to the knuckle.

p.p.s.

In case you haven’t heard yet – the 22-year old Gerald Green was released by the Houston Rockets…

For more infos, take a look at this page:

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2008/03/gerald-green-released-by-rockets.html

Gerald Green Dunks Or How To Increase Vertical Jump by Steve Wells