Road to 50"

It's official, I am now on the road to a 50 inch vertical. My knees still aren't fully healed, but I'm at a point where training for vertical jumping and getting my knees healthy isn't a mutually exclusive thing. I hit the gym last night, and part of my workout was to squat. This was was my first time squatting with any weight on the bar. I was supposed to go for a heavy load on this exercise, and the weight that ended up feeling appropriate was 110 pounds. That's good and bad for two reasons.

Bad reason first: 110 pounds is a joke! That's like 100 pounds under my max bench press. The squat is supposed to be the exercise where you use the most weight, and 110 pounds simply doesn't cut it.

So true...

The good part: I wasn't too upset that the weight was low. I actually thought it was good news because that means that my vertical is already high despite the fact that my strength is low. I think I have above average strength for someone my size, and I know my leg strength is going to catch up eventually. So as the weight that I can squat goes up, I'm sure the inches I can jump will too.

Injury Update & Squatting

My knees feel a lot better. I've been squatting without weights for a while now, and I almost feel no pain. I have no plans to play basketball soon because I don't want to risk anymore setbacks. I also don't wanna be holding back when playing. I'm tired of favoring my right knee when I play or avoiding things that I know will put a lot of stress on my knees. The next time I play I wanna be healthy enough that I won't be thinking about any of that.

I can't wait to start doing squats with weights. I need to get my legs stronger to get over the injury, and in the process I think I may add a few bonus inches to my jump. I'd never done squats or leg-presses before my injury, and I still jumped pretty high. And it's been said that there's a strong correlation between max squat strength and vertical jump performance. So personally I feel like squat strength is an untapped area for me right now that could take my vertical from good to great. The best part about this is that it's going to occur while I'm doing rehab exercises, and well before I start the Road to 50 workout regimen.

Wishful Thinking

I've been thinking lately about what kind of dunks I'll do when I get my vertical high enough. I'm sure we've all done this; fantasized about how we'd dunk the ball if we were as tall or could jump as high as player X.

Well I'm a step ahead of you guys right now, because I've found someone who's dunking style reminds me of me. That's a pretty bold statement since he jumps WAY higher than I've ever done. BUT... back when I was 14 or 15 there was this court that had rims on the sidelines that were almost 9ft, and we'd have these dunk contests on them. I got to try out a wide array of dunks, windmills, 360s, elbow dunks, off the board, reverse dunks etc... The cool thing is that you kind of got a sense of what style everyone had. Well... mine was pretty similar to this guy's:

The one thing I'd say we really have in common, other than being almost the same height and having a similar build, is that his jumps all seem effortless. I've never been the type to run at full speed and then really blast off the floor to get to my max jumps. I don't jump like that. I'll give myself a few steps and then come in slowly and then jump. From the video I think you can tell what I'm talking about.

What a 50 inch vertical really looks like

I noticed while surfing around on youtube that most people have no idea what a 50 inch vertical is supposed to look like. Most of the time it'll be; "Jordan definitely has a 50 vert", or "Spud Webb must have had at least 50!" or "Kadour Ziani has a 56 inch vertical!". I find this irritating because it really is simple math and these guys are usually way off. It's really simple... Take the guy's height, subtract that from the height of the rim, and you'll then have a good comparison point for saying if he's got a 50 or not. Jordan for example stood at 6'6'', which is 42 inches from the hoop. For his head to touch the hoop he must have needed to jump 42 inches high. From his dunk contests I have no doubt Michael could have done this if he'd tried, but getting his head 8 inches higher than that!? No way!

The guy in the picture above is called Alan Barch. He is 5'9" and what you see in that picture is a 54.5" vertical jump! It is the highest I have ever seen ANYONE jump. There are a few ironic things about this picture. First is that he is white. I don't really eat up all that "white men can't jump" stuff, but if you had asked me what race the highest jumper in the world is, I don't think I would have gone with white. The other ironic thing is that this guy doesn't really play basketball! He is a physical trainer who apparently has pretty much no interest in dunking! He is just interested in being the best athlete he can be.

The Best Shoe in the World

I recently got myself a new pair of basketball shoes. I'm not normally too picky about what shoes I wear for basketball, as long as they've got decent ankle support I'm usually good. The last shoes I balled in(which was like 10 months ago) were Reebok ATR's, and they were alright. But this time, partly because of my knees and also because I haven't played in so long, I decided I was going to treat myself and get the best possible shoe out there.

I'm not much of a sneaker head but I quickly managed to narrow down my choices to three pairs. The Nike Hyperize, the Nike Hyperdunk and the Zoom Kobe IV. These 3 pairs are some of the lightest basketball shoes currently available right now, with the Zoom Kobe IV being the lightest basketball shoe ever made. Decreased weight was a huge criteria for me because I've kind of lost a step having been out for so long, and I now need every edge I can get.

In the end I decided to go for the Zoom Kobe IV.

I tried all these shoes on, and in terms of comfort I've gotta say it felt superior. The shoe also looked so much better with much more appealing colorways. The big question though was the ankle support. I've been playing basketball for almost a decade now, and the majority of the injuries I've had before my knees betrayed me were ankle sprains and jammed fingers. I don't think the height of the shoe is as big a deal as people make it out to be. I think what's more important is if your foot is stable within the shoe. Because if your foot is sliding sideways within your shoe, even slightly, you're definitely going to sprain your ankle at some point. With the whole landing on someone's foot thing, when that happens you're going to sprain your ankle regardless. While I think ankle tape may help, I don't think the height of the shoe will make that big of a difference.

So there it is. Zoom Kobe IV, best ball shoe on the planet. These are officially my comeback sneakers.

Good News & Bad News

The bad news first. So a few days after my therapist cleared me I got to play basketball without holding back for the first time in a very long time. I got so caught up in it, I forgot I had a time limit. And since my team kept winning I ended up staying on the court for almost two hours. I was exhausted and sore all over, and worst of all I couldn't find my ice pack.

The next day my knees hurt again. I didn't even have to squat to feel it. So yeah, that was pretty stupid of me. It's been almost two weeks since then and I'm still not back to feeling as good as I did before I played, but I'm almost there. Maybe in a week or two i'll be feeling as good as I did then.

Also the things that used to be my strong points are now my weak points. I used to rely on my explosiveness to get past people, get to the basket, get rebounds and block shots, but now I've lost most of that.

The good news. Although I'm very rusty and hesitant, I've still got some game in me. I am much better at understanding where to be on the court, and I've become a lot more crafty and efficient. My shot's OK, it's not great but it's pretty good for someone who hasn't played for as long as I have.

The best news though is this; I can still jump! I don't have much explosiveness anymore but I think that will come back as my knees and legs stronger and I increase my endurance. But when I really TRY to jump, I still get fairly high. I only went for a max jump twice in between games but I when I did I could almost get my whole hand above the rim. My hands are 8 inches long(I can palm the ball), so let's just say I got 5 or 6 inches above the rim. This would mean that my running vertical right now is around 34-35 inches. I think that's as good as I could have hoped for.

Can I dunk? I don't think so... I usually attempt dunking if I know I can get at least my whole hand above the rim. But honestly, at this point I don't care about being able to dunk(I first did that 6 years ago), what I care about is regaining my explosiveness because it's such a big part of my game. I'll start caring about dunking when my vertical hits the low 40's, until then it won't matter too much.

I should have thought of this:

Almost Back

So it's been a while since I last came on here. 3 months and a half to be exact, and in the meantime there's been some setbacks and some progress. I've been rehabbing my knees hard for the past 2 months, and it's really paying off. I can now do squats with almost no pain, except that I still feel some discomfort.

My left knee is probably at 90-95%, and my right knee at 70%. So there's still some way to go before I'm back to having the knees of a 21 year old (that's how old I am). But unlike the last time I posted on here, I can now run, jump, and walk up stairs pain free, and I guess that was good enough for my physical therapist to give me some of the best news I've heard all year; I am now cleared to play basketball. I mean so far, it's only 30 minutes of basketball once a week, but given how long I've been out I'm still pretty excited about it.

Let's talk vertical then. I've tried jumping a few times in the past two days, and each time I didn't feel any pain. How high? I'm not 100% sure because I haven't really been going for max jumps, but I'm fairly certain I can still touch the rim. So that means that in the worst case I've got a 30" vertical. It's a long way from 50" but for someone who hasn't been jumping or running for the past 8 months I think 30" is not too bad.

The plan right now is to keep doing rehab until my knees are as close as possible to 100%. By then, I think I will have added a few more inches to my jumping just from getting in better shape.

"When I come back like Jordan, wearing the 4-5..." Jay-Z.

Personal Stats

Here are some of my measurements:

• Wingspan: 6'2"
• Height: 5'9"
• Standing reach: 7'7"
• Weight: 165 lbs

For the sceptics

For the sceptics out there, and I’m usually one of them except when it comes to myself, here’s what I will tell you. 50” verticals don’t grow on trees, and I’m pretty sure there are tons of countries out there that don’t have a single person who can jump that high. But if you really think about it, there isn’t any discipline that focuses exclusively on who jumps the highest, is there? Even high jump isn’t about who jumps the highest, it’s about who can jump over the highest bar. Things like technique, flexibility and height come into play, (and it unfairly favors one-leg jumpers). Hell, even the most glorified exhibition of jumping ability, the dunk contest, isn’t about who jumps the highest or even gets the highest. There basically isn't a single sporting event that is purely about jumping higher than your opponent. And that is why you don’t see that many 50” verticals out there. There is no incentive to aim that high.

The few that have a realistic shot at that milestone stop way before because let’s face it, if you have a 44” or 45” vertical already you’re pretty much a beast. Why bust your ass big time to get another 6 or 5 inches when you’re already far ahead of anyone else, and also when there is no tangible reward for your efforts. Also, and this needs to be said, whatever training or activity that got you to a 40” is probably not going to be what gets you to a 50”. I could certainly get stronger by doing push-ups everyday, but no amount of push-ups is going to get me to bench press 350 pounds. You would have to find the right type of training to get you there (and since people with 50’s are rare, it’s not like this is general knowledge).

And even then most people wouldn’t be prepared to cross the next hurdle; the volume of work needed. Let’s put it this way, if I’m overweight and out of shape it would probably take me a month or two to knock off a second or two on my 100 metre dash, but what if I’m Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive? Surely we’ll agree that if he trains for two months there is NO WAY he’s gonna run two seconds faster. The best he can hope for is that after YEARS of training he can maybe improve his best time by a tenth or at best two tenths of a second. The closer you are to your possible peak the harder it becomes to make any gains. So I do know that this is no ‘walk in the park’ but as you can see my fellow sceptics I understand what it is that I’m taking on.

Oh… and just to put it out there. Michael Jordan once said that he never did any specific training to improve his vertical. Many people with a vertical in the 40’s have said the same thing. The genetic gods have been kind to me in that regards, and though I’ve never jumped 40 inches high, I’ve never been in NBA shape or even college varsity shape either. So I KNOW that if I were to get myself to that level of fitness and conditioning, I would have a 40”. So there, I had to say that, just so you all know that my uphill battle isn’t as uphill as it sounds.

Meet Me!

I obviously have to say a few things about myself first for this blog to be relevant. I am 21 years old, I stand at about 5'9'' and I weigh 170 pounds. I've been a huge basketball fan for the last 8 years, and that's how I sort of developed an interest for jumping. I kinda see myself as a connoisseur of vertical jumping.

Now... I've never actually seen (in person) anyone with a 50" vertical, and I have no illusions as to what that represents. To put this into perspective, virtually no NBA player, retired or active, has ever displayed a 50 inch vertical. I say virtually, because one guy who played in the NBDL last season could be argued to jump that high. His name is James White; nod in agreement if you know him and look him up if you don't. So basically, I know, maybe moreso than the average guy that this is no easy feat.

But still... I BELIEVE I can get to 50, and not just that, I am DETERMINED to get to 50. And this is where this blog comes in.

You're probably wondering by now how far I am from the big 'five oh', and I think you will like what I'm about to tell you because admit it; this whole 'Road to 50' thing wouldn't be all that exciting if I had a 48" vertical already. So anyways here goes... I am as far as you can be from 50. That's right, zero! I can't jump or to be more exact I shouldn't jump. I am currently grounded by a combined case of patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia patella, or as they are more commonly known; jumpers knee and runners knee. I mean... I'm sure if I made an effort I could probably clear 10-15 inches pain-free, but the point is I shouldn't and I don't so let's just say that my vertical right now is pretty much insignificant.

So as you can see the road to fifty is going to start out pretty slowly. I'll first have to go through some long and painful rehab before we get to the exciting stuff(ok, im lying about the painful part).

Ok, I know what you're thinking; "Why on earth does this guy think he can get a 50 again??" Well even for someone in my position (the whole being grounded thing) I have a few things that make me hold out hope that. . wait, scratch that.. make me BELIEVE that I can get a 50. For one, I wasn't always this vertically challenged. I've actually been able to dunk since I was 15, I was probably about 5'8'' at the time. I estimate that my peak vertical must have been approximately 38 inches, not bad, but still a long way from 50. The 2nd thing is that I've almost never been in shape, at least not since I was 14. And by that I don't mean I've been huffing and puffing everytime I play ball for the past 6 years (although it's happened more times than i'd like to admit) but I've never been in that in-season shape where you can play 30 to 40 minutes of basketball with good intensity. And that people, matters. The third thing is I've never done a squat(yes, NEVER), and though I've tried to follow one jump program on occasions, I've never managed to even get halfway.

So with that said I feel like I’ve got a lot of untapped jumping potential. Back when I had that 38” or something close to it, I used to feel like with some serious training I could get to a 43” or 44”. But ever since my knee injuries, a couple of things happened that changed my mind about how high up I could get. I discovered TFB on youtube, and that really psyched me up, but I was only at the ‘it-would-be-nice-to-jump-that-high stage’. What really did it for me was this guy. It wasn’t just that he jumps the highest of anyone I’ve ever seen, it was more because he had gotten to that point starting with a fairly unimpressive vertical.

Welcome!

Welcome to Road250.blogspot.com. As the name suggests, this blog is about my own personal journey to 50! "Fifty what?" you may ask. Well, that's a very good question, and I'm glad u asked. In this blog I will try to document my quest for a 50 inch vertical.

That's right, 50 inches, or approximately 125 centimetres of vertical jump. So there you are, I said it, that's the goal. In the coming months, expect a lot of talk on basketball, jump training, NBA banter, and maybe if I'm so inclined some personal stuff too.

So if none of the above, as some would say, sounds like your cup of tea then feel free to move on. Otherwise you've been warned, the road to fifty begins today and if you're reading this it means you're along for the ride.