Best plyometrics program to jump higher?

[AlecGaro]

Hey everyone I am about to start a plyometrics program in order to add as many inches possible to my vertical jump. I am training specifically for basketball and yes as cliche as this sounds I am trying to learn how to dunk. I've played basketball mostly casually for my entire life (never played for a club or high school team, but I did some men's leagues here and there). I'm 22 years old, height of 5'9, and an intermediate strength trained individual at 165 lbs. Yes I know I'm not the tallest person but I've played ball with and seen quite a few people not just dunk but flat out tomahawk slam while only being 5'7-5'10 so I'm not just going to count myself out of the picture. They might have some freakish genetics but hey I might as well have some inspiration right?

Basically I want to know which of these programs any of you basketball coaches, basketball players or other type of athletes on the forums would recommend (hopefully from personal experience) for me to start basically as a novice with plyometrics and jump training. I know this question has been asked plenty of times on here but most of them are from years back and there are quite a few new programs that have extremely positive testimonials.

The three programs I am looking to start are:

1) Vert Shock. This is an 8-week, 70$ program that requires nothing except for something like a bench to jump off of and focuses on quickness and explosiveness in order to improve vertical jump height. From the testimonials this also looks to be the most promising. Most full length written and video testimonials around the web are claiming they easily gained 6-15 inches from the program. Also the website even guarantees users will jump 3-5 inches higher within the first week and 9-15 inches higher by the end of the 8-week program.

2) Jump Manual. This is a 12-week, 70$ program which does require a gym, and focuses on building a strength base in order to improve vertical jump height. The testimonials have pretty good results as well but I haven't gone too in-depth to see specifics. The website also guarantees users will gain at least 10 inches by the end of the 12-week program.

3) Vertical Jump Bible. This is a 12-week, and completely free program which has been talked about on numerous occasions even here on the BB forums. It has a mixed approach and the testimonials are fairly good as well. Their is no crazy guarantee but more of a realistic approach with a lot of theory to the text.


Those were the 3 programs. Please let me know which program you would recommend (hopefully using some personal experience as a basis for your response) that I complete in order to put the most amount of vertical jump in the next 8-12 week time frame. I don't expect magic, but I would want to get the best program out there so that I can work towards my goal.

Thanks everyone!

[krakkerz]

What do you squat?

[churley57]

i dont know much about the jump manual, but 10 inches in 12 weeks seems wayyyy too good to be true. i'd personally stay away from the vert shock program unless you dont have access to a gym or are short on time for your training, as it doesnt include any lifting at all. i did the vert shock plyometric based program and i had fantastic results. i was only able to do 8 weeks of it since i started in june and every day football started on august 1st but in those 8 weeks i was able to take off .24 seconds off my 40 (laser) and a little over an inch on my vertical, which is more than what you could ask from 8 weeks of training. i definitely think the vjb program is worthwhile, and so is actually reading the book. good luck man and keep training hard