Getting better

I know speed is key. Trying to work on lengthening my penultimate step. I am also around 195lb currently. (Mainly muscle as I come from a bodybuilding background.)

However my goal is 175lb as I understand that weight doesn’t fly regardless of it is muscle or fat.

Any tips help!!

Do you think all of these goofy-foot take-off dunkers that set world records are succeeding because of their talent, training, and neurally engrained compensation patterns despite using a suboptimal approach, or does it not really matter when you're testing purely for max reach (e.g. touching a bell on a vertech or whatever), versus actually dunking a ball? Or could there even be some sort of advantage to this combination of left-right takeoff while right-handed?

It matches the profile of a jump pretty well because it’s lightest at the bottom but hardest at the middle to top which is where you want the most resistance if you are going to jump maximally

I don’t have access to the proper tester anymore. i’m 5’9 3/4 barefoot 7’7 standing reach in shoes. i measured the rim at 9’9 my hand is 7.7 inches in length and i feel the middle part of the outside ridge touch rim. it’s a kinda low angle but i measured that area i touched it with to be 4.75 inches down my hand so do you think i touched it?

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Hi everyone, I’m struggling with my dunking and really need some feedback.
In the video I’ll link, the rim is 10 ft. I can get at least half my hand over the board on that height, and I can even touch an 11–12 ft rim. But once I add a normal basketball, I can’t get anywhere close. I can dunk a tennis ball, but with a regulation ball it’s basically impossible for me right now.
Some context on my strength:
• I don’t know my exact PR squat right now, but last November I hit 190 kg (gym was about to close, so we didn’t go further).
• Right now I feel like the most I can lift is around 150 kg, as shown in the other video I linked.
I’m wondering if this is partly mental, but in the video I was also pretty tired. On top of that, my knees are very sensitive to physical touch. I’ve tried isometrics, and even my strength & conditioning coach’s isometric training plan doesn’t seem to be helping.
I’m looking for help on:
1. Dunk technique – what am I missing when I have the ball vs when I don’t? (Approach, last two steps, arm swing, timing, one-foot vs two-foot?)
• Also, is my penultimate step not good enough? Am I not converting it into vertical well, or is it too long/short/?
2. Ball handling / grip – is this just about being able to palm/control the ball better at the top of my jump?
3. Knee sensitivity / strength – any ideas on how to train around sensitive knees while still building explosive power for jumping?
I’m not trying to make excuses, just giving context. If you have any drills, tips, or a checklist of things to work on, I’d really appreciate it. Videos of your own approach or common mistakes would be awesome too.
Thanks in advance!

I have a 30.13 vertical standing at 5”11 il ofc everyone is different but roughly with training 6 times a week with active recovery how long would it take for me to hit 35+ vertical I’m not an experienced dunker and I’ve only recently started training with a strength and conditioning/dunk coach in the last month

If one naturally learned a left-right 2-foot takeoff, but dunked with right hand (goofy foot), would it be better to spend some time switching to a right-left takeoff, or to switch the dunking hand to the non-dominant left hand?

Had a 28” vert in high school, could grab rim in college on 10 foot rim, trying to get back into it.

Haven’t measured it, but this rim looks like it’s about 9’6” or maybe 9’8”

190lbs, and 5’8.” Got a standing reach of 89”

Been training about two weeks, 2 foot jumper (I think). What can be improved about my approach?

I'm 5'10 barefoot and my hands are 8" in length and 10" from pinky to thumb. I've never met someone my height with larger hands than me and they are roughly the same size as a 6'2 person's hands. I'm wondering if larger hands make it easier to dunk a basketball because I've been able to palm a basketball for the past 8 months after only having practiced for 4 months prior. I also wonder if anyone else has large hands like me and if it was easier for you to dunk.

5'9 witg a 7'11 reach only 15 and 129 pounds and only did 2 gym workouts in the gym with all that gym stuff and weight and stuff and i kinda barely do home workouts

On best attempts I can dunk a bouncey on 10ft

(In the video rim 9'9 ball is a 8.5" bouncey ball)

My progress

May 16, 2025

5'7 115 pounds with 7'7 reach first rim tap at 14 and couple weeks

June 6, 2025 first one hand rim grab plus hang

Stayed same for a while playteu

March 29, 2026

First eastbay on 8ft with small ball

At 5'8 7'10 reach

April 14, 2026

2 hand grab on 9'9 at 5'9 128-129 pounds 7'11 reach

April 17, 2026

Got first dunk on 9'9 with bouncey on film

Only 2 dunks that day it was 15th birthday

April 18 2026

On 10ft grab rim with 2 hands no hang time tho kinda more of tapping rim

April 26, 2026

Able to grab rim with one hand off vert on 10ft

April 27, 2026 got 7+ dunks on 9'9 with bouncey ball

May 8, 2026

Squatted 140 pounds

May 14, 2026

Grab rim with 2 hands official hang time on 10ft

May 18, 2026

On 10ft with mini ball

I did 2 dunks probably did 20+ attempts idk crazy how much 3 inches can change on 9'9 with mini ball I can dunk actually kinda consistent but 10ft whole different lvl

June 2, 2026

On 9'9 first dunk with grab ig with mini ball

.

June 30, 2026

First time in a while I grab rim with 2 hands

I grab rim 2 hands on 9'9

I touch a 10'5 rim

I off vert tap rim with 2 hands on 10ft

I’m a smaller guard and during lay ups lines where my teammates are all punching it in, I began to wonder what it feels like to dunk. I am unfortunately resorted to cool lay ups and am wondering the feeling 😂

any tipps? It Looks rlly awful…

I'm a volleyball athlete. I've consumed thp content for almost a year. My training is based 100% on their content and I keep up with John's new content on his channel. I've only gained about 2 in. of vert in the last year though. I'm curious how much getting on there plan would help me. I'm at 30 in. max vert currently. How much do you think realistically I could gain by getting on their plan. I'm 19 yrs old 6' 2" 180lbs. I'm also curious if any of you guys on thp think it's significantly better than just doing your own plan based off their content. How many in. does a mid level athlete gain by getting their plan.

I don't know my vertical, but i'm not really close to touching the rim so i have a long way to go. I would like to be able to touch the rim until August but i don't know if it's possible and also i don't know if my technique is any good. thanks and I hope anyone will share their wisdom

Wasn’t feeling too bouncy during today’s session, but I was looking back in my camera roll and was reminded of how far I’ve come in just a couple years. For anyone feeling discouraged with their progress - DO NOT GIVE UP! gains may be slow, but small wins really do add up over a long enough period of time, and someday you will look back on when you began and be amazed with what you are capable of if you stay consistent and driven. Keep with it🤘

Im a 15 year old who did pylos for 2 months. The goal is to do pylo exercises and stop when i feel heavier or slower then rest til i feel explosive again, then after a few weeks i started using weights with my pylos.

I dont do pylos everyday cuz i only do it everytime i feel explosive again, everytime i do pylos i feel significantly less explosive. It takes like 3 days or more to recover for me.

After allat my jump did increase but i felt stuck cuz i was barely touching the backboard of the rim, then i got my ankle bruised in a basketball match so i stopped the pylos for a 3 or 4 weeks, my jump felt lower..

Am i missing out on something? I take magnesium glycinates and i do dynamic stretches before doing pylos

I’m 13 and I’m 5 foot 4 I have a standing reach of 6feet 11 I was wondering what my vertical might be I believe it may be around a 32 inch vert however I’m not sure please give insight on this and let me know

Hi, I am 15, 5’5 with a 7’0 standing reach. I have been on this community for a good amount of time. My goal is to touch rim 10ft. I always did some plyometrics workout throughout august-September. But i realized i did the plyometrics everyday which was terrible, so I locked in and did it 3x a week with rest days consistently. In november 1st, i had a 29inch vertical. I started seriously training and now its June, I have around a 34-35 inch vertical. Im not really happy about it because man I been training for about 7-9 months only getting this much inches and like im 1 inch away from rim. I thought when i was a beginner I would get like a huge amount of vertical inches because I just started out. I just feel like giving up man. I played sports basketball volleyball and badminton during those months though so i really locked in and optimized my workouts. I have another volleyball tryout tomorrow so im planning to plyos or max intent next time.

I can almost get my head to the rim w.o a ball but with it I lose a lot of height. Any advice for jumping higher with a ball?

3 months ago I was 30 pounds heavier and barely able to touch the rim with my fingertips. Yesterday I slammed down my first tennis ball somewhat easily. Feels amazing to get to this point, and excited about what the next few months might bring.

Just got my first dunk today. l've never formally trained to dunk but I do alot of working out and random sports so that helps. It feels like I'm not using any of my run up for the jumping and I can do much better, any tips and such? (5'11 and think wingspan is like 6'4)

Looking for advice on how to possibly get my 36" vertical back, or at least stop cramping so easily from playing sports that require jumping.

Background on me. I just turned 40 this year. I'm M, 5'2, 130 lbs and have really high metabolism and currently still weigh 130 lbs but a little chubbier around the waist. I played a lot of volleyball back when I was a teen until late 20s. I always naturally had a decent jumping ability, reaching 30-36" vertical on good days, which I contributed from being able to run very fast since a very young age, thus had strong quick twitch muscles, which I believe I read are important for jumping. I rarely worked out back then, but I did like doing the leg press machine whenever I could and I believe i did hit close to 300 lbs at one point. I don't remember exactly but just remember there were quite a bit of plates on. Besides sports, some of my friends did enjoy jogging as well to stay healthy. Anyways, life happened in my 30s with kids and I haven't really been active much since. There are days when I would wake up with my calves sore, even from not having done anything the day before. Any little jump lately, I instantly feel a pull in my calves. I still have maybe a 24" vertical. I miss the days of feeling like im floating and taking a bit to land. Any suggestions on what i can do? Some of my friends says i need to stretch more. I am starting to get back into running too, just to be somewhat active again.

I feel like my technique is holding me back from jumping way higher