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Stretching and Jumping to Dunk Now!

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To Stretch or Not to Stretch?

Does stretching increase your ability to jump high and dunk now? What you read might surprise you. Read on to find out how stretching and flexibility affects you and how high you'll jump and when you'll dunk!

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Contents at a Glance

The Jump-Stretch Connection
Types of Stretching
Pre-Jump Stretching
Post-Jump Stretching
Can Stretching Really Help Me Jump High...
What Types of Stretches Should I Do?

The Jump-Stretch Connection

The connection between flexibility and fitness, especially in maximizing performance in vertical jumping, has been murky at best. Common thinking holds that stretching enhances performance and prevents injury. Remember your gym coach back in P.E. who made you do the hurdler's stretch, sit and reach, and calf stretch before class started? Well, recent research has put this thinking on its head.

Types of Stretching

Generally speaking, there are three types of stretching:

Static - the kind you where you sit still and apply pressure to a limb or joint like the kind you remember from P.E. (e.g. sit and reach, butterflies, hurdler's, etc.)

Ballistic (Dynamic) - the kind where you extend your limb past it's passive range of motion generally by swinging it like in martial arts or track and field (e.g., warm up kicking)

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) - generally, the kind of stretching where you contract and then relax your muscles (i.e., there are multiple techniques for this kind of stretching). This is mostly used for physical rehabilitation for people who have been injured.

Pre-Jump Stretching

Research has shown that in the case of maximizing your vertical jump to jump higher, the kind of stretching you do and when you do it will determine how high you jump. One study showed that static stretching before jump training can actually decrease your performance for up to 2 hours after the stretching routine. "Does it have any benefit at the end of the 2 hours?" you might ask. Nope (1). The results about ballistic stretching and jumping performance are equally disappointing. Studies show ballistic stretching before jump training doesn't increase or decrease how high you jump (2). How about PNF stretching before jump training? Turns out it it's the same as static stretching in that it makes your jumping performance worse as well (2a).

Post-Jump Stretching

So what about stretching after maximum performance? Shouldn't this at least help prevent injury and reduce muscle soreness from the prior training session? Unfortunately, research on this is unfavorable as well. Some studies suggest that post performance stretching doesn't reduce soreness or injury, nor does it help your muscles recover any faster (3).

Can Stretching Really Help Me Jump High and Dunk Now?

So what's a potential dunker to do? How does flexibility help jump performance? Most of the research looks at "acute" bouts of stretching. In other words, a lot of the research looks at what happens when an athlete stretches right before or right after exercise. Long term research looking at the effects of regular stretching shows that in order to maximize your jumping performance, rather than stretching right before or right after your jump training, you should stretch at regular intervals when you're not training. Why? Intense jumping like the kind you do when you jump high and dunk is an activity that puts your muscles and tendons through what is called stretch shortening cycles or SSC. In the simplest terms, SSC involves your muscles and tendons acting like a rubber band being pulled. The more you're able to pull the rubber band (up to a certain point), the more energy is released when you let it go. Ever try pulling a rubber band and then letting it go? It flies across the room. Regular stretching in between training sessions helps to make your muscles and tendons compliant enough like a rubber band to store and release the elastic energy in your legs and make you jump higher during your jump training (3).

What Types of Stretches Should I Do?

So, in short, stretch between training sessions. Don't stretch right before or right after you train as it neither helps your performance or reduces your chance of injury. What kind of stretches should you do? Here's some of the most basic static stretches which give you the most bang for your jumping buck:

- Quad stretches
- Hamstring stretches
- Calf stretches

Simple Stretches

Standing Quad Stretch

Hamstring Stretch

Standing Calf Stretch

Ballistic (Dynamic) Stretches

Jimmy Rollins from the Philadelphia Phillies has a great video featuring some ballistic stretching and warm ups that while primarily were designed for baseball have a great application for training to jump high and dunk now.

Phillies Jimmy Rollins Dynamic Warmup Baseball Workout: by StackBaseball | video info

65 ratings | 90,082 views

curated content from YouTube

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References

(1) An acute bout of static stretching: effects on force and jumping performance - Power et. al. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 36(8): 1389-1396. 2004

(2) Here's two studies out of several:

(a) The effect of static, ballistic, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on vertical jumping performance - Bradley et. al. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 21(1): 223-226. 2007.

(b) Effects of differential stretching protocols during warm-ups on high speed motor capacities in professional soccer players - Little, Thomas and Alun Williams. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 20(1) 203-207. 2006.

(3) Strength and injury prevention: an obscure relationship - Witvrouw et. al. Sports Medicine. 34(7): 443-449. 2004.