There seem to be two camps, one foot jumpers and two foot jumpers and one of the big questions that pops up, is are there different training methods or different techniques you as a one foot jumper have to address to improve your vertical. The easy answer is no, pretty well any training method or jump training program currently out there is designed to help you as either a one foot or a two foot jumper to improve your vertical.
The theory behind this is if you need to work on the strength in your whole body to jump higher. If you focus on just the leg you use to push off you won’t receive the benefit of a stronger core, a stronger upper body and the speed and explosiveness of working on your entire body. A thorough jumping training program doesn’t just cover your leg (or legs), it also envelops development of your stomach, back and upper body muscles to help provide explosiveness. You also run the danger of throwing off your body balance if you only concentrate on one specific leg and not balancing training across both legs. This will change your form which is incredibly important to a one footed jumper.
In fact proper form can make more of a difference to you as you work to improve your vertical than all the strength training in the world. The momentum that can be formed by a jumper as he coils up just before he takes off can be emphasized as he uses his upper body, arms, and off leg to provide momentum upwards.
If you watch any “natural” jumper who takes off of one foot it appears to be a graceful, smooth flowing almost effortless motion that allows there vertical jumping to reach its maximum height with the least effort. You have to remember these natural jumpers started crawling as a baby much like you, and then evolved to halting steps, much like you, before evolving into jumpers, much as you can!
Next time you are around one of these jumpers, pay close attention to how they combine the upward arm movement, the off leg and the upper body so smoothly and then try to replicate this yourself. An easy tip to improve your vertical if you have access to a video camera is to have a friend film you as you jump and then you can dissect any flaws in your form. Have him record as many different angles of your jump as possible so you can see if you aren’t fully optimizing your form.
You can find a multitude of dunking videos that show the form one foot jumpers use. In the video below you will find a great example. You can see around the 44 second mark one jump in slow motion where the dunker explodes upwards and another one around the 2 minute mark where you can see him use his legs to help drive him upwards.
If your goal is to improve your vertical, I would really recommend you look at one of the jumping training programs out there called the Jump Manual. It is designed to help any style of jumper, is set up with various different levels of training depending on your current level, includes videos of the training to help ensure good form and comes with a complete money back guarantee if for some reason you aren’t happy with the program. For more information click here to get more information about the Jump Manual program and start to improve your vertical now!
To jump higher you need to do pull-ups as well to increase your bpdy force. Pull-ups grant you to lift yourself up into the air faster.