Guest Post by Scott Bias
This simple tip may seem like the opposite of what you think you should be doing when you plant and start your jumping motion, but it really works. Relax. What I mean by relax is this – Just before you plant your feet to start your upward momentum make sure you are relaxed and lose. It’s common knowledge that the more force you put into the ground the higher you are going to jump so the tendency is to automatically tense up in an effort to use more strength to deliver more power into the ground as you plant and start the jumping motion. This is a big mistake.
Lets look at some other examples of how relaxing and staying lose produces a lot more force.
Golf – It’s a well known fact that if you relax your swing you will hit the ball much further than if you try to muscle or kill the ball.
Sprinting – The best sprinters run in a very relaxed posture and not all clinched up trying to muscle their way to faster times.
Tennis – If you’re going to hit as serve 140 MPH like the pros you can’t do it with arm strength. You have to relax your entire body during the serving motion.
The reason for this is simple – Speed.
It takes speed to deliver more power. When your body is in a relaxed state you can produce a lot more speed.
By relaxing your muscles just before jump take off, you are able to apply your strength much faster against the ground. This results in more force and a higher jump.
All great jumpers do this naturally. If you are not, below are some drills you can use to practice this relax and explode technique until it becomes natural for you.
2 step walk & explode –
Stand In a relaxed comfortable position.
Take two relaxed step forward.
When your second foot hits the ground immediately explode into your jump!
Don’t be concerned with how high you jump – Focus on the speed of the change from relaxed to upward explosion.
Slow jog & explode – 1 or 2 legged jump
Jog for 6 to 8 steps in a slow relaxed manor.
When you feel it’s time to jump explode up.
Don’t be concerned with how high you jump – Focus on the speed of the change from relaxed to upward explosion.
Do these drills until the relax and explode method feels like second nature and you will jump higher naturally.
Work Hard – Train Hard!
Scott Bias
BallinUSA.com
