When it comes to vertical jump improvement I love squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, box jumps, power skipping, the 123 drill, and many more. However, above all of these in terms of effectiveness stands one exercise that should be in ALL jump programs.

This exercise is far more specific to your sport than any of those others. It will develop all the athletic attributes needed to jump high including the often overlooked area of movement efficiency. Even better, this particular exercise is insanely sports specific. No other exercise comes close.

So what exactly is this brilliant vertical jump training drill that gives such amazing results? The exercise I am referring to is none other than going out and performing some maximum effort jumping. Yep, it is that simple. As is the case with most things, the best way to improve at something is to actually go out and do it.

Jumping, especially in a sports setting where you might be diving for a ball, trying to avoid a defender etc, is a fine motor skill. The best way to develop it is by actually doing it. Take trying to head a goal in soccer. It involves timing, avoiding defenders, balance etc. To get good at it you need to spend a bit of time trying to jump up and direct the ball in. In the early stages the movement will often feel unnatural, but the more you do it the more fluid it becomes and the higher you will jump.

Practicing your actual jumping technique is one of the most commonly overlooked things you can do to improve your vertical jump. People often believe they need all sorts of fancy exercises, different sorts of weight training equipment, and cleverly designed programs, but it is amazing how often they overlook the basic act of going out and simply doing some jumping.

Spending time working on your jumping technique will help you jump higher in so many ways. First and foremost though it will improve your movement efficiency! This is a big one. If you have less than stellar co-ordination then you will be severely limiting your potential jump height. It results in you not being able to coordinate your muscles and joints to fire in the right order and with the right power to maximize your jump height.

Practicing jumping also helps develop explosive strength and reactive strength in a manner specific to jumping. The other exercises such as skipping, bounding, weighted step ups, squats and so on all help develop those things as well, just not as well for jumping as actually jumping.

In essence any athletic training you undertake is designed to force your body to adapt. So in order to get stronger you need to consistently get into the gym and lift progressively heavier weights. In this way you send signals to your body that you require it grow in order to meet those continuously higher demands. The same goes for jump training. If a massive vertical jump is your goal, then you have to go and keep trying to jump higher. The more you practice jumping high the greater reinforcement of the message to your body and the quicker it will adapt.

Just about the only thing jumping doesn't do that well is to increase your maximal strength levels. Weight training is a clearly superior approach for this. For most athletes there will come a time when it is strength that is holding them back, but unless they have their jumping motion down first, they will not be able to apply the benefits of any additional strength anyway.

Author: Jack Woodrup