The Super

Athlete Jumping
and Dunking
Mechanics Keys

IMPORTANT KEYS FOR ALL TYPES OF

JUMPERS’ JUMPING TECHNIQUE

Copyright 2019 Super Athlete Training

1
 Single Leg Takeoff
PENULTIMATE STEP
The penultimate step is the second to last
step before the takeoff. It is extremely
important for this step to be longer than a
normal step because it is ultimately what
converts the horizontal energy into
vertical energy. Drills in the Super Athlete
Formulas are placed to improve this
aspect of single leg jump technique. It is
possible for a penultimate step to be too
long and is definitely possible for a
penultimate step to be too short – you
need to find a balance.

THE LAST CONTACT

In the picture to the left, this is a
snapshot of my footing directly
before take-off. The three major
focuses of this for a single leg
take-off are
1. Maintain an upright torso
position
2. Do not let your knees bend
over and in front of your toes
3. Your heels must touch the ground in order to maximize your penultimate
and ultimate steps’ potential

MID-AIR/JUST BEFORE MID-AIR

The knee kick is needed to perfect your single leg jump
technique. Anyone trying to jump off one foot will
naturally kick with their knee but most either do too
much or too little. The perfect amount is just about
getting your thigh to parallel with the ground or maybe
even a little less. As you can see in the image to the
right, the athlete is not knee kicking enough as his left
knee is about halfway between parallel to the ground
and perpendicular to the ground

2
 Double Leg Takeoff
ACCELERATION
You’ll see that any decent two-foot jumper
does this well – it’s acceleration. It isn’t the
speed or velocity of the approach BUT it is
the CHANGE in velocity. In the approach to
a two-foot jump, you need to be speeding
up, you cannot just sprint at the hoop and
jump. You also definitely cannot stutter
before the jump [one of the worst things
you can do in an approach to a jump]. Now
this is just one of the many reasons why
increasing strength can improve your athleticism – you can become capable of
controlling higher speeds and forces.

PENULTIMATE STEP
The penultimate step still means the same in a
two-foot jump but it can be confusing. It is still
the second to last step before a jump but it
appears as the last step in a two foot jump
because the last foot to touch the ground[“the
brake foot”] is a step but many people do not
see it or notice it as a step. You need your
penultimate step to be long, the front leg should
be fully extended at the longest part of the
step. This is for the same reasons as discussed in
the single-leg takeoff section.

ARM SWING
Try jumping with your hands on your hips. Now
try jumping with your arm swing. Arm swing
can account for up to 25% of an athlete’s
vertical jump – it’s important. There are two
factors with arm swing – timing and amount. To
perfect your arm swing technique, you need
your hands to get at about shoulder level at the
bottom most part of the jump. If your timing is
off or the amount of your arm swing is off, you
could be missing out on crucial vertical jump
inches.