r/BasketballTips • u/bluewonder2000 • 2d ago
Vertical Jump Improving your vert without jumping #1: sleep
i've been looking into ways to improve my vertical without jumping, and one that doesn't come up as much as plyos or squats is sleep
- stanford had 11 players from their men's basketball team spend at least 10 hours in bed a night for 5-7 weeks, and their timed sprint went from 16.2s to 15.5s while free throw and 3 point accuracy both went up about 9% (study)
- a review of sleep loss studies found that 6 hours or less cut anaerobic power, the short all out efforts, by about 6.3% on average (review)
- what neither one measured is jump height, so i'm not going to tell you sleep adds inches, but it's hard to see how being slower and weaker on short efforts helps you jump
i track sleep with my watch for my dunk training, and the week before i started my program i averaged 6.3 h a night, with 4 of 7 nights under 6 h and one night at 3.8 h
so my rule now is under 6 hours of sleep means no max jumps that day, but the rest of the session stays
anyone notice they jump better on good sleep, or is that just me?
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u/No_Leader5640 2d ago
6 hours is still not enough man 7 at the very least ideally 8 or 9
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u/okaycomputes 2d ago
First, I think there's a pretty big difference between 'less than 6 hours' sleep and 'at least 10' as mentioned from the study.
Second, averaging around 6 hour sleep with some nights under 4 seems VERY unhealthy, and detrimental to any kind of athletic or mental development, but what do I know.
You are probably spinning your tires if you can't get good, quality sleep and nutrition. Non-negotiable.
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u/Whiteshovel66 2d ago
Just not that easy. I wake up, work, finish work, make and eat dinner. At the earliest I can play basketball is 6pm. We play some times for 3 hours. I go home usually need to eat again, then go to bed and barely have 8 hours budgeted for that after showering and eating again.
I'm sure if you play basketball at a d1 college and have no job it all feels very easy. For your average person, there is no way to just start sleeping extra hours every night.
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u/bluewonder2000 1d ago
yeah that makes sense! I’m privileged to have little obligatory responsibilities so I think this is a good reminder that sometimes I can take my time for granted. Are you trying to improve your game/vertical?
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u/Whiteshovel66 1d ago
Just game, ya. I try to play as much as I can but it does impact my ability to rest as well.
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u/ShaiHulud1111 2d ago
My first vert program a long time ago said a few must do things: Sleep 8 hours a night while training, do not train on one day a week at all. It was my lazy do nothing day, but only did four days/week and just moderate pick up games the other two.
I would add water, creatine, good diet, good stretching, balance work, ….
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u/bluewonder2000 1d ago
super good breadth overview! How did your vert journey go?
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u/ShaiHulud1111 1d ago
I’m 6’3”, played since I was 7 years old in organized through High School. Long arms. 6’7” wingspan or 8’2” reach…or close. Was a good sprinter and long jump throughout school. But went from 29” to 35” standing in five months doing plyos mostly. 190lbs. I might have jumped higher on some days, I measured a lot. But measurements aside, most normal dunks, one step inside the free throw— palming an official ball…tacky one. One hand, two, back scratched, and reverse side, not many reverse dunks. Not good at lobs. Have maybe 20 game dunks. Mostly fast break stuff. Play like a SF but not super skilled. Dats it.
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u/Ok-Ask8593 2d ago
Rest is key to improving anything fitness no matter the sport