Week 3 Vertical Jump Test (and short video clip)

I played my 2nd basketball game of the year tonight, and felt much more in the flow than last week. I didn't even take many shots, but didn't make nearly as many bad turnovers (and our team actually won, which we don't do all that often).

While at the gym, I did a few Vertical Jump tests:

• Standing Vertical: I can get my fingers about 1" over the 10ft rim. This measurement is pretty consistent - every time I attempt a standing vertical, I get 1"-2" over the rim. For tracking my progress, I'm going to record it as 10'1" (121"), or a 24" standing vertical with my 8'1" reach.

• Running Vertical: I can get my fingers approximately 6"-7" over the rim (most of my hand). I'm going to record this as 10'6" (29" running vertical), which is unchanged from last week.

• I also tried a couple of dunk attempts with the ball, but was nowhere close (yet). The misses weren't even funny enough to post online. I'm equally close to dunking with a 1-foot vs. a 2-foot jump, but I've always been more of a 2-foot jumper, so I'm going to keep focusing on that.

I also took a few clips of my tests... most of them are not worth posting, but here is a short clip of my running vertical:

A couple of things I noticed from seeing myself on video:

• My gut is sticking out of my uniform!  Whether I make my dunking goal or not, I definitely need to lose the 20lbs I'm aiming for.
• My jump technique isn't too bad, but I can definitely work on carrying more speed through the jump. I need to work on speed/explosiveness with my vertical jump training.
• I think I've got a good shot at hitting my goal!  I don't want to be overconfident, but I'm starting my quest a LOT closer to the goal than some other people that I've seen online. Many jumpers couldn't even hit the 10ft rim consistently when they started.