by Bobby Coles

Created on: February 08, 2008   Last Updated: January 17, 2011

Jumping higher is the goal of every player aspiring to make it big in the National Basketball Association. With the ability to jump higher comes a major improvement to all aspects of your game, from shooting to rebounding.

Not everybody is blessed with vertical leaps that turn heads, but everybody can work on their vertical leap and improve it.

If soaring to new heights is your ultimate goal, then you need to concentrate your strength and conditioning towards your jumping ability. By attacking the core muscle groups that aid in the vertical leap department, you will be able to make the transition from little leapster to majestic eagle.

Focusing on your calf muscles, quadriceps and ankles will help you to jump higher. Resistance training is also very effective, as well as running backwards. This enables the muscles to react differently, and strengthen different ligaments and tendons.

Resistance training, such as wearing a floatation device and running in a pool, will help build muscle strength, as well as building stamina and endurance. Running backwards, or retro training, as it is sometimes referred to, involves the exact opposite muscles as running forward, thus doubling your leg strength theoretically.

These exercises will help your leg strength to improve, which will be the catalyst for your new found leaping ability.

To be successful as a basketball player requires many different strengths and abilities, such as a spry agility, a superior VO2 Max, heart, soul and determination. But the ability to jump, particularly the ability to jump higher than your opponent, can be a major weapon both offensively and defensively.

Learning which foot to drive off of, and the footwork to ensure that you take off with that foot when leaping can aid sufficiently. Practice makes perfect.

You are blessed with a certain amount of God-given talent and ability, and these talents and abilities must be honed to their sharpest capacity. Jumping is crucial to success in the basketball realm, and a player that needs to get a leg up on the competition, (pun intended) can take to heart some simple exercises that will increase the vertical leap that had been genetically bequeathed.

The simplest exercise to build up your jumping ability is the calf raise. Calf raises strengthen your calf muscles, as well as your ankles, feet and knees. Your quadriceps and hamstring muscles can also be worked during these exercises. Calf raises are simple to do, can be done anywhere, anytime, and are

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