Nothing inspires more awe and applause than a dunk. This is one of the coolest ways to hit a target in basketball and takes a lot of skill. While you may not be tall enough, you can gain the skills you need to accomplish this famous feat on set, regardless of your height and experience. See step 1 for more information.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Practice Dunking
Step 1. Dribbling
Take the allowed two steps while dribbling the ball with your hand and controlling your approach. Jump with your lead foot, opposite the kicking hand, extend your arm towards the hoop and throw the ball into the net.
Dunk with one hand first. The two-handed dunk may be the most dominant step in basketball, but it requires a much higher jump and two-handed touch to the rim of the basket. You can do it
Step 2. Use a smaller ball
When you are just starting out, it is much easier to try to dunk with a smaller ball. With your palms, you can more easily control your approach, which makes the maneuver more satisfying, and your practice is closer to real play. Continue dribbling and throwing drills with the appropriate ball sizes, so that you are not too used to the "wrong" ball size, but still have the opportunity to work on mastering the dunk with a small ball.
Step 3. Work on handling the ball
Feel how to use the momentum of ball control when your arm is outstretched. Even people who win basketball sometimes lose grip when dunking, so you need to feel the ball's agility and control it in the air.
- Practice using the rim and hitting the ball against the backboard. Even if you don't dunk, you still have to continue your approach and hold the ball correctly when you jump towards the hoop.
- You can try a tennis or golf ball, then a volleyball before picking up a basketball.
Step 4. Land correctly
As a rule, you need to focus all your energy on getting the ball into the basket and ultimately not falling on your backside, which will then hurt. Strongly. This happens even with the pros, but take some time to complete the follow-up work and focus on completing the whole sequence of moves, landing safely, and you will dunk more accurately and consistently afterwards.
- Imagine a successful dunk and immediately focus on landing. Try to land on both feet, softening and bending as you land. Watch out for other players.
- Do not hang from the rim of the basket. In most games, hanging from the rim is not allowed unless you risk falling onto someone below you. Dangling from the headband can damage the hoop as well as ruin your balance so that you think you are falling backwards. So don't try to grab the rim after you've thrown the ball in there, just dunk it and fall.
Step 5. Practice dunking on a lower rim
Start by adjusting the height of the basket if you have access to it. Lower the height so you can get an idea of the dunk, then raise the basket gradually to the standard height, whichever is more comfortable for you.
Step 6. Buy a good pair of shoes
Most players believe that high quality footwear will improve your dunking ability, and more importantly, prevent you from getting injured while trying to dunk.
Step 7. Be persistent
You will probably be confused during the first few dunking attempts, but get off the floor and try again. You will be very impressed with your progress if you continue to practice your jumps and build strength in your legs.
Part 2 of 3: Work Your Leap
Step 1. Increase the height of your vertical jump
You will need lift in your legs to jump to the basket in mid-air. Set a leg workout regimen that will increase the rapid contraction of strength and flexibility in your leg muscles, help you add a few inches to your vertical jump, and get you much closer to the rim.
- 50-100 calf lifts
- 2 or 3 sets of squats and lunges
- 3-5 sets of 60 seconds wall push-ups
Step 2. Learn about plyometrics
Plyometric exercises rely on the resistance of your own body to build the strength you need to jump. It takes time to train your body to jump higher, but working with the right muscle group can improve explosiveness and altitude without regular gym work.
Muscle groups that need to be stronger: quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. The quads will extend the knees, while the thighs and glutes will extend the hips. The calf muscles flex the ankle, giving you the opportunity for the initial jump
Step 3. Work on your flexibility
Simple strength in the legs will not do this. The muscles also need to be free and flexible, giving you the movement and response you need to dunk over defense. Develop flexibility with regular stretching, elasticity exercises, and yoga.
Muscle groups that need flexibility: hamstrings and hip flexors. Tight hips will prevent stretching of the knees during the jump. The hip flexors will resist the expansion of the hips during the jump
Step 4. Start running up the stairs
Trainers force you to do this, as it develops everything, and quads, and hips, and calves, helping everything that is around the leg to become strong and flexible. It's also cheap. You can run up the stairs in your home, at school after closing time, or even in the bleachers outside of the field.
Step 5. Practice jumping on the court
Jump all over the court back and forth. Try three laps or more, jumping as high as you can. Take a running jump with a touch of the net until you are able to do it ten times in a row. You probably won't be able to do it all in one day. Keep working on this. Keep jumping. Head for the rim of the basket.
Part 3 of 3: Exploring the Highlight of the Dunk
Step 1. Learn the two-handed jump
Shaquille O'Neal was famous for double passing the ball into the basket with such force that the shield broke. While current bezel technology makes this nearly impossible, it is still a powerful and demoralizing dunk.
For this dunk you must jump high in an upright position and aim for a two-handed dunk. Practice standing under the rim and jump straight until you can touch the rim with your wrist
Step 2. Add some flair and a double twist
Jump high enough that you can dunk twice and then bring the ball back to chest level at the top of the jump to make it come up and hit it hard. Some famous players, such as Tracy McGrady, do this regularly, spinning in the air, doing a 360-degree dunk.
Step 3. Windmill
As you get closer to the basket, roll the ball from your belly to your back, doing it with your hand around your body, like a windmill. At the top of the jump, bring your arm fully in a circle and throw down. Dominic Wilkins in the 90s gathered crowds eager to see this dunk.
Step 4. Tomahawk
Either a two-handed or one-handed tomahawk dunk involves holding the ball behind your head, bending your elbows and hitting the hoop very hard, as if you were splitting it with a tomahawk. Dr. Gee (Julius Irving) popularized this dunk, and Darryl Dawkins broke several shields with this blow.
Step 5. Roll the ball between your legs
Although he was not the first player to do so, Vince Carter won the 2000 NBA dunk competition by passing the ball under one foot in the air and then hitting it with full force. It didn't even hurt that his forehead almost touched the edge of the rim. If you've practiced your jumps at that height, try passing the ball under one foot and dunking.
Advice
- Most people who are not NBA stars are jealous of this skill and are looking for videos of short players dunking. This proves that people with a height of 1.83m can still pull a strong dunk. Good examples of this are Spud Webb or Nate Robinson who won the Slam Dunk Competition Champion in 2006 and 2009. If you feel the need to drool with envy, then that's okay.
- If you are the same height and weight as Shaq, watch your opponents when performing demoralizing actions; it will be possible to destroy the shield and get rain from razor-sharp shards on the faces of your defeated opponents.
- For people who have trouble jumping with one leg, try this: As you get closer to the basket, lower your body and arms so that your center of gravity is low. Then jump to the basket and swing your arms up. This can improve your jumping ability by a few centimeters.
- Make sure the headband is securely attached to the shield and cannot come loose. Failure to do so could result in serious injury.
- Consume more calcium and protein, but keep your diet balanced. This will help muscle growth and promote bone health.
- If you are overweight, improve your vertical jump. You may need to lose weight while building muscle.
- Make sure there is someone with you. If you fall painfully and no one is around, you will find yourself in a very difficult situation.
- If you know how, you can jump high enough to dunk by trying to grab a smaller ball that you can jump earlier than you need to. This way you can increase your vertical glide. If you have a low jump, change the ball. For beginners, a one-handed tennis ball dunk is a good workout if done multiple times.
- Keep an eye on some of the top dunkers of the past and present, such as Nate Robinson, Michael Jordan, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Blake Griffin, and Shaquille O'Neill.
- In order to jump higher, you must know that it does not only depend on the shoes. To unlock the dunk privilege, you must first learn how to do it. Regular squats, jumps and squats, wall push-ups will soon build you muscular legs.