How a 5'5" Basketball Player Trained Himself to Dunk

Here is the short documentary being referred to in the article.

http://vimeo.com/74061236

This link told me nothing about "how". I learned more from HN comments than I did from the link. Shame on link-bait.

I'm 5'10", and unfortunately some of it comes from a long long neck and a fine head. A well known coach once called it wasted height, as it doesn't help any in basketball. Things got a little worse with the fact that my upper body is disproportionately longer than my lower body. Doesn't help your jump any, but at least it gave me some reach - 7'3" with my arms extended.

And so, I needed a vertical leap of 3 feet to grab the ring. The happiest day of my basketballing life was after some weeks of pumping iron (leg weights), I did leap and grab that ring - once. It was such a thrill.

That was way back in college. I wish I'd gone all the way like Brandon did. But hey, I'm only 50 now, and still playing basketball. I'm inspired. I think I'm going to go for it again. ;)

Muggsy Bogues, at 5'3", dunked in high school before making the NBA.

We all have potential to be and do whatever it is we want to. Sometimes we just stop believing. Let this be a reminder that we can!

Meh, sorry, guy very likely had crazy hops before the training regimen, don't discount genetics.

If you lack natural coordination and explosiveness, at 5'5" you'll never dunk a basketball no matter how hard you train.

However, you may have the ability to code explosively in the same way that one is able to shake another out of their shoes with a crossover dribble; that, or train your mind to do so. The former will arguably be the superior "player" as they likely started coding at age 8, drawn to it without knowing why, and the latter likely came late to the game (case here).

But if he had spent all that time practicing his 3-point shot instead, would he be a better basketball player now?

don't forget about Muggsy Bogues!

How is upper body training helping him jump higher?