I've actually never performed DD's or DJ's before. Tomorrow is my first time. I tested my standing CMJ and my depth jump from 12" and my CMJ was higher! LOL I already knew I had a deficiency regarding force absorption just by the way i feel when playing bball. I just wanted some quantitative data to truly know. Hoping this amort stuff will help! Planning on doing DD's from 18" this week and coupling with a vertical jump (so no, not crazy intense). I think i remember reading somewhere that i should be able to depth drop a height equal to my CMJ...is that true? Starting from 27-28" seems to high for a beginner.
well, i can actually CMJ higher than 12" box most of the time.. and im super reactive.. the 12" box just doesn't load most people up enough..
18" exceeds my cmj, and then it continues on until 30" box which usually exceeds my 18" box dj... i can only do that off 30" if i am practicing dj's from 24-30".
30" seems to be the max though for me to jump higher than my cmj.
so don't get bent out of shape if your 12" box never gets much higher than CMJ or matches it.. it could just be that the loading is too small when dropping off the box, or you are rebounding so fast then you just are not generating enough power.
peace!
edit: ya starting from ~28" for a depth drop or DJ is way to high for just starting out.. you may well be able to handle the force, but your joint articular surface takes a huge beating at first.. you need to progress into the higher boxes, but i mean if you are strong/coordinated etc, progressing properly could happen within 2-3 weeks.