Had a revealation today. Went to ball calm and unaroused. Normally im walking wired up and jacked up on stimulants and dunking energy. Diid not do try any dunk attempts. I know that just gets me more and more wiired up. It's so bad that when im in that state ii cant even do fine motor stuff like shoot a jumpshot. If i shoot one then i will overcompensate and airball or miss the top of the backboard lol. Basketball is a game i shud play completely sedatively (spell check says nah but this shud be a word) .. ive lways this problem.. before a big game like a final or a comp i will be so wired up i cant sleep etc. it's just bad news.
noticed some track olympians being completely relaxed before their races.. which was suprising considering they sometimes have athletes getting popped for doing stims priior. i guess ii know what i have to do now. leave dunking for either after the game or another day. game day shud be about playing well, dunks unless submax take away from skill
Find whatever works for you. More often than not I have a red bull before a game. Caffeine doesn't really affect me that much but it's become part of my routine and doesn't affect me negatively. I also get into my zone/zen state/flow when I'm slightly pissed at the other team and play much better as a result.
If being calm works for you then do it. I disagree on the dunking thing though. I think the main benefit of dunking when we play is the intimidation factor for the other team. I don't see too many guys here in Aus outside of the real high levels dunking before or during games and it certainly puts the thought in the other teams mind that you are better than the average player. Whether or not that is actually true, perception becomes reality.
I agree with Coges that planning to never dunk is unfortunate because there is nothing like an in-game dunk...
However... you are on to something...
You clearly have learned some tricks as far as dunking and bodyweight and stimulation... As you are stating the mindset of "peak jumping" and "peak basketball skill" do not go together. Not at all.
You are calling it submax which I don't agree with - consider it sub optimal. If you want to be the best basketball player you can be you have to get used to the fact that you are going to have to settle into a suboptimal amount of vertical that you play basketball with...
One of your tricks is carb-cycling and mini-starvation. That's fine and good but a basketball player should never ever use the word refeed! When Ray Allen became one of the best shooters in the world he maintained a bodyweight that was in a range of 2-3 pounds. You are not doing this at all!
That's fine and good for peaking for competition. What you are doing is done by many high jumpers and long jumpers - they cut carbs and hardly eat and even take diuretics like calcium citrate that don't show up on drug screens for important competitions. Dropping 10 pounds in a week can be the difference between jumping 7'5 and jumping 7'8. This is what you have realized.
But high jumpers don't constantly do this like you do because it's a terrible state to be in all the time to make long term gains. Figure out what you have learned for peaking and use it sparingly when you get to a dunk contest - cut carbs, cut water, stim out, use hypergravity and jump as high as you can. But you can't exist in that state if you want to be good at basketball. I have done similar things, cut weight, used the weight vest, taken it off and been able to get ridiculous in game dunks at my height.... They are very impressive.. But if I play full court ball with competition in this state I basically run the fast break, play defense, rebound and cut to the hoop for dunks... I don't try to get pretty or do stepbacks and even reverse layups become hard because I don't know my jumping ability well enough to time things...
You can either relegate yourself to being that athletic role player or dedicate yourself to basketball which requires a stable bodyweight (you are saved by not having muscle so you have little glycogen and your refeeds are only a few pounds - if I cut and refeed it can be 20lbs over night...) and a stable level of stimulation... In the long term not being glycogen depleted is what is going to help you lose the female body fat stores, build muscle and become a better player...
That's not to say you can't dunk in this state... It's just suboptimal... You will still get moments where you are bouncy and feel great in games, they just will have to come to you and won't always be there. This is a choice you have to make - be the best at basketball and make long term gains or keep worrying about cutting weight and peaking vertical constantly.
