Thanks so much! With jumping, a little bit goes a long way for me especially at this stage when my bodyweight is much higher than it should be and too much volume risks injury. In the past i've observed I don't have to jump as much or as often as others here to get improvements. I can even go weeks even over a month without jumping and still maintain or improve. I never figured out why this is, just that my squat seems to be strongly tied to my jumping. But i have so much new to learn with jumping now, i'll definitely have to increase the workload as I go along.
It's because you are a poor jumper. That is a good thing though. If you develop your optimal plant and become proficient in the running two footed jump then you will notice it won't improve anymore if you go a month without jumping no matter what happens to your squat. You have essentially saved this up... but it's time to stop saving it up because you will start to plataue hard if you think you can still bump your squat up and jump 34'' then 36'' then 38'', etc. Works great for 24'',26'',28'' but jump specific work is what's going to carry the improvement in the 30''s.
However... you are somewhat right about high volume jumping and injury. You are somewhat safe because you are not super proficient at your approach jump but I totally agree that high volume maximal running vertical jumps off two feet at a high bodyweight is just asking for injury. Your danger level is dependent on your bodyweight and proficiency. For example if your standing vertical is 26'' and your drop step vertical is 28'' but your running two footed maximal vertical is 36'' then you are getting those extra inches with a huge amount of torque and stopping force on the second leg of the plant... Jumpers knee will follow, especially if you are heavy.
The solution is to do a three things...
1) Decrease the volume of maximum effort running vertical jumps as you get more proficient. Think almost of it as a reward... Like if you finish your jumping workout and your feeling good then you will get a good static hip-flexor stretch in, lace up those kicks, and allow yourself to get 3-5 earnest all out efforts to touch the top of the square... If you almost get it your last attempt you don't get to keep trying and muscling your way to the goal. Also if you feel any knee pain before and after... shut this part down. Have to be zen about this.
2) Don't neglect standing vertical jumps. Unless you are already injured or have serious strength or mobility issues standing vertical jumps are actually really safe. Boring but safe as long as you have safe controlled landings. At your height you can even make them even safer by standing below the rim, jumping up and grabbing it with two hands, and then hanging completely (can even grab the net) so that you don't ever drop from more than 20 inches.
3) Use submax work to practice approach technique. You can mix it into basketball skill. Something practicing spin move to submax jump to dunk ( which is basically a single turning plant ) or if that's difficult you could do practice hard dribble, gather, rim height finger roll. You have to be careful here obviously but neglecting everything but standing vertical jumps is probably not best... you just want to mix in approach jumps using just enough intensity to not risk injury.
A jump/dunk session could look something like this:
10-20 vertical jumps
5-10 no-reload vertical
10 standing left/right verticals
2x10 repetitive jumps (jump land jump)
1x10 for all single step plant jumps/dunks
3x5 single leg running verticals jumps/dunks
3x3 maximum running vertical
log everything. get better at all.
Looks nice. What's no-reload vertical btw? standing L/R verticals means with SVJ jumps with L hand and then R hand? is the repetitive jumps what i think people call pogos?
A no-reload is something I took from track. Basically squat to your jump depth with your hands up. On someones command (or your own) jump as high as you can. Great submax drill. Correct about pogos. Standing L/R vertical means stand on below rim. Lift your right foot off the ground and jump off only your left foot to touch the rim. Also, a relatively safe sub-max drill. Will also allow you test bilateral deficit. I have a 28'' vertical using JUST my left foot. But I'm well under 24'' when standing on my right. My right leg sucks so much it's depressing.
