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Jumping Rope- You may not believe it, but it is an easy way to add inches to your vertical leap. Do this as long as you can.

High Jumps- Bend knees between a sitting and standing position. Explode up as high as possibl. As soon as landing, spring back up. Start with 50 and increase by 25 each week.

No Armed Jumps- Same as squat jumps, just don't use your arms to propell you upwards. You can place your hands either behind your back or on your head. Start with 20 and increase by 10 each week.

Mini Jumps- Stand on your tip-toes and jump one inch off the ground as many times as you can. Do this until you feel the burn in your calf muscles.

Jump Ups- Stand on toes with legs relatively straight and thrust yourselves as high as possible. Repeat as soon as you land. Start with 10 and increase by 5 each week.

Chair Jumps- Place one foot on a sturdy chair. Push down on this foot propelling you into the air. As you are coming down, place other foot on chair and repeat. Start with 10 and increase by 5 every other week. Rebound Jumps- Stand right under the backboard. Jump as high as u can and touch the backboard (touch a wall if u can't reach backboard) and as soon as you land, jump again, so its basically like hopping, except you are trying to jump as high as you can each time. Do about 30 reps. By doing this, you are increasing explosiveness.

Remember to always stretch before working out. Flexibility is a major factor to fitness. The more flexible your muscles are, the more they can contract and stretch increasing performance. Exercise at least 30 minutes 2-3 times a week, and before playin' ball or working out.

Out on the market, they also have a new strength training shoe that boosts your vertical 5-10 inches and increses your 40 m sprint by 0.2 seconds. It works using polymetrics for your calves and ankles, and it costs $125. You can get it online at Eastbay.com

Plyometrics: There are two phases of muscle contractions. The first one is when the muscle stretches. The second one is when the muscle contracts. The goal of these exercises is to increase the speed at which these happen and therefore provide explosiveness and enhanced ability. There are a few ways to do this, the best programs are premium and unfortunately include buying products and getting involved in a program. But if you want the E-Z way out and do it naturally, you have to start stretching those muscles as well as strengthening them.

Stretching: You should stretch for at least a half hour to an hour twice or more a week. The more flexible the muscle is, the faster and more efficient it is. It also GREATLY decreases the risk of injury. Make sure to stretch out your hamstrings well!!!

Strengthening: To gain muscle strength, you have to start doing leg exercises at the gym involving weights. Some good exercises would include the leg press, squats, calf raise, standing calf, and many others. Working the obliques (hips) is also important because a lot of power comes from there. You have to be strong in all parts of your body (upper and lower body). It is not good to have uneven strength (for example, too much leg strength and not much upper body strength). It is very beneficial to work out. It has unlimited health benefits, and can greatly enhance athletic ability. Running also helps greatly with cardiovascular ability and endurance.

Skill: Sports = speed and strength + strategy + athletic ability. Speed, strength and athletic ability can be worked through flexibility and strength training. Skill and strategy mostly come from practice, so practice, practice, PRACTICE!!! It is good to practice at least three times a week or more.

Don't expect results immediately! You have to be patient and consistent, and stick with what you're doing. If you stay with it, you'll definetly start seeing results anywhere from a month to 12 weeks. But remember, you have to stick with it, don't give up, and aim high.

Aight, first of all, there's a lotta hype out there about "increase your vertical" if u do so and so... I've looked at a lot of programs and exercises and all, a lot of its B.S. One of my friends, he's 5'8" and he can dunk a basketball on a regulation rim (10 feet) (and he's white!). He can touch rim easily.... he's a senior in high school too, he played varsity for our school and he can make 3's all day. I asked him what his secret is... he was tellin' me that ever since he was little, he used to try to dunk. In 4th grade, he used to watch Jordan play and watch all his dunks, then he used to go outside and try it on a 6 foot rim. Every day, 3 hours, he used to take a junior ball, go outside and try to dunk on lowered rims. When he was 4'11" 7th grade, he could dunk 9 foot rim! DAMN! It kinda helps that he had started early (real early) and he has two rims at his house, both adjustable... Now, he leaves it on the 9 foot rim and does Vince Carter's and Kobe Bryant's.... This fool's got hops, his vertical is around 44", and he's only a senior in high school! He's good in every sport though, second fastest in our school I think, his 100 time was sub 11 seconds... So now, I have my rim at 9 feet and i dunk everyday. i put to 8'6" so i can do the flashy dunks just to get co-ordinated, but i have to try a little harder for 9 feet, so i can only regular dunk 9 feet. I'm 5'6", sophmore in high school, so i got a little ways to go before i can dunk.. Some of the players in the NBA like Kobe and Kevin Garnett and Vince Carter could dunk their freshmen year, but they're black too.. so.. And about the exercises listed way at the top of this page... I don't really do any of em, i jump rope a little before workin out, but that's about it. If you get a chance, go to the gym and using the squat bar, do calf raises. I do a good set of 10 reps with 45's on each side (135 lbs). You should do around 100% of your body weight, i weigh 130 lbs, so i guess its good enuff. Try to get in the gym at least once a week, more than that is better, 3 times is good, with a day or two rest in between. Your muscle fibers take 48 hours to recover after an intense workout, so go hard every other day. Try to get some hops in everyday, it'll really pay off. So if you have an adjustable hoop at your house, it'll come to your advantage. Well, i hope this section gave you some insight, work on that vertical! So, Get out there and break some ankles!!!