It’s official: Jackson a Jayhawk

Photo Credit From: baltimoresun.com/: Maryland basketball still in running for top recruit Josh Jackson

KU men's basketball coach Bill Self announced Tuesday that the top-ranked recruit Josh Jackson has signed and will be a freshman at the University of Kansas in 2016-17,  Jackson verbally committed to KU in early April.

"Josh has been a guy that is so respected in all high school circles the last four years," Self said. "He is probably as highly thought of as any recent player to come out of high school because of his competitive nature."

"He left Detroit to finish his high school career at Prolific Prep in the Napa (California) area. He is very similar to Andrew Wiggins. He's a tall guard that can do a lot of everything. We feel his impact on our program next year will be as much as any freshman will have on any college program. He's extremely athletic but more importantly extremely competitive. We have a very competitive culture at Kansas but I think it just got improved with the signing of Josh. He's a guy that everybody enjoys playing with because he is so unselfish but also a guy that can take a game over." Bill Self added.

Photo Credit From: cbssports.com/: Josh Jackson, the No. 1 player in the class of 2016, commits to Kansas

The list of accolades is a plenty when talking about Jackson. He was named McDonald's All-America in 2016 where he earned co-Most Valuable Player honors of the McDonald's game after scoring 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting in leading the West team to a 114-107 victory. He also competed in the 2016 Nike Hoops Summit where the USA team defeated the World Team 101-67 on April 9 in Portland, Oregon.

Jackson has quite the resume when competing for USA Basketball. He has won three gold medals for USA at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Maldonado, Uruguay, the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship in Heraklion, Greece. 

"Josh has a great feel for basketball, in large part, because his mother, Apples Jones, who played college basketball at Allen County Community College in Kansas and UTEP," Self said. "His recruitment was fierce, and deservedly so. Coach (Kurtis) Townsend has done such a good job for a long period of time making sure Josh and Apples were both comfortable and educated on our situation and how Kansas could be a good fit for them."

Who Is Josh Jackson?

Photo Credit From: rockchalktalk.com/: Josh Jackson commits to Kansas over Michigan State and Arizona

Jackson grew up in Detroit and has played the past two seasons at Prolific Prep in Napa, California. He averaged 26.9 points, 13.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game at Prolific Prep in 2015-16 for head coach Billy McKnight. In his first season at Prolific Prep, Jackson averaged 31.2 points, 17.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals in 2014-15. Prior to going to Prolific Prep, Jackson led Detroit Consortium to the Class C state title his sophomore year in 2013-14. Jackson is described as an athletic wing who plays above the rim and is an ultimate competitor.

Jackson a 6-foot-8, 205 pounds is the second No. 1 rated player to sign with Kansas in the past three seasons. Jackson, No. 1 by Rivals.com and 247Sports, joins current Minnesota Timberwolves standout Andrew Wiggins who played at KU in 2013-14.

SOURCE:

kuathletics.com/: It’s Official: Josh Jackson a Jayhawk

Best Two Exercises for Increasing Vertical Jump

Photo credit from: leanitup.com/: Get UP! The Vertical Leap Workout Plan

A good vertical jump is a significant resource that probably all players have. For whatever sports vertical jump is used.

There are two main parts of exercise that could actually help to increase your vertical jump:

1. Increased force output

• Measures how much strength or energy can be applied to the ground

2. Increased rate of force development

• Measures how quickly force can be produced and applied

Since that our answer is in two parts, let’s take a look at both of these aspects separately.

Increased Force Output

Photo credit from: snoridgecrossfit.com/: Back Squat 4-4-4-4-4 & FT: Rows, Back Squats and Lateral Burpee (Over Barbell)

This sounds simple. It just means you should get stronger. But strength acquisition is a topic that can be overly complicated and drawn out all on its own. So we will look at the most simplified methods. Given our goal of increasing vertical jump height, we will focus specifically on lower body strength.

When developing lower body strength, the king of exercises is the back squat. Specifically, the back squat at a depth below parallel. Squatting below parallel with high loads has been shown to reap the most benefit in the vertical jump.

Rate of Force Development

Simply squatting deep does not help with increasing the rate at which force is developed. Deep squatting is primarily affecting the musculature, but in relation to power or rate of force development, we need to train the nervous system. This means we must focus on recruiting more of the high threshold units. These motor units are most easily recruited by increasing load while simultaneously trying to accelerate that load as quickly as possible.

Olympic lifts are commonly used to recruit these high threshold motor units. Since these lifts are more complex than many other exercises, a technique can limit the progress made. So focusing on a simplified derivative of the clean - the mid-thigh pull could be done. 

The mid-thigh pull starts in the same position as the hang clean and requires a triple extension of the ankles, knees, and hips yet do not require the catch that a clean does. Since it is so simple, you can focus strictly on adding weight to the bar, accelerating it upward as quickly as possible, and then letting the weight fall.

Right now, we’ve found exactly the combo of movements we are looking for: the best method of increasing force output and the best method of increasing rate of force development.

These exercises can be done up to twice a week.They can also be done within any training program. The only requirement is that these exercises be done early in your workout since they require force and/or power and any fatigue will inhibit this program’s effectiveness.

SOURCE:

breakingmuscle.com/: The Two Best Exercises for Increasing Your Vertical Jump

How to Double Your Vertical Jump for Basketball

A good vertical jump is a valuable asset for all of your players to possess. It will help your team get more rebounds, blocks, and steals. It will also let a few (or many) players on your team dunk the basketball, which can lead to increasing your teams confidence, enthusiasm, and can it make the game a lot more fun!

Photo Credit From basketballworkouttips.com/The #1 Best Vertical Jump Training Program For 2016

Want to Know the Best Part?

Here it is:

Warming Up-

I recommend jumping rope for a couple of minutes to warm-up and increase the blood flow to your muscles.

Phases-

The program is broken up into three different phases consisting of four weeks each. This is because as you continue through the program your muscles will adapt to the intensity of the workout, therefore we need to keep increasing the workload in order to continue increasing your vertical jump.

Frequency

Perform the routine every second day to give your body a days rest in-between workouts. This means that on week one you’ll be training 4 times a week, week two you’ll be training 3 times per week, and on week three you’ll be training 4 times per week. That ends up being 11 workouts per phase for a total of 33 workouts in the program. Also, during this program, you will be taking one week off between each phase to let your body completely recover. You need to give your muscles time to fully repair in order to grow stronger and more explosive.

Rest Intervals-

One minute rests in-between all sets.

Record Your Progress

Keep track of how much progress you’ve made at the end of each rest week. It’s going to be hard for your players, but stress that if they really want to see results it’s best that they wait until the end of the rest week.

Exercises:

1.Jumping Rope -A skipping rope is the only piece of equipment involved in the program.  If you don’t have a piece of rope either jumping up and down on the spot without much bending in the knees will achieve a similar result. Jumping rope involves holding a rope with both hands and swinging it around your body continuously.

Photo Credit From wegoodhealth.com/WEIGHTED JUMP ROPE

2.4-Corners-  Involves you imagining 4 dots in a square shape about 15 – 20 inches apart. To complete 4-corners you hop around the square in a clockwise direction landing on each dot for the required number of repetitions. 4 jumps and completing the square equals one repetition.

3.Single-Leg 4-Corners-  Exactly the same as 4-Corners except performed on one leg.

4.Slow-Motion Squats -Involves standing with your feet shoulder-width apart. From this position slowly lower down until you are in a deep squat making sure your heels are flat on the ground. Hold for 2 seconds before slowly rising back to the starting position. The descent and rise should each take 4 seconds to complete. Throughout the entire exercise make sure to keep your head up and your back straight.

Photo Credit From marksdailyapple.com/9 Worthy Alternatives to the Back Squat

5.Tuck Jumps- Tuck jumps involve descending into a comfortable squat and then jumping as high as possible and bringing your knees to your chest.

6.High-Reach Jumps – Are similar to tuck jumps, but instead of brining your knees to your chest, you just reach as high as you can. This is done best with a basketball ring or near a wall so that you can tell how much lower your reach becomes as you fatigue.

7.Lateral Jumps – Lateral jumps are performed best with over a line or a stick. They involve standing parallel to the line on one side and then quickly jumping sideways back-and-forth over the line. Over and back equals one repetition.

Photo Credit From siphotos.tumblr.com/Jordan to blame for Bobcats miserable season

8.Single-Leg Lateral Jumps – Exactly the same as lateral jumps except performed on one leg.

9.Alternating Lunge Jumps – From a normal standing position, take one step forward with your right foot and one step backward with your left foot. This is your starting position. From this position, jump as high as you can in the air and switch leg positions.

10.Straight Leg Calf Jumps – Without bending your knees, jump up and down in the same spot. You won’t get very high off the ground and it will be the ankle doing all the movement which will work the calf muscle.

11.Toe Raises – Stand regularly, then raise up onto the tips of your toes. Lower back down. Don’t rock up and down, do it slowly (not too slowly) but steadily. This is improved by using stairs if you have access to them.

Photo Credit From oxygenmag.com/Build Your Best Calves Yet

Source:

www.basketballforcoaches.com/ How to Double Your Vertical Jump for Basketball – 12 Week Course

Why Increasing Vertical Jump is Important?

A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of raising one's center of gravity higher in the vertical plane exclusively with the utilization of one's own muscles; it is a measure of how high an individual or athlete can elevate off the ground from a standstill.

Photo credit from:anabolicsteroids.biz/:A Simple Vertical Jump Training Program

 We might be wondering if how really important is to increase our vertical jump, especially to the athletes. Well, vertical jump is much important in every sport, whether it’s a basketball slam-dunk, volleyball spike, soccer header or tennis jump serve, a vertical jump is a key skill for many athletes. And even if you're not an athlete, you must need to give focus or interest about this. For we never know that someday we become a sportsman or an athlete.

Vertical Jump helps young athletes elevate for jump shots over opponents. Good jumping ability will also help them to get their hands above the volleyball net for blocking shots. Heading a soccer ball is less dangerous when one child can get higher than another. And a jump serve helps create more racquet acceleration for a more powerful tennis serve.

Here's the kicker:

Vertical jump test can be used to assess your state of recovery prior to a weight-training, speed, or even practice session. If you over train your nervous system by performing an excessive volume of heavy weight or high- speed training, the fatigue will manifest itself first in your performance in movements requiring high-speed. You might not notice it much, but this type of fatigue will tend to show itself very quickly as a decrease in performance of the vertical jump. If this happens ideally you'll want to cut back slightly on the volume of your training session(s) to recover. One thing you can do is use your vertical jump as a barometer of how much volume and intensity you should use for a training session.

Photo credit from:ultimatestrengthandconditioning.com/:Testing and Evaluation within your Strength Program

 Simply warm up and get a sweat going and then perform a couple of vertical jumps. Compare your jump height to your normal "fresh" jump height and assess the results.

If the height is down 10% or more you should cut the volume in half for that session and cut the training intensity down by 10%. For example, instead of performing 16 total sets with an average load of 80% 1rm you might perform 8 sets with an average load of 70%, stopping each set well shy of failure.

If the height of your vertical jump hasn't increased or decreased simply carry out the training session as planned. If the height is up 10% or more you can increase the volume by 20% and the intensity by 5%.

Photo credit from: theexercisers.com/:THE VERTICAL JUMP TEST (SARGENT JUMP TEST)

 One thing to note is if you have recently completed an intense leg training session and have a lot of soreness your performance might temporarily decrease anyway so it's best to use this test either after an upper body workout or when you're experiencing little to no soreness.

SOURCES:

higher-faster-sports.com/: The Importance Of The Vertical Jump For All Sports

youthletic.com/: 9 exercises to increase an athlete's vertical jump

en.wikipedia.org/: Vertical jump