You need to be able to tap into your full strength quickly in your vertical jump training if you want to immerse yourself in people in games. Strength is important, but it’s only as valuable as the speed with which you can muster it.
If two players are matched up, one with a 35-inch vertical jump of 0.22 seconds and one with a 35-inch vertical jump of 0.18 seconds, the second player will dive on top of that poor sloth.
To get a really fast UPS, you have to get rigid. Proper vertical jump training will help you do this.
I’m not talking about being adamant that it won’t help you at all. You need to have a great deal of muscle stiffness to lock your muscles quickly and reverse motion quickly at the bottom of your jump.
To stiffen up, you need a lot of lower body strength, and you need to be able to use that force very quickly.
Three things you need to do to become rigid are:
First, put your feet strong
To do this, train barefoot or as close to barefoot as possible (Nike Frees and Vibram 5 Finger shoes work well) and also be aware of how you walk. When you walk, be sure to spread your toes and hold on to the ground.
Second, strengthen your ankles and stiffen your plantar flexors. An easy way to do this is to jump rope and do jump ropes before your workout. Do your line jumps with one and two legs, forward and backward over a line and also laterally.
Third, practice jumping with a relaxed speed. Jumping is a movement pattern that must be mastered at high speed for it to take hold. Be easy on the ground, but get up quickly.
Those are my three keys to stiffness in your vertical jump training. Get your feet strong, ankles strong, plantar flexors stiff, and be proficient and efficient at jumping at high speeds.
Train hard.