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It’s late at night and you’re watching dunking clips by professional basketball players who are decimating their opponents, and you think to yourself “Man, I wish I could do the same”.
And you probably do think that if you were just a bit taller or more athletic, you wouldn’t have a problem owning the rim.
Well, guess what, there are steps that you can start taking right now to eventually dunk like a professional!
Although I can’t guarantee you’ll see results without putting in the work, dunking is one of those topics that people assume is best left for tall, athletic NBA players.
But learning how to dunk a basketball isn’t as impossible as one might think; it isn’t just dependent on height or athleticism, although those things do help.
After all, some of the shortest players in the NBA have become icons in the realm of dunking, proving that it is in fact possible.
If you just take the time and effort to learn the proper technique and then drill the dunking habit into yourself through training, the motion of dunking will inevitably become second nature.
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The Dunking Phases
There are three very important parts to dunking that we’ll breakdown into phases and those are:
The Running phase – This phase gets us from your current position on the court to the point where you are ready to jump up towards the hoop.
The Jumping phase – Where we transfer from running and jump up towards the hoop.
The Dunking phase – Taking the ball in our hands and making sure that it goes into the hoop and through the net.
Each phase is crucial to master, and being proficient in each of the three is going to take us to the point where we can properly dunk on command, with ease.
How Are We Dunking?
Before starting, let’s first predefine how exactly we’re dunking, that is, are we running down the court towards the hoop and jumping off one foot or off both feet?
This is an important distinction to make now as each style of jumping requires a different technique for the dunk to be carried out successfully, and the difference lies in how we jump up and incorporate arm swing when going towards the hoop.
One isn’t better than the other; some of the best dunkers in the NBA have been able to run and jump off one foot, off two feet, or even alternating between the two to fit the situation.
The Running Phase
Something a lot of basketball players completely miss when learning how to dunk is reviewing their method of running when going for the dunk; this is a pretty common mistake to think that the running portion of the action doesn’t affect the dunk.
But actually, the running phase is likely to be one of the most important parts that when fixed can lead to a significant improvement. The running phase is where we are running towards the hoop with the intent of carrying the momentum we build through running and transferring it vertically towards the rim.
Our primary focus here is to maximize our vertical reach as much as possible since this is what dictates whether or not you’re even gonna reach the rim to be able to dunk.
Let’s go ahead and look at each of the individual parts of the running phase.
Running
Keep your feet in dorsiflexion while running
When running, start slow and accelerate over time as you get closer to the hoop; be sure to go at a pace you can keep up with.
As you run before the dunk, use dorsiflexion on your feet to increase your explosiveness while running.
Dorsiflexion is the action of bending your foot back towards the shin, and in doing so you find the key to being more explosive on the court.
Having your toes pointed up and only making contact with the floor through the ball of your foot will allow you to generate more force both while running and jumping.
So when running, start slow and accelerate over time as you reach the hoop; at the same time, run on the balls of your feet with your toes extended upwards.
The two methods in conjunction will increase your momentum coming into the jump and your overall explosiveness which will improve your vertical.
Practicing Dorsiflexion
A good practice to get into the habit of using dorsiflexion is to make use of it as much as possible; simply walk around while using dorsiflexion, allowing only the ball of your foot to make contact on the floor while keeping the toes pointed up and towards the shins.
By doing this, you slowly adapt yourself to the action making it more natural; from there you can practice performing dorsiflexion as you run to again build that habit of having your feet in that position.
Blocking
Blocking is a technique that bridges the running and jumping portion; essentially, you want to stick one foot out in front of you at an opposing angle to prevent yourself from moving forwards.
By having a brief window where you stop yourself from going forwards, you can then redirect your horizontal momentum upwards by jumping.
With this technique, you are essentially “blocking” yourself from moving, just as a football player blocks the opposing player from going forwards.
Block yourself by sticking out your foot at an angle
This ties in with your penultimate step, or you’re second to last step before jumping. When you transfer from running to jumping, you first have your penultimate step where you plant your foot, and then a split second later you are blocking with your opposing foot.
This happens in rapid succession; you want to reduce the time spent getting down your penultimate step and then blocking since the more time you spend on this action, the more energy you release, and the less momentum you’re able to translate into the jump.
You’ll also notice that to perform this technique, you will naturally begin to turn your feet along with your body, leaving you at a bit of an angle.
The blocking technique uses your legs to stop your body’s horizontal movement so that you may then convert it into vertical movement, and going at an angle helps counteract the inward collapse of the knees with a strong stance.
Practicing Blocking And Your Penultimate Step
To reduce the time you take on your penultimate step and blocking, do drills where you try to get your two steps down as quickly as possible by reducing the space you have such as with a wall or cone. It’s another habit that you want to train and build to be as efficient as possible with the momentum you build while running.
Handling
Your ball handling while running is something that is fairly overlooked; while running, maintain a good sense of ball handling to keep up with your accelerating speed as you traverse down the court.
The Jumping Phase
Are you a one-foot or two-foot jumper?
In the jumping phase; you’ve run down the court at an accelerating speed while being explosive on the balls of your feet.
Take your penultimate step by planting your foot down and then block with the opposite foot as quickly as possible.
Now redirect all of this momentum upwards and jump towards the hoop with the basketball in hand.
This is where the technique to dunking is split as we have two variations of the jump; jumping off one foot, and jumping off both feet.
Neither variation is necessarily better than the other, it’s more a case of preference, but the method of going about this phase differs for each style.
Jumping Off Both Feet
Jumping off of both of your feet is composed of a more common method; Have a similar stance similar to doing a proper static jump, with your feet spread about hip to shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
You should be in a squatting position; make sure to keep your back straight and form strong to prevent a hunched back and keep your knees from collapsing inwards. Now you jump, extending your knees and pushing yourself up using the balls of your feet to maximize explosiveness.
You can also use your arms to provide additional reach by performing a swinging motion where you take your arms back, then bring them forwards to grab the ball, and then upwards with the ball in hand. This adds to the momentum you already have, letting you jump higher.
Jumping Off One Foot
When jumping off of one foot, you’re still going to use the blocking technique with the penultimate method; the difference is that you are only jumping from one foot, which would be the foot you used to block. You still maintain your feet spread hip to shoulder-width apart and bend your knees.
When using your arms to give you the added reach, you’re only going to use the arm that has the ball, and that arm’s swinging motion is going to start on the opposite side.
For example, if you are using your right hand or you’re a right-handed player, the ball is going to be held first on the left side of your hip, and your right hand will then swing upwards while holding the ball.
This again adds reach to your jump, and starting on the opposite side is a more natural arc motion for the arm when going for the dunk.
Exercises That Increase Jump Height
To better prepare your muscles to jump with more force and explosiveness, you can increase your vertical through plyometrics and weight training.
Weight training is adding some sort of resistance, usually through the use of weights, to your exercises to force your muscles to have to work harder to perform the same function. Exercises like weighted step-ups and the medicine-ball broad jump are great weight exercises that work the legs and core.
Weighted Step-ups
Plyometrics are fast exercises where you perform explosive movements in a short interval of time. Good examples are depth jump and box jump, which have you jump in a much more explosive manner, as they incorporate elevated platforms.
You can take it upon yourself to include these different exercises into your routine to increase your vertical, but I highly recommended that you decide to instead opt-in for a vertical jump program if you want to get all of the exercises laid out for you to do.
Vertical Jump Program
I recommend Vert Shock, a vertical jump program by Adam Folker and Justin “Jus Fly” Darlington.
The Vert Shock Program
Vert Shock is an intensive 8-week program that comes with printable workout plans and videos that breakdown the exercises in terms of the reps, the sets, and the types of exercises you’re doing.
This program comes with a set of plyometric exercises and a section on weight training so you get pretty much everything you need. You can see the rest of the information on the official site, and if you want to see what type of results you can get, you can check out my review on Vert Shock.
The program itself requires a lot of work, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, then I think this program is a must-have for any person that wants to learn how to dunk.
The Dunking Phase
Throwing down the dunk
Now we’re at the dunking phase; you’ve taken the momentum from the running phase and incorporated it into your jumping phase while also using your arm’s swinging motion to get added reach.
All that’s left is to get the basketball in the hoop and through the net.
Now, this is usually where the flashiness of dunking comes into play, and while there are various slam dunks you can perform, won’t be focusing on any moves in specific.
During this phase, the main goal is just to make sure that you can get the ball through the net.
People can sometimes get stuck in the dunking phase because they’re having a hard time getting the ball through the net.
A common problem people have is aiming for the rim itself instead of focusing on getting the ball through the hoop; they reach the rim but in the process lose the ball entirely.
Another issue is ball-handling; trying to grasp the ball with one hand can be difficult and trying to maintain that ball in the air as you jump to then bring it back down is even harder.
Practicing Dunking
Practicing your dunk is key to improving your ability to get the ball through the hoop; start first with something small such as a tennis ball, which doesn’t require as much handling. With the tennis ball, you can perfect your form without having to worry about losing the ball.
Once you can dunk with a tennis ball, go one step further and try dunking with a volleyball. Slowly warm your way up to using a basketball, and that way you’ll improve your ball handling and your ability to dunk.
Recap
Let’s quickly go over everything and put it all together.
First, during the running phase, run using dorsiflexion and slowly accelerate as you travel closer to the basketball hoop, all while maintaining good ball handling. As you come up to the basketball hoop, plant your foot which is your penultimate step, and then block with the opposing foot, turning your feet and body at an angle.
This leaves you in a position where you’ve paused your horizontal momentum by stopping yourself immediately so that you may transfer it into vertical momentum.
Second, whether jumping from one foot or both feet, have your feet spread hip to shoulder-width and your knees bent, leaving you in a squatting position. Jump up by extending the knees and using the swinging motion of your arms to propel yourself higher up.
Third, In the air, bring the ball back down into the hoop and through the net, and then land safely by bending the knees. Remember that using a smaller object such as a tennis ball can help you progress in your ability to dunk, allowing you to eventually work your way up towards dunking with a basketball.
Mental Exercises
Mental toughness plays a key role in game preparation
The last bit of information on how to dunk is to go into the process with a sense of confidence and perseverance; I say this because the road to dunking is arduous and long.
Without perseverance, you’re probably gonna give up when encountering roadblocks such as having a hard time with ball-handling or reaching the hoop.
It’s also important to have confidence in your ability to dunk since this contributes a lot in terms of having the right mentality about dunking a basketball.
Another mental exercise is visualization; thinking how each phase is played out in your mind makes you more aware of the process and gives you a better understanding of how to run, then block, jump, and finally dunk.
Visualization also makes you more perceptive to mistakes and areas where you aren’t performing your best.
This insight goes a long way in helping you better yourself in each part of the process so that you can eventually dunk like a professional.
Hopefully, with all of this information, you’ve gained something of value that will improve your ability to dunk and get you closer to the rim.
