Mike Powell (long jump world record holder) got me thinking....

[pauk]

In 1991, Mike Powell (6'3") long jumped for a world record ~9 meters (29 feet & 4 inches).... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N7qMqx9rNs)

For you to know how ridicilous this is take a look at his departure and landing distance relative to NBA basketball court dimensions:

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc500/pauk666/mpowelldistance_zpsc478cf40.png


Now, if you take a look at the slowmotion of that video above you will see that mr Powell reaches and holds his top vertical height up (which as you can see is very high up) to almost 6 meters (19-20 feet) before he starts falling down....

So? Well... from the top of the key line to the centre of the hoop its almost 6 meters (19-20 feet)... what this means is that its possible mr Powell could have dunked a basketball from the top of the key or at very least touched/grabed the rim/net.........

From the NBA 3PT line to the centre of the hoop its 7.3 meters distance (23 feet & 9 inches)... i dont think he could have dunked from there, but maybe touched the net perhaps... who knows... hm....

Whatever the case...... Powell dunking from the FT line (14 feet to the hoop) would be childs play, lets just say its safe to say Mike Powell could have dunked from further away than anybody you ever seen in basketball history........

I just thought this was crazy enough to share... :)

[Magic bird]

A long jumpers Peak during a jump is 3/4 of the distance, I think he could definitely touch the net, but not the ring. Interesting post.

[pauk]

A long jumpers Peak during a jump is 3/4 of the distance, I think he could definitely touch the net, but not the ring. Interesting post.

Exactly... again, i just think its.. crazy.. :)

[iamgine]

Would that jumping power translate into touching the top of the backboard easily?

[Force]

James White can go through his legs from the Ft line, also can do behind the back from the line. If he can do that there has got to be people on this planet that can reach out and barely dunk from the top of the key if given the practice. It's crazy to think about it, LOL

[Magic bird]

Would that jumping power translate into touching the top of the backboard easily?

Is'nt Dwights max reach the top of the backboard? And thats with an approx 10 metre run up (On Sports Science) How could this guy touch the top of the backboard?

[pauk]

What Mike Powell would most definitely be in the NBA is the most accurate 3PT shooter in NBA history, he would realistically be able to do 3PT layups... i mean... really... 3PTs on the boxscore... he would technically be high up enough to get exactly close or under the rim for a simple layup before he lands... and considering there is usually defenders around it would be very hard to not foul him during that long flight... so its either 3 freethrow attempts or a and1/4pt play.... lol..

[PistolPete44]

wow I almost cried, that's impossible

[dunksby]

Stupid post, you can't take what he did in that setting and apply it to everyday basketball or even empty court play. Give him a bball to hold and he can't even reach 70% of momentum he needs for that jump let alone laying it up. Every limb of a long jumper works in harmony to make a jump, take one away and it all falls apart.

[pauk]

Stupid post, you can't take what he did in that setting and apply it to everyday basketball or even empty court play. Give him a bball to hold and he can't even reach 70% of momentum he needs for that jump let alone laying it up. Every limb of a long jumper works in harmony to make a jump, take one away and it all falls apart.

Nah, he would be able to do almost exactly that jump with a basketball in his hands.... its not a medicine ball for gods sake... he would most definitely reach 80% or more of that exact result with a basketball in his hands... and that percentage or more from 29'4" is more than enough ....

[Clutch]

Powell is focused on length of the jump,not on its height. Also he needs a lot of preparation to do it and a really long "runway" to get to his maximum speed and take off.

I doubt it would translate well into basketball. First of all it would be impossible for him to run as fast with the basketball. Second of all he doesn't really jump high and in the last few meters of flight he makes "weird" motions to maintain his jump.

Maybe in a fast break he could lay it in from the 3-pt line but again,just MAYBE.
In a real game with set defenses no way he could even lay it in from 3-pt line,let alone dunk it.

Still,jumping that far is certainly impressive. I just don't think it's possible for him to jump that long and that high while dribbling the basketball and then focusing to dunk the ball at the rim.

[chains5000]

Offensive foul waiting to happen.

[dunksby]

Nah, he would most definitely reach 70% or more with a basketball in his hands, he would be able to do almost exactly that jump with a basketball in his hands.... its not a medicine ball for gods sake...
You never practiced sports in your life obviously, but it's ok you can fantasize all you want.

[eliteballer]

Being able to do that and do it while putting a ball into a hoop 10 feet in the air are two completely different things.

[I<3NBA]

the force needed from a horizontal jump to a vertical jump increases exponentially. and as a poster has said, arm swinging helps in propelling a long jumper further. add the difficulty of handling a ball without losing it, and the degree of difficulty of making that dunk rises.

doing this in game is virtually impossible. doing it in a dunk contest, yes. on the moon.

[pauk]

You never practiced sports in your life obviously, but it's ok you can fantasize all you want.

The only fantasy here is you thinking you know me... and that is even more obvious...

I think i have done a fair share of long jumping (with or without a basketball lol), more than enough to understand the mechanics...

Yes its true that a basketball would bottleneck the result to a tiny degree, but i am even more sure its not true that it would have such a huge negative impact as you are trying to imply.......

...and who said you have to have the ball in your hands to do a dunk anyways? Alleyoop? :)

[Tmuston Beltics]

would that be a 3 pt dunk?

[pauk]

For me the biggest problem here is not knowing how high he could get up while maintaining max distance because as you maybe know long jumping is more about distance than vertical/high jumping.... logically a long jumper can jump higher up if he focused all his power on only trying to get as high up as possible instead of as far forward as possible up and vice versa...

[CeltsGarlic]

alley oop is other option :lol

[La Frescobaldi]

If I remember they tested this guy for every drug known to man and some they use on horses and they never found anything.

Dude could just naturally.... FLY

[Sarcastic]

I'd like to see Javier Sotomayor dunk in his prime. He's the only person to ever clear 8 feet in the high jump.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Sotomayor

[Hittin_Shots]

Noones mentioned the landing yet.

[LeFraud James]

the force needed from a horizontal jump to a vertical jump increases exponentially. and as a poster has said, arm swinging helps in propelling a long jumper further. add the difficulty of handling a ball without losing it, and the degree of difficulty of making that dunk rises.

doing this in game is virtually impossible. doing it in a dunk contest, yes. on the moon.

Congrats on finally posting something that doesn't reek of incompetence. :applause:

[LJJ]

That man was on some serious dope.

[CavaliersFTW]

There's also this incredible jump (29 feet 2.5") done in 1968 by Bob Beamon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEt_Xgg8dzc

And to several people talking about dunking/etc
*Dwight's max reach is not the top of the backboard, it is 6" below the top of the backboard (someone brought this up on page 1).
*In order for athletes to perform spectacular dunks you can not just have a good vertical, you also MUST have the appropriate body length (standing reach etc), and timing. These long jumpers might have good length but they also might not, either way I don't think we should assume these athletes would be 3 point dunking or anything ridiculous like that, the timing and length required to pull off the types of "theoretical" dunks you can speculate based off their long jump records would f*ck up their entire approaches and penultimate steps, and the only reason these guys have their records to begin with is because of nearly perfect approaches (however many steps they require) and nearly perfect penultimate steps. Even the motion they do in the air is 100% necessary to extend the distance of their jump. You can't do any of that stuff with a basketball in your hand and basketball shoes on a hardwood floor and expect to jump like how they jumped. The key to their long jumps wasn't just athleticism, it was precise execution of a specific sequence of events that they had practiced religiously for years in order to maximize jumping distance. Oh, and it also helps to land in a pit of soft sand.

[dunksby]

The only fantasy here is you thinking you know me... and that is even more obvious...

I think i have done a fair share of long jumping (with or without a basketball lol), more than enough to understand the mechanics...

Yes its true that a basketball would bottleneck the result to a tiny degree, but i am even more sure its not true that it would have such a huge negative impact as you are trying to imply.......

...and who said you have to have the ball in your hands to do a dunk anyways? Alleyoop? :)
I don't have to know you, I can deduce from your clueless posts that the closest thing to practicing sports you ever done has been the occasional running after your school bus.

[LeFraud James]

I don't have to know you, I can deduce from your clueless posts that the closest thing to practicing sports you ever done has been the occasional running after your school bus.

I doubt he had to do much running, since they make sure to strap everyone in and do a head count before the short bus leaves.

[FKAri]

Surprise, surprise. There are athletes in other sports. Not just in our tiny secluded world of basketball.

[KG215]

Yes its true that a basketball would bottleneck the result to a tiny degree, but i am even more sure its not true that it would have such a huge negative impact as you are trying to imply.......

Yes, it would.

[millwad]

There's also this incredible jump (29 feet 2.5") done in 1968 by Bob Beamon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEt_Xgg8dzc

And to several people talking about dunking/etc
*Dwight's max reach is not the top of the backboard, it is 6" below the top of the backboard (someone brought this up on page 1).
*In order for athletes to perform spectacular dunks you can not just have a good vertical, you also MUST have the appropriate body length (standing reach etc), and timing. These long jumpers might have good length but they also might not, either way I don't think we should assume these athletes would be 3 point dunking or anything ridiculous like that, the timing and length required to pull off the types of "theoretical" dunks you can speculate based off their long jump records would f*ck up their entire approaches and penultimate steps, and the only reason these guys have their records to begin with is because of nearly perfect approaches (however many steps they require) and nearly perfect penultimate steps. Even the motion they do in the air is 100% necessary to extend the distance of their jump. You can't do any of that stuff with a basketball in your hand and basketball shoes on a hardwood floor and expect to jump like how they jumped. The key to their long jumps wasn't just athleticism, it was precise execution of a specific sequence of events that they had practiced religiously for years in order to maximize jumping distance. Oh, and it also helps to land in a pit of soft sand.

Thank you for mentioning Beamon, I used to love athletics and especially the jump events like long jump and high jump. Beamon to me has the GOAT long jump, before high-tech shoes, before great tracks and before modern training.

By the way, long jump is a shitty event, I hate the white board bogus. It should be about who the athlete is who can make the longest jump, not the athlete who can jump closest from a shitty white board.

And the legendary Ivan Pedroso was damn unlucky;


Despite his great success in the World Championships, due to injuries, he did not make a great impact on the Olympic Games like former rival Carl Lewis. He did finish 4th at the age of 19 in Barcelona 1992, but in Atlanta 1996 he had injury troubles and could only finish 12th in the long jump final. In the 2000 Olympics (Sydney), Pedroso spectacularly won the gold medal with his last jump. In a tough contest at the 2004 Olympics, he finished 7th. Pedroso has not entered in any major championships since, although he still had several jumps over 8 metres.

[pauk]

I don't have to know you, I can deduce from your clueless posts that the closest thing to practicing sports you ever done has been the occasional running after your school bus.

Did you miss me just showing YOU to be the only clueless guy here? I am sure you didnt miss it, which kindof explains this desperate retaliation of yours with even more disrespectful remarks... it doesnt phase me really, i am not immature enough to disrespect you back and i cant figure out what you are hoping to achieve with your attitude?

You come in here and throw an insult and then explain your point... i patiently ignore the insult and respond to your point... you cant retaliate, so you throw another insult... i further more respectfully explain to you that what you said is true to some degree but not entirely true by how you meant it and that your point still doesnt matter since a guy can dunk/jump without a ball.... so, here you are again with another disrespectful retaliation...... and no, i will still not taunt you back.... but i can put you in my ignore list... it can get annoying after a while... Its just a fun thread with some interesting facts what i thought (and what some here think to)... stop being such a fuddy-duddy

[LeFraud James]

Did you miss me just showing YOU to be the only clueless guy here? I am sure you didnt miss it, which kindof explains this desperate retaliation of yours with even more disrespectful remarks... it doesnt phase me really, i am not immature enough to disrespect you back and i cant figure out what you are hoping to achieve with your attitude?

You come in here and throw an insult and then explain your point... i patiently ignore the insult and respond to your point... you cant retaliate, so you throw another insult... i further more respectfully explain to you that what you said is true to some degree but not entirely true by how you meant it and that your point still doesnt matter since a guy can dunk/jump without a ball.... so, here you are again with another disrespectful retaliation...... and no, i will still not taunt you back.... but i can put you in my ignore list... it can get annoying after a while...

FFS do you ever stop crying?

[pauk]

FFS do you ever stop crying?

Its only Dunksby who has been crying here... :confusedshrug:

LeFraud James... ah, one of those guys... speaking of crying... :)

[get these NETS]

clip of dunk contest featuring prime time.....ken griffey jr and track athlete mike conley sr..think he's a triple jumper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29TixSRcEA4

[DCL]

pretty much all olympic level jumpers can dunk from the foul line.

[Rake2204]

clip of dunk contest featuring prime time.....ken griffey jr and track athlete mike conley jr..think he's a triple jumper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29TixSRcEA4I always thought Conley's two-hand hang on the free throw line via one foot takeoff was incredibly gutsy (or mindless, I'm not sure). Jumping from that far out off one foot is just asking to get Radmanovic'd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP7n41CURKc).

[LeFraud James]

Its only Dunksby who has been crying here... :confusedshrug:

LeFraud James... ah, one of those guys... speaking of crying... :)

So I see you took me off your ignore list?

I feel honored.

[No_Look604]

:applause: cool post. even cooler avatar. why can't all players be cutthroat like Reggie?

[tmacattack33]

clip of dunk contest featuring prime time.....ken griffey jr and track athlete mike conley sr..think he's a triple jumper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29TixSRcEA4

Two handed, from the free throw line, and it appears like he still could have went a few feet further. :applause:

[plowking]

pauk, you are freaking clueless. Stop embarrassing yourself.

What in the world makes you think these jumps would translate? Look at how you jump in long jump? Hes prepared to land on his ass, and unbalanced at the end. You can't do that on a basketball court.

I remember when I was dunking easily, I would try all sorts. One I could never get was a static jump underneath the ring with two hands. Funnily enough, take the ball out of my hands, I could jump up and easily grab the ring. The ball takes away a lot of your jump.

You're like the kid in science class who is told to assume all other variables but you just keep thinking everything is a vacuum and refuse to believe what science and facts have proven over and over again.

[Calabis]

Nah, he would be able to do almost exactly that jump with a basketball in his hands.... its not a medicine ball for gods sake... he would most definitely reach 80% or more of that exact result with a basketball in his hands... and that percentage or more from 29'4" is more than enough ....

you can't be serious :facepalm No way in hell does he jump with a basketball in his hands, like he does on a long jump, whole different way of jumping. Ever hear of Mike Conley from foot locker slam dunk contests, he jumped 27.75 ft in the long jump and was a gold medal triple jumper

last dunk two handed, slightly inside the free throw line (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29TixSRcEA4)

according to you he should be able to take off at least halfway between the free throw line and top of key with ease...if he could, he would have.

[Calabis]

Two handed, from the free throw line, and it appears like he still could have went a few feet further. :applause: He's actually a whole foot inside the free throw line and he was already on his way down...dude was 6'1 which also doesn't help his cause

[KyrieTheFuture]

Regardless of whether or not he could dunk it, isn't it ****ing insane how far of a jump that is?

[scm5]

He definitely can't jump anywhere near his maximum potential while having to maintain a dribble and jumping with a basketball in his hands. Still, it's incredible how far he can jump. I wonder how someone like Lebron would compare if he trained for something like that.