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  1. #16
    Saw a basketball once
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    Quote Originally Posted by supersmashbros
    So I guess I am not at my peak physical strength yet? That's good because once your physic declines, that would suck.
    Well, thats assuming that you keep exercising and stay healthy up through that age. I think many NBA players start to experience declining athleticism before age 30, because the extreme number of hours they log running, jumping, and cutting wear down their bodies.

    It appears as though Vince Carter may not have lost as much hops as many people think though:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2PUXGwNvGM

  2. #17
    Learning to shoot layups
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    age 28-30

  3. #18
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    Quote Originally Posted by iambeinreal
    Well, thats assuming that you keep exercising and stay healthy up through that age. I think many NBA players start to experience declining athleticism before age 30, because the extreme number of hours they log running, jumping, and cutting wear down their bodies.

    It appears as though Vince Carter may not have lost as much hops as many people think though:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2PUXGwNvGM
    For some reason that clip made me happy. It's good to see Vince Carter still elevating a little bit. And by little bit I mean doing something at age 32 that I've never been able to do ever.

  4. #19
    Learning to shoot layups DECK's Avatar
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    Quote Originally Posted by ILballa
    It's different for different people.
    Yeah, if u keep playing ball and stick to ur workouts and diets then you shouldn't lose ur vert for some time.

  5. #20
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoopla
    Technically, your overall potential is at its peak when you're 21. However, unless you're training 24 hours a day, its uncommon to ever reach your maximum potential fitness. With this in mind, you should be able to keep improving up until your late twenties, when the decline will become a little more noticeable
    I've heard various accounts of physical peak being anything between age 21 and 27. However, I'm a big believer in the idea presented here. I believe we can see a smooth or sometimes dramatic drop in athletic ability amongst aging NBA players because many of them have been pushing themselves and reaching their peak for as long as they've been in the league.

    For example, very hypothetically, let's say Kobe Bryant's maximum potential vertical leap was 42''. Due to the extreme manner with which he was pushed to work out and achieve the most out of his body, he likely came very close to reaching that number for many years, perhaps meeting 95-100% of his athletic potential. As such, the moment his body begins to decline, it'll become noticeable that him even reaching his full potential for his age may result in lesser numbers (say, a new maximum vertical potential of 38'').

    On the flip side, I'm going to use myself as an example. As a 21 year old, I could dunk comfortably and my running max vertical was right around 34''. At that point however, I was not affiliated with any teams, coaches or trainers and it's clear and obvious I was not pushing myself to the absolute limit. I worked hard, but not "achieve 100% potential" hard. Let's say I only reached 70% of my max potential at that age, where if I was fully committed and busted my tail off, perhaps I could have been a 38'' inch guy or something.

    I'm 28 now. I think it's likely my maximum jumping potential has dropped. Perhaps the hypothetical 38'' mark is no longer reachable. However, this year I began committing slightly different workout regimens to maximizing my jumping ability. As such, perhaps at age 28 I'm reaching 75-80% of my max potential for my age, compared to the assumed 70% at age 21. As such, my vertical number has sustained or even improved since I was 21.

    To break it down in simpler terms, all hypothetical:

    For someone (a pro) with a max potential vert of 42'' at age 21, with 100% workout tendencies and effort, they will likely come close to jumping 42''.

    When that same player begins to age, their max potential vert will drop. By age 28, it may only be 38''. Still assuming they're being pushed to 100%, they'll have a 38'' vert.

    For a regular person, their max vert may be 40'' at age 21, but they may only have 70% workout tendencies and effort, so perhaps they only develop a 33'' vert.

    As that regular person ages, again let's say to age 28, their max vert may only be 37''. However, perhaps they have 75%-85% workout tendencies and effort now, thus perhaps leading them to a vertical number closer to their body's maximum - somewhere in the 34-35'' range, which would in fact eclipse their younger vertical number.

    Long story short, I think most of us likely do not push ourselves as hard as humanly possible, so there's likely a bigger window to make ourselves jump higher in comparison to professional athletes, who have likely been achieving their maximum potential (or very, very close) for as long as they've been playing.
    Last edited by Rake2204; 08-21-2012 at 10:39 AM.

  6. #21
    Serious playground baller
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    It's pretty hard to put a definite year on it. I would say when you stop using it for what ever reason you will start noticing a decline. I know for myself I could jump higher in my early 20's but I was leaner and more active. I do from time to time work on increasing mine but it seems like as it gets higher the injuries come more often. In other words when I'm jumping higher its much harder to tolerate a bad landing so I end up rolling my ankle then I have to take it easy and my vert drops again.

  7. #22
    Life goes on. ILLsmak's Avatar
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    Quote Originally Posted by 3stat2
    Hey everyone,

    We've all seen players like Vince Carter go through the process of losing their vertical year by year, and it isn't too pretty watching a reknown dunker lose so much of his hops. Right now I'm 21 years old, 6'1, and my vert is about 37-38 inches. Now I know it's not a fundamental part of the game which is technically unnecessary, but I can't help but feel a little uneasy about the day I can no longer dunk.

    The wear and tear you put on your legs probably has a lot to do with it, as well as the shape you keep your whole body in. But assuming they stay in shape, I've heard that players reach their athletic peaks around 22-24 - does that sound about right? I know Dwight Howard gained a tonne of vert between the age of 18 and 20, and he seems to have increased it even more this year.

    Any other opinions on when people's jumping ability starts to decline?
    I wonder if it ever does in terms of true vert.

    They say later that you build the most muscle. I wonder, then, if you couldn't just build leg muscle.

    I know my vert dropped, but I gained weight. I think that might be the larger reason. I weigh like 155 now and I was about 125 when my vert was best (at age 16/17 before I destroyed my ankle.) Obviously I'm not a big person, but that's what I would watch. Even in the NBA, it seems like dudes get heavier when they start to lose their vert.

    Not to mention the NBA guys are just wearing their bodies out. I think you can keep your max vert past your 30s if you work on it, though. But that's just my opinion. You'll have have to work harder than you did when you were 21.

    -Smak

  8. #23
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    Default Re: When does your vertical start to drop?

    Quote Originally Posted by ILLsmak
    I wonder if it ever does in terms of true vert.

    They say later that you build the most muscle. I wonder, then, if you couldn't just build leg muscle.

    I know my vert dropped, but I gained weight. I think that might be the larger reason. I weigh like 155 now and I was about 125 when my vert was best (at age 16/17 before I destroyed my ankle.) Obviously I'm not a big person, but that's what I would watch. Even in the NBA, it seems like dudes get heavier when they start to lose their vert.

    Not to mention the NBA guys are just wearing their bodies out. I think you can keep your max vert past your 30s if you work on it, though. But that's just my opinion. You'll have have to work harder than you did when you were 21.

    -Smak
    I don't know the in's and out's of muscle, but I'd presume there's muscle that will make you broadly strongly and then there's also muscle that builds speed and response. Clearly, I think jumping would require an effective mix of both. I believe someone can have strong leg muscles but still not necessarily contain the reflex and quick muscle response to spring off the floor with extreme effectiveness.

    At this point, I'm operating under the "use it or lose it" clause. I feel like if I don't continue working to maintain and improve my hops (at age 28), they'll be walking out the door sooner than I prefer.

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