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Kettlebell Transitioning to Kettlebells for Vertical Leap Training

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pburg

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I started strength training about a year ago, with a primary goal of increasing my vertical leap and explosiveness for basketball. Naturally, I've been doing a lot of barbell squats. I started at very low weight, but have since hit ~200lbs on a 5x5 and added a few inches to my leap.

Now, I'm moving and have to give up my home gym setup, or the squat rack at least. I'd really like to join the gym closest to my new place, but they don't have a squat rack. They do have dumbbells, kettlebells, and plyo boxes though. What are my best options with this kind of equipment? Would it be foolish to move towards this kind of training? I do have access to a proper gym through my employer (a university), but it's more inconvenient in location and in crowding. I could imagine lifting there maybe once a week.

I should note I am aware of this thread on the vertical jump, but I'd like to get thoughts on training primarily with kettlebells instead of simply adding them to a routine.
 
Are you fixed on working with KBs?
Vert Shock (google it) gives you results without needing any equipment. Since it's using plyometrics, it's nice to have excess to plyo boxes, but you don't need them. A low wall or some kind of step is enough.

Kettlebells can assist in a jump routine, because of the explosive nature of e.g. the swing. I can see especially shadow swings or other forms of overspeed eccentrics*** as a valuable tool.
A non trained person will certainly add some height to their leap just for the simple fact that if they pick up KB training, he/she will get a bit stronger, a bit more powerful and probably a bit leaner.
But if you are already an athletic/trained person, I wouldn't count on adding more than 1-2 inches just by using KBs.
You need specific programming to increase your vertical and while KBs can certainly be a part of it, a KB only approach won't get you very far.

***
 
Pistol squat
Double KB Bulgarian Split squat
(training your squat one leg at a time allows you to overload resistance with less weight)
Double KB Push Press

Swing is decent for power development. The only shortcoming for vertical leap is that the Swing involves primarily horizontal hip displacement (which is great for sprinting, but not perfect for vertical leap). I'd use it as a supplemental/accessory lift.
 
Hello,

@pburg
Welcome on StrongFirst !

As @Kettlebelephant said, eccentric overspeed is a super good option.

Another one: very slow, deep and relatively heavy goblet squat (15s up, 15s down), 4 or 5 reps. Then, you hit some explosive squats (about 10). You jump as high as you can. You can repeat this frame "slow / explosive" about 4 times.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
1-arm / 2-arms / double /overspeed-eccentric / triple-extension swings, goblet and front squats. Snatches will also help with "aspiring to elevate".

A rack-less bar can be used for deadlift and zercher squats.
 
Hello,

@pburg
You can use their plyo box doing this exercise:

It will also work a little on cardio

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Have you tried doubles? Greater emphasis on a vertical path than singles. Geoff Neupert's kettlebell strong is a worthwhile investment.
 
ali said:
Have you tried doubles? Greater emphasis on a vertical path than singles. Geoff Neupert's kettlebell strong is a worthwhile investment.
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Agreed, my vertical jump improved whilst on Strong. Playing sport I was able to jump higher and hang for longer. Also try heavy Snatches (re Easy Strength).
 
I would encourage (Kb or bb) cleans and snatches ( > swings) as the line of pull is closer to vertical, and for some they are easier on the back. One cue for a power clean is to get the bar to a certain height, maintain upper body tension/straight arms and basically jump it up.
 
Hello,

@pburg
Clean & Jerk can be a nice supplement because they work both leg and arm explosiveness.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
One more thing...
Make sure your mobility, stability and breathing patterns are in order and symmetrical.

Immobile joints will make you compensate and leak precious power. And since vertical jump is a full body explosive movement do it for the entire body.

I gained some air underneath me with the bent press, just because it made my thoracic spine and shoulder girdle more mobile (my left shoulder used to stick at some point).
 
Hello,

@pburg
In addition to the exercices in themselves, the programming can also be significant. How many time do you train basketball ? How many time will you / want you dedicate to physical training ?

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
@pburg
As a life-long basketball player (and known as an explosive leaper into my early forties, although not so much the last decade), here are some of my thoughts:

--Vertical jump is overrated for basketball. Sure more is better, but ounces of skill, anticipation, court vision/awareness, and competitive spirit are worth pounds of athletic ability. In most cases, time spent on the court learning, refining and practicing basketball skills is worth more than time spent in the gym on physical training (although the two are complementary).

--Some people have bad natural jumping mechanics and can benefit a lot from some jump-specific/basketball jump-specific skill coaching.

--Jumping quickly and having a quick second jump are often more important than how high you can jump.

--If you are playing a lot of basketball, you do not need to be doing plyometrics.

--Hinge pattern ballistics like swings and snatches have their place, but IMO basketball players benefit more from squat pattern drills. My two biggest bang for the buck KB exercises for basketball players are double front squats and double push presses. Note push presses, not jerks. Dipping under the weight serves no purpose for basketball and is arguably counterproductive. The weight for push presses is less important than being explosive. Being able to power the bells overhead with a quick, shallow and explosive dip and leg drive is better than using heavier weights that you can't move as fast and have to press out more.

--All variations of deadlifts are great for being able to root and hold position without having to lean into other players and get off balance.
 
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Steve W. said:
--Jumping quickly and having a quick second jump are often more important than how high you can jump.
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Yes! Very important point. With the ball in your hand you can get of your shot against a more athletic player with a bigger leap, just for the simple fact that you move first. He has to react to your shot and most of the time the ball already left your hand when he catches up in the air.
Steve already said it, experience and anticipating movement is much more important than pure athletic ability.

The real question is, do you need the bigger leap or do you just want it? ;)
I did special leaping training in my teens although I was already jumping higher than the other players around me, just because I wanted to be able to do some special dunks. Totally unecessary for my game and just pure ego :D
 
Steve W. said:
@pburg
As a life-long basketball player (and known as an explosive leaper into my early forties, although not so much the last decade), here are some of my thoughts:

---Hinge pattern ballistics like swings and snatches have their place, but IMO basketball players benefit more from squat pattern drills. My two biggest bang for the buck KB exercises for basketball players are double front squats and double push presses. Note push presses, not jerks. Dipping under the weight serves no purpose for basketball and is arguably counterproductive. The weight for push presses is less important than being explosive. Being able to power the bells overhead with a quick, shallow and explosive dip and leg drive is better than using heavier weights that you can't move as fast and have to press out more.

--All variations of deadlifts are great for being able to root and hold position without having to lean into other players and get off balance.
Click to expand...

Steve W., Nice suggestions. If we were training for pure vertical leap, the front squat seems like it is more mechanically similar. Bret Contreras recently found that the front squat was better than a hip thrust in improving vertical leap. I do think there is something about the kettlebell swing or overspeed eccentric swing that primes the nervous system for reverse of direction types of movements. Fabio Zonin and colleagues in Italy tested ballet dancers and found that swings improved their leaps. A ballet leap is nothing like a swing.
 
The thing with basketball is that you are often jumping in traffic (like jumping in a phone booth -- if anyone remembers phone booths) where you don't have space for a deep hip hinge or much arm swing. I think the the double KB push press (light and explosive as I described above) has great carryover to jumping in tight spaces.

Double front squat has great carryover to the defensive stance.

Swings and snatches are great general preparation for explosive hip and knee extension.

Two other great drills for basketball are jumping rope with a fast cadence, and low, quick, "touch and go" bounces, NOT high jumps or double unders), and shuffle drills with Jump Stretch bands. More important than the resisted shuffling with the bands, is the overspeed deceleration assisted by the band stretch.
 
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