Jumping High - Cutting Cardio

Most athletes utilize explosive exercises in training for their sport. And rightly so. Most sports movement is fast, so it is important to increase the ability to generate force quickly. Many athletes, however, do not realize that when training for explosiveness, they are primarily training the nervous system. The speed of the activation of motor units is the biggest factor that affects explosive ability.

The nervous system will adapt to whatever demands are placed on it. If an athlete consistently performs power lifts like the clean and snatch as a part of training, that athlete's nervous system will learn to activate fast, powerful muscle contractions. On the other hand, when that same athlete goes for a light jog at the end of a workout in order to burn a few extra calories, the nervous system is being taught to activate slower, less forceful muscle contractions. This is detrimental to the athlete's cause.

Given this information, it is important that you pay attention to what signals you send your body during training and during daily life. For example, I am a college student; I often bike to my classes or to the YMCA to coach basketball. Every time I get on my bike it pains me to know that I am about to use relatively slow, weak muscle contractions. Often times I will use short bursts of hard pedaling followed by cruising just to feel better. Also, when doing lower body strength training, my goal is always to move the weight as fast as possible. Settling for just getting the rep completed is not good enough when my primary goal is to jump higher. basketball is a maximum effort activity, so nothing less should be used in training.

If you are addicted to jogging or love jumping on the stationary bike, don't expect maximum results in training for jumping or any explosive activity. Any training of submaximal effort will be detrimental to your efforts. Jumping is not a measure of endurance; it is a measure of high performance. Your jump training should reflect that.

I am a college student and former D3 basketball player. I have given up basketball and now focus basketball on jumping higher. I have been successful at times; I have reached a 43 inch vertical. I have compiled all the information I have learned over the years on my blog http://verticalleaptraining.blogspot.com

Manu Ginobili Had Successful Ankle Surgery

The 31-year-old San Antonio Spurs player Manu Ginobili was hospitalized this week in order to have a repair surgery for his left ankle. Previous to his final decision the player had been struggling basketball the injury and despite the therapy and rehabilitation his doctors advised, his ankle kept bothering him.

Ginobili, who is an Argentinean-Italian born has played in the NBA since 2002 when he signed with the Spurs and ever since he has played a total of six season with the San Antonio team. Manu is also part of the Argentinean national team and he played during the Olympics games in Beijing, his talent as a guard was of extreme aid to the team as they achieved the bronze medal but it was made clear his efforts triggered the injury again which became a basketball serious concern for the basketball player. Even Ginobili himself stated that he would have wanted to be part of the final game Argentina played during the tournament but he knew he could not put more stress on his condition.

Spurs' doctors had previously made some tests to his injury but there was no sign of improvement, reason why both the doctors and Ginobili decided to have the surgery.

"They're going to perform a surgery on me. Now, the thing is, the injury is not worse but it's not better either, and it seems like the only way to repair it completely is arthroscopic surgery." indicated the player to the Argentina's La Nacion newspaper.

Manu's surgery was performed by Dr. Richard Ferkel in a Los Angeles hospital and it was announced that it was a complete success. Ginobili will have to walk with crutches for more less three weeks but right after that he will be able to begin his regular therapy and he could then think about going back to play for his team which could be in the first weeks of the new season.

There is no doubt that Ginobili will be missed by the Spurs since for the 2008-09 season he was expected to be a leading man in the team, and especially after last season's performance averaging more assists, points and rebounds as to his input during the playoffs where the Spurs wiped off teams like the Suns, the Cavaliers, and the Nuggets

As the surgery was only done a few days ago, there is no time frame established for his comeback as he will need to be monitored by his doctors and there should be signs of improvements, otherwise neither the Spurs nor the player will risk going back to the arena. The latest news state Ginobili's absence will be of two or three months but let's just hope for the best that he will be able to get back on his feet again sooner so that we - NBA fans - will enjoy watching this incredible basketball player leading the Spurs to another conference title as he did last year.

Claudia Beckford provides outstanding and current content to sports enthusiast in the NBA sports industry. http://www.instantactionsports.com

8 Explosive Vertical Jump Drills

Here are 8 simple, yet highly effective vertical jump drills. If basketball consistently follow the vertical jumping drills and tips listed below you will see a tremendous increase in basketball jumping ability.

Vertical Jump Drills

• Every workout should begin with a warm up and leg stretching routine. It's important to properly prepare the leg muscles for the explosive exercises you will perform.
• Jumping rope is an excellent cardiovascular exercise and will contribute to your vertical jumping results.
• Sprinting exercises help build leg muscles - which help increase your vertical jump.
• Running stairs on your toes. Follow this sequence for the best results: Run up a flight of stairs - one step at a time. Walk down and then run back up - two steps at a time. Repeat this process as many times as possible.
• Elevated jumps should be performed using a bench, jumping box or platform. Jump up onto and down off of a bench for 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
• Explosive jumps should be performed in the following manner: Start by facing a secure platform and place your right foot on it. Explode off the right leg and jump as high as you can. Scissor your legs in the air, then land with your left foot on the platform and your right foot on the floor. Upon landing, regroup and then jump off the left foot repeating the process. Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
• Double jumps are performed by jumping as high as possible with both feet from a stationary position. Once you land, immediately jump again. Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
• Rest. You should rest your legs at least two days per week. This is an important aspect of any training program as it allows your body and muscles time to recover from the explosive exercises.

As you can see, these vertical jump drills are simple to perform. When done on a consistent basis, these jumping drills will enable you to develop an explosive vertical jump that will make you more effective at your chosen sport.

Want to fly with the big boys with a 40" + vertical leap

Elevate your game today at http://www.ultimate-youth-basketball-guide.com

Dirk Nowitzki

Do you know who Mark Cuban is? He is not a player, and never has been if that helps. Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and the guy that you always see behind their bench. It is safe to say that Mark Cuban is one of the most eccentric owners in all of sports. He cares immensely for his team, and basketball do whatever it takes in order to ensure that they win games. This includes spending tons of money to get the best players into town, and to make his current guys as comfortable as possible.

Every year Mark Cuban gets hit with fines by the NBAs front office. The reason for this is simple; he has a big mouth, and is not afraid to express his opinion. If Mark Cuban thinks that his team got the short end of the stick by the referees he is sure to let everyone know about it. And of course when he does this he is hit with very large fines. Mark Cuban has even been known to go out on the court to cause a stir; this has happened on more than one occasion.

Even though a lot of people do not like the way that Mark Cuban acts, he sure does bring some spice to the game. As long as he is around as the owner of the Mavericks, the team will always be able to contend for an NBA championship. Mark Cuban is one unique owner.

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College Basketball and Basketball TV - Beyond Live

In the United States, college basketball has gained quite a following. Now, with the immense popularity of the NBA and basketball superstars, many students are looking to get noticed in college basketball recruiting, to play in college teams and even perhaps in the NBA.

Such is the popularity of basketball that he NBA has its own channel, NBATV, a 24-hour television network, produced by its award-winning production and programming division, NBA Entertainment. It also manages the content of each NBA's team's home page, and the league's official sites, NBA.com, WNBA.com and NBADLEAGUE.com. The NBA is also an established presence in sports marketing. It maintains fully integrated domestic and global marketing partnerships with some of the most recognizable global brands, including the leading Internet content and technology providers, in the hopes of bringing basketball to fans around the world.

During the 2005-06 championship season, the NBA had a planned 44,000 hours of programming to basketball to 215 countries and territories in 43 languages. The league's worldwide extension is also demonstrated by 81 international athletes playing in various teams. In the United States, the NBA broadcasts around 142 games in on local networks, namely ABC, TNT, ESPN and ESPN2.

Kids aspiring to play in college sports sometimes don't realize that senior year is just too late in the game to check up on prospective schools with recruiting. Gathering information on colleges, their courses, their mission statements, history and other details is important. Setting aside a folder for each school that may come under consideration is a useful way of organizing necessary data. Deadlines for submitting requirements may and do differ from school to school, and parents need to keep track of them.

The Internet has proven to be a useful venue for both students in college basketball and coaches involved in the process of college basketball recruiting. There are many websites and online forums wherein students and scouts can come together and interact.

D1Athletes is an online community wherein high school athletes and coaches alike can share and exchange information they need during college basketball recruiting. D1Athletes offers them a place to build an online presence and gain important public exposure.

To learn more, visit D1Athletes.com or just click college basketball recruiting.

Humorous Book Review - A Must Read

Have you ever asked basketball What Happened to Common Sense? Well, you are certainly not alone, we all wonder what folks were thinking basketball they do stupid things and we are also often flabbergasted when our elected leaders make such ignorant or unethical decisions. Sometimes a bit of humor is the best way to address such hypocrisy, ignorance and stupidity. Something we can laugh at, perhaps to keep all the sound, fury and drama from making us cry due to the serious nature of all the issues.

It is for this reason that, I appreciate a humor book now and again, books like the Dilbert Series, and similar works. One great book I have recently read on this topic of common sense and one that I would definitely recommend to you if you feel the same as I do on this topic is;

"Gump'ism; The Wit and Wisdom of Forest Gump" by Winston Groom; Pocket Books, New York, 1994.

One wonderful quote in this book and mind you it is full of great quotes, so it is hard to pull just a single on out, but one I enjoyed was:

Don't ever pick a fight with someone who is really ugly-looking!"

Decent advice, common sense, good idea; of course, as someone who is really ugly has nothing to lose and you perhaps do. And someone who is willing to fight and is ugly has probably been in many more fights than you and has better experience too. You see, it is just plain common sense and this book has nearly 90-pages of common sense quotes just like this one.

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.