Raise Up Basketball: Fill & Download for Free

By definition, basketball shoes will not give you much height. By their very nature they are flat.Running shoes have elevation because they raise up the heel to encourage forward motion.Basketball and tennis shoes are designed to support and stabilize the foot during lateral motion as well as forward motion, so by definition they will keep you low to the ground.If you want extra height, stick with running shoes.

I’m 6′1, 185 lbs, male, and I could dunk from age 19 until I was right at 40. I could touch the rim in high school, but couldn’t get the extra 4–6 inches necessary to dunk until I figured out how to jump.In high school I tried sprints, squats, heavy calf lifts, platform shoes, walked on my toes everywhere - everything I read about that might help.In college I started practicing my jumping intentionally - there was a grassy field near one of the basketball courts, and I would jump down from a bench seat into the grass, squat, and jump straight back up, pushing my arms above me on the way up (like I was holding a basketball with both hands, ready to dunk). I’d do as many of those as I could tolerate, then head over to the basketball court and focus on slapping my hand on the backboard - aiming for a little higher every day.I kept up with my normal leg workouts, which back then were mostly squats, lunges, and seated calf raises. I don’t think that had really anything to do with it - I think the jump practice is what made the difference, particularly the backboard slapping.In high school I would aim at the rim, and I always got it. When I started aiming at the backboard above the rim, I was surprised when I was able to get it the first time. Regardless as to what I was trying to do, I was jumping just high enough to get the rim, as it was my aim point. Once I had an aim point that was higher, I was able to jump higher.My sophomore year I could dunk pretty consistently in practice or a breakaway layup type situation. I was never able to dunk with authority while pressured in a game.My most vivid pickup game memory wasn’t a dunk, instead, it was pinning the basketball against the backboard when the man I was guarding went up for a layup. I jumped, slapped the ball, and pinned it to the backboard. No goal-tending - it was still on its way up - but I caught it about 6 inches above the rim and it felt like I held it there against the backboard for a couple of seconds. It was epic - I still dream about that block.I stopped being able to dunk somewhere around 40 years old- my knees weren’t up to it anymore. I had to give up basketball altogether at age 48 - I can still play but 2 hours of play requires hobbling around on sore and creaky knees for 5 days. Not worth it most of the time. (So take my advice on jump practice with the potential long-term effects in mind.)

I find it ironic when I hear Americans in particular say this because it’s PAYBACK TIME IN MY OPINION…. WHO ELSE HAS HAD SPORTS TEAMS DEVOID OF THEIR OWN CITIZENS? THE U.S.A., THAT’S WHO!!!Try taking a look at the NHL…. go back and look at the history of the teams from the beginning onwards, even just look back to the 70’s onward…. You used ALL CANADIAN teams (yes, paid to represent American cities BUT ALL CANADIAN PLAYERS) FOR AGES! WITHOUT OUR PLAYERS YOU COULD NOT HAVE EVEN WON THE STANLEY CUP, RARELY EVER ***IF*** EVER! And then you Americans would try to rub Canada’s face in your supposed prowess at hockey.How do you think American hockey started to grow and eventually American players started coming into the NHL? Two ways…. Firstly, American kids started being inspired by watching these Canadian players playing for their city and got interested in playing the sport themselves. Secondly, a lot of American hockey players are children of CANADIAN HOCKEY PLAYERS who played for American cities during their careers. CASE IN POINT…. ZACH PARISE…. son of Jean-Paul Parise, who was from Ontario, Canada and part of the famous Team Canada that competed in the 1972 Summit between Canada and Russia. Zach was your captain for your TEAM U.S.A. in 2010 and 2014 Olympic Hockey. Your goalie in 2010, who was a great player as well also comes from Canadian hockey heritage… he was taught by his grandfather (he said that his grandfather taught him everything he knew about hockey) a Canadian hockey player from Sasakatchewan who came to play in Michigan on a scholarship and stayed.SO TO SUM UP, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN’T THROW STONES. :) The U.S. has never properly acknowledged the debt they owe to CANADIAN hockey players for building the sport in that country and also for giving them championships. They now have more and more American players on teams and many European players as well thanks to these players inspiring their own kids. It’s a lot more balanced now in the present generation, but still, many elite players playing for American teams are non-Americans and many “American” hockey teams have only a handful of Americans on them to this day. ALSO, last I checked a few years back, (ya I went through the roster of every single NHL team including the head coach and assistant coach too,) even the coaching staff was all Canadian EXCEPT FOR ONE ASSISTANT COACH, ONE!!!So nowwwwwwwwww, it’s our turn to benefit from American players representing us and if we have a team with many Americans (as well as players from 5 other countries as well) then you better just think of it as doing a bit to pay your debt back to us even if it’s in a different sport. Besides, it was a Canadian who invented basketball (yes, while on a new job in MA) based on a game he played in Canada as a child. And NO, he was not an American till 1925 so don’t use that argument (I see it often and it’s wrong, he was a Canadian for sure when he invented the game and he based it on a Canadian game as well.)And ya, we’re loving the Raptors, their hard-won fight but we don’t pretend that they were born and raised in Canada, we also appreciate the skills of the players on the team from African nations and also the two Europeans on the team as well. They are all doing a wonderful job and inspiring kids across the country to take up basketball. ;)