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Landing Survival Guide JUMP INJURIES____________________________ Preventing Jump Injuries____________________ Landing Technique and Strategy______________ 4 Limb Slide Landings_______________________ 4 Limb “Cat Landings”______________________ Front and back rolls_________________________ Run Through Landings______________________ Running into the BackStop to Slow Down______ Low Point Drops____________________________ Hang Finishing_____________________________ Depth Jump Landings_______________________ Always Have a Landing Strategy!______________ JUMP HIGHER Use of Landing Pads, Landing Zones, and Spotters___________________________________ JUMP HIGHER

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Disclaimer- This guide is not guaranteed to prevent jumping injury and your reading of this agrees that Hoops Movement is not liable for dunk landing related injury. Our goal is to merely reduce the chance and extend your career.

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JUMP INJURIES  As a jumper you are under HIGH RISK OF INJURY. Knee tears- ACl and Meniscus tears- are common. The knee can tear jumping off two feet-

Julian Wright jumping injury

The knee can tear jumping off one foot-

Most commonly the knee tears on landing-

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The knee can tear landing on one foot

Tony Allen tears ACL landing

Or the knee can tear landing on two feet-

Jonathan Clark ACL and Meniscus Tear Landing

When the knee CAVES INWARD UNDER HIGH FORCE there is a high risk of injury.

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Poor kid wasn’t prepared for the landing

With great bounce comes great responsibility.

“How to Tear an Acl and Meniscus”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfA_WSBpitU

Ankle sprains are also common on landing.

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You can fall and break your wrist or arm.

Andrew Bogut breaks arm landing

Even worse you can fall and break your back. Are these injuries preventable?? Yes!!!!!

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Preventing Jump Injuries

“The findings of the study indicate that players with a history of knee injuries had biomechanically compromised landing techniques when compared with

uninjured players matched for gender, age and club” Knee movement patterns of injured and uninjured adolescent basketball players when landing

from a jump: A case-control study http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/7/22

‘horizontal landing poses the greatest threat for developing patellar tendinopathy. A stiff movement pattern with a small post-touchdown range of motion and short landing time is associated with the onset of patellar tendinopathy. Accordingly, employing a flexible

landing pattern seems to be an expedient strategy for reducing the risk for (re-) developing patellar tendinopathy. Together, these findings indicate that improving kinetic

chain functioning, performing eccentric exercises and changing landing patterns are potential tools for preventive and/or therapeutic purposes.’

Jumper's knee or lander's knee? A systematic review of the relation between jump biomechanics and patellar tendinopathy.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24577862 The goal of this resource is to save you from getting injured dunking. In order for you to reach your full full jumping potential you must avoid and prevent injury at all cost. There is strong evidence that arthritis is linked with repetitive impacts. Dunking is a repetitive impact sport. A goal of this program is to help dunkers minimize their dunk impacts.

● “Those who did light exercise, such as walking, more than three days a

week for less than two hours per day had the healthiest knee cartilage. ● Those who did high-impact, strenuous exercise, such as running, skiing

or playing squash, for more than an hour a day at least three times a week

had degenerating cartilage, which increases the risk of developing OA.

http://www.arthritistoday.org/news/exercise-for-oa.php Arthritis is joint degeneration. Starts with joint pain and leads to loss of joint use and mobililty.. paralysis. It’s something we are susceptible to as athletes and dunkers, but it’s something we can minimize and avoid. Our motivation is not out of fear of pain and injury but of love of jumping and flight. Let’s experience dunking as long as possible- extend our dunk careers! Through studying our movements and landings

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Landing Technique and 

Strategy 

“The findings of the study indicate that players with a history of knee injuries had biomechanically compromised landing techniques when compared with uninjured players

matched for gender, age and club”

Knee movement patterns of injured and uninjured adolescent basketball players when landing from a jump: A case-control study

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/7/22

If you want to prevent dunk related injuries you need to study landing techniques. The goal of this section is to help you learn various landing techniques and when to use them- in order for you to develop your own landing strategy.

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4 Limb Slide Landings  Four limb backslide technique is a way to spread initial impact force over 4 contact points and continue into backslide which diffuses the landing force by friction with the ground. Backslide is a preferred landing style of many NBA veterans, including Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade, and Jamal Crawford. It has become a fundamental movement in the NBA used by most players on most teams.

Backslide is a great landing from physics perspective. We start with a lower body squat to lower to the ground combined with an upper body dip to lower to the ground. It’s possible to absorb a lot of force into the musculature this way. The 4 limb landing transitions into a vertical slide. Hardwood has special properties- it is sticky with basketball shoes but very low friction with cloth, making backslides possible. Whatever remaining momentum can be diverted into vertical slide momentum. Great way to land. Here we look at D Wade’s backslides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db08eeM0BH4&feature=youtu.be

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Here we look at Dunker Golden Child’s backslide

Golden Child https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXeO6JEiifQ You should never, ever sprain your ankle landing from a jump shot EVER. This kind of injury is 100% avoidable.

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Don’t let this happen to you

The simple solution to this is to land contested shots with 4 limbs, preferably on your back. Jamal Crawford is very good at this. Crawford is king of the And 1 3 in the NBA and he never sprains his ankle, even when defenders slide under him.

Jamal Crawford 4 limb landing technique

A 4 limb landing spreads impact force across 4 limbs. Twice as many limbs, twice as much muscle involvement. You can come down on a foot and still have 3 other points of solid ground contact.

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Stephen Curry 4 limb landing technique

Strategy- use 4 limb backslides to minimize landing impact

use 4 limb backslides prevent ankle sprains

use 4 limb backslides on low-friction surface

use 4 limb backslides WHENEVER POSSIBLE

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4 Limb “Cat Landings”  Cats are amazing jumpers and landers and they have a preferred 4 limb front landing style.

Cat 4 limb landings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay-Ld4d972w While human bodies are different from cats, we learn that 4 limbs are better than 2. Landing force is spread over 4 limbs instead of 2. Landing pressure is spread over a greater muscle area. Think of a front landing as something like a calf raise / lower + a push up. Not the best, but it is an option.

4 limb landing is less pressure than 2 limb land

Potential downsides of this landing style are knee / achilles pressure, as well as short horizontal follow through. This 4 limb front landing style combos nicely into a front roll, seen in the next section.

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Strategy- use 4 limb cat landing to minimize impact on forward facing landings

Front and back rolls  Parkour style front and back rolls are a nice option occasionally used by dunkers as well. Because of the properties of hardwood slides are good but rolls are viable as well. Rolls are ideal for high friction surfaces, such as concrete or asphalt.

Nathaniel Mills Front Roll Landing http://instagram.com/p/ynDcd3iEf7/?modal=true

For back rolls it is important to pick a shoulder to roll over to avoid putting pressure on the neck / spine

Jordan Kilganon Back Shoulder Roll http://instagram.com/p/ynDcd3iEf7/?modal=true

Rolls should be practiced on soft ground - sand, grass, bouncy turf before being attempted on high drops on hard wood or concrete.

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Strategy- ROLL THROUGH when landing off balance

Run Through Landings

“horizontal landing poses the greatest threat for developing patellar tendinopathy. A stiff movement pattern with a small post-touchdown range of motion and short landing time

is associated with the onset of patellar tendinopathy” When touchdown from a jump has greater forward horizontal speed than downward vertical speed then the horizontal landing component is more dangerous and run through is more important than getting to the ground. Examples of appropriate 1 foot landing style could be on long jumps or free throw line jumps.

1 foot run through landing off long jump by Norris Frederick

https://instagram.com/p/2GSDSGiEZg/ https://instagram.com/p/2SYqvBCEcu/?taken-by=hoopsmovement

Here’s some 1 foot run through landings by Kroha and Odell Beckham Jr.

http://instagram.com/p/yrLvw4CEbc/?modal=true http://instagram.com/p/ysDuBAiEYY/?modal=true As opposed to 1 foot cutback landings ALWAYS RUN THROUGH

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Strategy- run through your landings when landing from long horizontal jumps

 

Running into the BackStop to Slow Down  If you run into a padded backstop with your body or arms you can decelerate without putting the force on your knees. This is a good way to go when landing from 1 foot.

Michael Jordan runs into the backstop on his iconic free throw line dunk

Strategy- use the back stop to slow down when your run out of space on a run through landing

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Low Point Drops Dropping from the lowest point results in the least force required to decelerate on landing. It minimizes gravitational acceleration to the minimum and can minimize horizontal, rotational, and tilt velocities to 0. Low point drop is the preferred dunk landing style of many veteran NBA dunkers- including Tim Duncan and Vince Carter. The front of a breakaway rim sags as much as 6 inches and some NBA players have a 9’6 reach and can climb down all the way. This is how those giant dunkers last so long.

Vince Carter drops 6 inches

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Tim Duncan drops 6 inches or less Low Point Drops- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AE1oJkXeo8

If you don’t have a 9’6 standing reach you can climb to the lowest point of the net or the backboard and drop from there. Pull ups / pull downs will help you here. Lebron James is known to get a hand in the net for this.

Lebron drops from the net https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYj0RnyYR8o&feature=youtu.be

Dropping from the net is a good option for dunkers with shorter reach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsYfvD4Y2mk

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Strategy- use low point drop when finishing the dunk from a rim hang

Hang Finishing  In order to take advantage of the low point drop we need to finish the dunk in a hang. There is a danger in hang finishes of getting rim checked, missing the hang, and taking an unplanned and uncontrolled flip to the ground. This can result in some nasty injuries.

Nicolas Batum misses the hang and face plants

If you want to improve your hang consistency to 100% you can grab the net to start the hang. The net is soft and sectioned off for your fingers… easy to grab! With an off hand in the net your body weight is anchored to a position much closer to the ground. You can right yourself out of flips.

Face plant averted!

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Allen Iverson hand in the net for a safe 2 hand hang

Pro Net Pull Dunkers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi2kxlKz04s The net is physically in play and it is something you can use to improve landing consistency. It’s a nice tool to have.

Strategy- hang finish for low point drops

Strategy- split rim / net hang finish to increase hang consistency

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Depth Jump Landings  Since this is the most forceful landing style, it must be used with caution. http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/plyometric-injuries.html

Dwyane Wade plyometric training with Tim Grover

Vince Carter plyometric calf raise landing

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Gerald Green plyometric half squat landing

Plyometric 4 limb deep squat landing

Strategy- use plyometric landings when dropping straight vertically

Strategy- use a full range of motion to spread force

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Always Have a Landing 

Strategy!  It’s important that you ALWAYS have a landing strategy so as to avoid injury. Imagine your movement sequences all the way through to the end. Figure out what the safest way to come down is for particular types of dunks. If you a jump would end in a disastrous landing situation don’t take it! Paul George’s broken leg comes to mind… he made a play on a ball with an impossible dlandin

Paul George breaks his leg

Always have a landing strategy, and that means sometimes don’t jump.

Strategy- DON’T JUMP WHEN YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO LAND!!

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BONUS- 

Use of Landing Pads, Landing Zones, 

and Spotters  If you are at risk of a high fall onto hard ground use of landing pads and spotters is recommended. In small rock climbing (“bouldering”) landing pads and spotters are essential for preventing injury, and it is something we can use to protect ourselves as dunkers.

Kadour Ziani use of landing pads and spotters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PLGWyH_U_I Landing pads and spotters are highly recommended when doing something crazy like jumping over a car.

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Noe Cid Rosas use of landing pads and spotters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH0ppylMEI0

But landing pads are great just for landing from normal dunks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMyVJfLMhs Many gyms have mats / landing pads that you can drag under the hoop or under your landing zone. Take advantage of this!!

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