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Kids Can't Jump

Kids Can't Jump

Full disclosure...I'm not a very good leaper. I was a swimmer for most of my athletic career. I also played a little basketball and volleyball. And while jumping is a key aspect of most sports it wasn't my forte. Even later in training I was never the best at box jumps. I remember a friend, Chris Lebihan, coming in to the gym one day to train. And the plyo boxes were stacked totalling 54" tall or 4 feet 6 inches. Anyways, a number of young athletes were training. And one of them commented that jumping that high just wasn't possible. Lebs had just walked in the gym in street clothes with his gym bag slung over his shoulder. I called to him and asked him to jump up on the boxes. He dropped his bag off his shoulder and proceeded to jump atop the boxes with ease. He picked up his bag and carried on to the change-room. The young athletes were stunned and speechless. Now to be fair it didn't hurt that Lebs was an Olympic medallist in a power sport i.e. bobsleigh. And it definitely made a huge impact on those young athletes. So besides impressing people in the gym what else is jumping good for? Well, it's an important quality in many team sports. The striker in soccer may need to get up on a corner to head the ball in for a goal. In football, a receiver may need to out jump the defense on a last play Hail Mary. Basketball and volleyball involve constant jumping on every play from a lay up, a dunk or a rebound in the former to a serve, a hit or a block in the latter. When you think about it the highlight plays of most sports involve jumping. This could...

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