Rec and Sports

Hang Time – Can You Develop Yours?

Is there such a thing as “Hang Time”? In one word, “no” – scientific evidence will back this up. While this will seem mind-boggling to many, it is the truth. But, in actuality, any basketball player (including “Air Jordan” himself) merely makes it seem as if they are floating in the air.

Read below for details on what in reality happens when any player jumps.

Coming down the court, a player jumps and the laws of physics take over. The laws state that the primary action causes another action that is identical in force but in the opposite direction. What this means in layman’s terms is that the player pushes against the floor and the floor exerts a force back. This action/reaction makes the player to leave the floor. If the player exerts a greater amount of force on the floor, the floor exerts a larger amount of force back. This causes the player to go higher in the air.

This action is compounded as a player is running at the same time as he is jumping. His center of gravity will follow a parabolic route during this process. A persons “center of mass” is located around their midsection. This means that, if the person were to stay in precisely the same position for the duration of the whole jumping act, his/her midsection (and consequently, entire body) would go along this route. However as a player jumps while running, the center of mass is lifted – and manipulated.

One thing that players often do is lift one (or both knees) while he is jumping.. He does that on his way up. As he comes back down then, he puts his legs back down. This makes his center of gravity lower. This in effect raises his head in relation to the center of mass. The head does not follow the parabolic path. The head stays at one height.

So what you get is for a portion of the time in the air, the head stays at the same height, but ,all through the entire time the center of mass goes up and down.

In essence, the player’s head is the key to why we believe in hang time.

While we look at each other, we don’t usually look at the person’s “center of mass”. We frequently concentrate on a person’s head (or at least the upper part of the entire body) . What happens at that second is a bit of an “illusion”, but it in reality is happening. The person’s center of mass is changing and this causes his head to stay in the same location for a longer period.

If one person can’t hang in the air longer than another, what is the solution? It comes down to the fact that one person can JUMP HIGHER than the other! If you can’t improve your hang time then, you have to learn how to jump higher! How can you do this?

To get the most out of your vertical jumping exercises, you must think about a vertical jump training program. Check out these Vertical Jump Program Reviews to get more info.