Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks is a great shooter. In fact, the 6-foot-9 small forward may now have the tallest vertical in the NBA (41 inches). The 2005 Slam Dunk champion had more dunks (101) last season (2006-2007) than Vince Carter (86), Shaquille O’Neil (83), Kobe Bryant (59), or Dwyane Wade (59)!

“I first learned to dunk at 13, went from seventh grade to eighth grade. I was going to make a layup and kept going up, so I thought I’d stay here, and I did.” -Josh Smith

The 22-year-old always had decent jumping ability, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t work at it at all. Far from there! Almost every morning of the NBA offseason, Smith heads to the gym. There he spends a lot of time doing two things: weightlifting and plyometrics. Josh Smith’s jumping program has two essential elements, both of which focus on:

strength and speed

The first part of the workout consists of Olympic-style weightlifting movements like push press and hang clean, which combines traditional strengthening exercises with plyometric movements.

The second part deals with the plyometric exercises themselves. Plyometrics works the lengthening contraction of a muscle and then quickly follows it up with a concentric contraction, which has particular benefits for basketball players looking to jump higher and faster.

If your legs are already strong enough (that means you’ve been training your legs for a while), you can add the following items to your workout twice a week to get the power and speed you need to get up in the air for a nailed. If not, first establish basic leg strength to avoid injury.

press thrust:

Starting position: barbell on the upper back. Quickly bend your knees and hips then explode up and push the bar up. Bring the bar to your shoulders and repeat the exercise for a maximum of 5 repetitions. Start with light weights and add weight later. Then do 5 sets of one or two reps.

Hang clean:

Starting position: bar above the knees, torso at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Now pull the bar up along your body. Rise up on your toes and pull your body forward. Start with light weights and do 2 to 5 sets of five repetitions. You can add weight later and work on one rep per set.

For more exercises and crucial things to know about the vertical jump (why often what it “doesn’t” do is more important than what it “does”), take a look at this page. I highly recommend: