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Drop jumps are a commonly misunderstood exercise that can yield incredible power-if prescribed correctly.
When drop-jump training is mentioned, many coaches and athletes cringe at the thought of high-impact loading of the joints and the seemingly endless possibilities of injury. Yet the training benefits of drop jumps for developing explosive strength are very significant (1-4, 8-11). Unfortunately, there is also widespread misinformation about proper progression and techniques regarding drop-jump training. Therefore, here are some general recommendations for developing lower-body power in a safe, progressive manner.
Why Drop Jumps?
Whether in sprinting, jumping, or throwing, it is crucial to overload the ability of the athlete to accelerate his or her own body, an opponent, or an implement. Plyometric training is commonly used in the development of power. Training plyometric exercises makes use of the stretch-shortening cycle. In this cycle, an explosive concentric muscle action is preceded by an eccentric muscle action. This phenomenon has been shown to allow the muscle to produce higher force and power outputs. One commonly trained plyometric exercise is the drop jump. In performing a drop jump, the athlete steps off from a height and directly on landing executes an explosive vertical or horizontal jump.
Strength of Progression
An athlete should be able to squat at least 1.5-2 times his or her body weight before starting drop-jump training. Sufficient strength and jumping techniques are also a must before drop jumping. The athlete should follow the prescribed order of exercises during multicycle training and standard jumping exercises (e.g., broad and vertical jumps), strength-training exercises (e.g., Olympic-style lifts and squats), and then drop-jump training. Young athletes with strength-training experience of less than 3-4 years should not train drop jumps.
Unfortunately, when it comes to training, too many coaches and athletes follow the philosophy that more is better. Many repetitions of drop jumps are frequently prescribed for athletes because of the assumption that this sort of training will improve fatigue resistance in repeated actions, such as rebounding in basketball. However, research has shown this to be false (6).
Drop-jump training is extremely taxing on the central nervous system and imposes significant stress on the tendons in particular (7). Drop jumps, like maximal strength training, involve single allout repetitions separated by a few minutes...