*This is the fourth installment of a several part series all about HOW TO JUMP HIGHER.*

Welcome to Jumping Higher, Part IV. Let’s do it.

So far we know some background information, along with the importance of strength and strength expression.

It’s now time to cover the next contributor to jumping: Tendons.

Tendons, tendons, tendons. What is a tendon?

Tendons are a type of connective tissue that connect muscle to bone. They are made of a protein called collagen, but more importantly, they are freaking sweet…

“Alex, why are tendons freaking sweet?”…

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Here’s why. Tendons are totally reactive. They have no contractile properties, which means they can’t flex or initiate action. But, they can absorb forces and react to them. And that’s how they can make you jump higher.

When a basketball player is jumping, for example, they go down to come up, right?

For instance, when the basketball player does a standing vertical jump, they bend down first, rapidly, and then explode up. Did you ever think why they do that?

Let’s look at a major tendon in jumping, the Achilles tendon, (connects your calf to your heel) to make this clearer.

When you bend down in the standing vertical jump, your ankles dorsiflex (your shin moves closer to the top of your foot) and your Achilles tendon is stretched. As the ankle dorsiflexes, energy is being absorbed and stored in your Achilles tendon.

Then, as you rapidly switch from down to up, your ankle starts to extend. And as you begin to extend, that stored energy in your Achilles is released and totally contributes to your jump (freaking sweet, right?)

This should all happen reflexively, meaning you don’t actively control it.

So, recalling our talk about strength, the contribution from your strength, along with the reflexive contribution from the tendons, is going to play a huge role in how high a basketball player is going to jump.

Now, some people have better tendons than others, depending on certain genetic factors.

Have you ever watched a basketball player jump and noticed that they are better jumping off of one foot, instead of two? Or have you ever seen a basketball player who seemed weak or scrawny, but they could still fly?

The reason for both of those questions is most likely their tendons.

The first guy was better off of one foot instead of two, because in the running one-foot jump, he spends even less time on the ground than in a two-legged jump. Because there is less time spent on the ground, the muscles contribute less and the tendons can contribute more.

The second guy was still getting up because although he may not have had the requisite strength, he had awesome tendons that were absorbing, stabilizing and reflexively contracting very powerfully, so he was still able to get up.

While a lot of it is genetic, there are things you can do to get more out of your tendons. You want to make them stiffer, you want to make them more reflexive and you want to lower the inhibitory response of your muscle-tendon complex, which are all things you can do to a certain degree.

If you can do those things, you will definitely notice improvements in not just your jumping, but in your sprinting, cutting and basically all other “fast” athletic movements.

That wraps up Part IV of our How to Jump Higher series. So, to recap, TENDONS ARE AWESOME, USE THEM TO YOUR BENEFIT.

Stay tuned. Part V to come soon.

How to Jump Higher Part I

How to Jump Higher Part II

How to Jump Higher Part III

How to Jump Higher Part IV

How to Jump Higher Part V

How to Jump Higher Part VI

How to Jump Higher Part VII