This will not just be a vertical jump program journal but a general training program in general. (Hope this is OK??)

I have been reading the Streetballtalk forums for some time but have decided it is time to start posting on here. The main reason is to get advice and help on improving my game.

I’m no spring chicken at the age of 27 and probably one of the oldest guys on here. I started playing ball when I was about 12/13 years old for my school team and also used to get weekly coaching from a national league basketball club based in my area, until they moved to another city when I was about 15 years old (I had just made their Under 16 squad the season prior). After, this I was picked up by a local league side and played for them until I left school (aged 16). The main reason was that the team was badly organized (pretty much like British/English basketball as a whole) and some times we turn up for a game and we only had 2or 3 players, or the game had been cancelled. The college I attended never had a team so I only played a couple of pickup games at the local playgrounds. In total I reckon I only played about 20 hour’s basketball in about 10 years.

That was until August 2007, when I discovered that a team was starting in my local area to play in the local leagues. After a season playing I wished I never stopped playing 10 years ago. After a season I am back to, if not, better than the standard I was when I 16. But I have 10 years to catch up so I want to train hard this off season and come back stronger. Especially as the team I joined gained promotion in our 1st season.

I have also noticed that my vertical jump has decreased. I never had it measured when I was younger but I was about 3-5 inches away from touching the rim. Now I am about 12 inches away. I did used to compete in the Triple jump and Long jump while I was at school and had a pretty good natural vert (My personnel bests in competitions where 13.12m Triple Jump, 6.23m Long Jump and 12.11 sec in the 100m).
I have looked at different Vertical Jump programs and I decided with VJB which I am reading through at the moment. So I am going to keep a record of my training, any problems or gains on here.

Here’s is my Stats before any training;

Age – 27
Height – 5ft 7.5 in / 172 cm
Weight – 174lbs / 79 kg
Reach – 7ft 4in / 224 cm
Wingspan – 5ft 8.5in / 174 cm
Standing Vertical Jump – 19inch / 48cm

Now my 1st entry in my training diary:

19th June 2008

Team Training –
- Ran through Motion offence
- 3pt shooting practice
- UCLA Free-throw drills
- Make 10 consecutive Free-throws in 6 minutes (if you fail 20 press-ups with hands on Basketballs. I failed)
- 4 v 4 half court pick-up game.

Total training time – 1hr 45mins

Sorry for the length of the post.