The Art of Dunking: Elevating Your Game and Style at Basketball Camp

Dunking is an art form, and it’s one of the most important basketball fundamentals you can learn. There are different aspects that go into this, such as foot placement and power. Here, we’ll go over how to learn how to dunk, in order to elevate all aspects of the game, and get even better at the sport. 

All in the Jump 

If you’re looking to start dunking, you first need to learn how to jump. A normal jump won’t do it.   you need to go to the highest level. 

The best way to practice is to start with small jumps first, working your way to huge, substantial jumps that are worthwhile. When you get too low, you won’t reach the highest potential and build the dunking muscles. Box jumps are a good place to start. Just make sure to practice jumping as much as you can. 

Touching the Rim 

You need to make sure that you can minimally hit the rim with the wrist. If you’re going to do this, you have to be able to snap this into the basket. Did you know that if you’re shorter, it’s actually easier? For one-handed dunks, there’s less height involved, especially compared to two-handed ones. 

For a lot of players, to practice this one, you need to begin with a running beginning, so that you can jump at the highest level, and then dunk. 

Plyometrics, strength training, even stretching are great ways to improve on this. 

Start out Small. 

When dunking, you’ll definitely want to start small. This is important to build coordination. Begin with a real small ball, such as a ping-pong ball. From there graduate to a golf ball, then a tennis ball, and then a softball. Once you’ve mastered this, you can work with balls that are similar in size.  Volleyballs are good.  And finally, once this is mastered, you can move onto basketballs. 

If you’re unable to palm this ball, you’ll need to use two hands to control the ball, and then jump at the highest level that allows you to dunk with two hands. 

Safe Dunking 

Dunking is a bit riskier than other shooting in basketball. 

You can get a little low-bridged, and maybe land on some of the defenders.  You might fall from a height that’s high. There is also the possibility of hanging onto the rim, slipping off of it, and then fall on this. If you fall during a dunk into heavier traffic, you can wait till the defenders get out of the way and then safely get down.

If you’re clear with dunking, avoid hanging onto the rim.  It’s also good, good to hang due to the fact that’s a technical foul.

Control and balance where you do this. If you do fall, try to avoid falling on the ankle, neck, knee, and head, especially since there’s less control of the momentum.

Yes, dunking is exciting and dramatic, but also make sure that you understand it only costs two points. If you’re unable to dunk, you’re still a good player. Tons of scorers are effective even without dunking this ball. Their shooting technique is what matters. 

Finally, if you’re looking to get better, look at Pyramid of Development programs, which are usually seen in division 1 programs. These are good for athleticism overall, but also with helping to dunk, and also improve speed, defense, balance, and your overall capabilities on the court itself. 

And of course most importantly, it helps with the overall growth of muscles, to reduce the injury risk too.