Vertical Jump Con Artists, Part 1

Whether reading a hoops magazine or visiting a basketball website, I am constantly bombarded with advertisements for vertical jump programs; created by guys claiming to be experts at improving a player's explosiveness and athletic ability.  I rarely know who any of these guys are yet they claim to be industry experts; all of which are selling programs, gizmos, gadgets, and even pills that promise to deliver unbelievable improvement in one's vertical jump.  As a veteran strength & conditioning coach, it is obvious to me most of these folks are completely bogus.  I constantly find myself laughing out loud at some of the claims they make.

After a lot of preliminary internet research, it is my professional opinion nearly every one of these programs is a sham. These guys are not credible strength coaches or performance specialists; they are simply con artists who are trying to trick honest kids out of hard earned money.  And that is absolutely unacceptable in my eyes.

As a legitimate, long time basketball strength & conditioning coach as well as someone who has a valid, justifiable vertical jump training program on the market (the MVP program), these guys give people like me a bad rap.  Their approach is sleazy and unprofessional and it makes me sick to think they make money swindling kids who are desperate to jump higher and improve their game.  I don't ever want to be mentioned in the same sentence as these hacks.

Now, it is not my place to name specific names or websites and this article is certainly not directed at any one person or program in particular; I'm taking aim at this group of con artists as a whole and want to expose them and their fallacies. I also want to make crystal clear I am not claiming these programs don't work; you may very well increase your vertical jump. I am simply stating these programs don't live up to their outlandish claims and preposterous promises. So you may improve your vertical jump; but you won't gain 8-12 inches! I will also make clear I have not tried these programs myself; my thoughts and opinions are based purely on my vast experience in this industry and what I know to be the truth in human performance.

The claims these sites make are unbelievable.  Some guarantee an increase in vertical jump of 8-12 inches in a matter of weeks. Others claim they will double your vertical jump, or better yet, get your vertical to 40 or 50 inches.  

For someone to make such outlandish promises, they must be the best of the best, right? But after reading many of these sites extensively, most of their “resumes” are paper thin.  Most make claims to have worked with high level players, although not one recognizable player is ever named.  Most make claims they have helped hundreds or even thousands of athletes, but where is the proof?

So I started to ask myself, what is their real resume? Who have they really worked with? Do they really even train basketball players on a day to day basis or do they just pretend they do? I have worked as a full time private, professional strength & conditioning coach for the last 10 years, so I take grave offense to someone with an empty mug shot and phony resume claiming to be an expert in a field that I have worked so hard in for a decade.

Then I started asking myself a ton of other questions:

Why are all of their testimonials from people no one has heard of? How come most of the testimonials neglect to include a way to truly identify them? I am well aware you do not have to work with NBA players or high profile players to be a quality strength coach or expert in vertical jump, but seriously, if their programs did what they claim, don't you think just one noteworthy player would have used their services and been proud to say so? For the record, I am well aware high school athletes and members of NCAA institutions are not allowed to endorse commercial products at risk of jeopardizing their eligibility. But pro players can endorse whatever they want. So can coaches as well as a host of other credible professionals.  Yet none ever endorse these programs.  Why?

And what gives these guys the right to call themselves a vertical jump expert?  How legit are the pictures they use? How do I know that is a 10 foot rim? How do I know they didn't jump off of a bench to dunk like that?  How do I know the person in the picture isn't 6'5” and claiming to be 5'9”?

And if you think their resumes and testimonials are a hoax, you should see the claims they make regarding the results you will get. As a real life strength & conditioning coach, I believe the results they claim are absolutely, positively not possible for 99% of the players in the world.  A 50 inch vertical jump? An increase of 12 inches in 4 weeks?  Touching your head on the rim when you are 5'7”?  

Don't believe me? Do you actually think a 50 inch vertical is really possible to attain for 99% of players?

I went online and looked up the results from the last three year's NBA combines (2007 - 2009).  These standardized tests were administered by the NBA's top strength & conditioning coaches, guys with real experience and educational backgrounds.  Their first test, the “No Step Vertical Jump” is measured accurately on a Vertec device and is done to standard -  no shuffle step, no side step, no drop step and no gather step was allowed,  just straight down and straight up.

Keeping the above guidelines in mind, guess how many guys in the past three year's NBA Combine had a 50 inch vertical jump?  NONE.  Guess how many had a 40 inch vertical? NONE.  Not one player broke 40 inches on this particular test. Not even guys who are known for their hops: Jerryd Bayless, Al Thornton, Michael Beasley, or Derrick Rose. And these are the best players (and in many cases, the best athletes) in college basketball.  For their second test, the “Max Vertical Jump”, the athlete was allowed to take as many steps toward the Vertec as they felt necessary to acquire their maximum vertical jump. Everyone was required to start within the 15' arch and each athlete had the choice of a 1 or 2 foot takeoff. Even using this protocol, only 9 players (less than 3%) got above a 40 inch vertical, with 42 being the highest. Just a few months ago at the pre-draft combine in Chicago; Jonny Flynn (Minnesota Timberwolves) was the only player to get a 40 inch max vertical jump. And that was with a running start!!!  I am sure if you look at the previous 10 years of NBA combine results you will see a similar pattern.  If the best and most athletic college basketball superstars, who have been training under the watchful eye of proven college strength coaches aren't jumping 50 inches, I'm supposed to believe any kid off the street will be able to achieve that after following one of these vertical jump programs? Is that a joke?

One of the main reasons they trick so many kids is because they offer a money back guarantee, which is nothing more than a false sense of security.  Let me tell you, as soon as you see “money back guarantee” on any type of workout product or program, you must question its credibility.  NOTHING in this world is guaranteed.  NOTHING. And to paraphrase Chris Farley in the movie Tommy Boy, “the only reason they have a guarantee is because they know they sold you a guaranteed piece of crap!” So why do they offer it? Because studies have shown time and time again that hardly anyone ever takes them up on their offer and asks for their money back because it is an actual admittance of failure.  It well worth the risk for them to offer a money back guarantee because they know no one will actually do it. It is a ploy to move product. Heck many times, they escape the money back guarantee because of some loophole in the fine print. My parents taught me when I was very young, if something looks too good to be true, it almost always is.