Hang Time - Can You Develop Yours?

We have all heard of "Hang Time", , but is it factual? The quick reply is "no" - science supports this. Many people will not consider this, pointing to their favorite player and at the same time exclaim how he can hang in the air longer than someone else. Though this will seem mind-boggling to many, it is the truth. Some people will insist that this can't be - exclaiming how they have seen one player or another hang in the air longer than another. But, in actuality, any basketball player (including "Air Jordan" himself) merely makes it seem as if they are floating in the air.

Read below for particulars on what truly happens when any player jumps.

Coming down the court, a player jumps and the laws of physics take over. These laws declare that each action has an equivalent and opposed response. What this means in layman's terms is that the player pushes against the floor and the floor exerts a force back. This action/reaction makes the player to leave the floor. The more force the player uses while pushing against the floor, the more force the floor exerts back - resulting in the player going higher into the air.

This action is compounded as a player is running at the same time as he is jumping. His center of gravity will go along a parabolic route through this process. A persons "center of mass" is located around their midsection. This means that, if the person were to stay in just the same position for the duration of the whole jumping action, his/her midsection (and therefore, whole body) would follow this path. Typically though, a player does not remain in the same position. He will bend and twist.

One thing that players often do is lift one (or both knees) while he is jumping.. He does that on his way up. As he comes back down then, he puts his legs back down. This makes his center of gravity lower. This in effect raises his head in relation to the center of mass. The head does not follow the parabolic path. The head stays at one height.

So what you get is for a part of the time in the air, the head stays at the identical height, but ,all through the entire time the center of mass goes up and down.

In essence, the player's head is the key to why we believe in hang time.

When one person looks at another, they tend to not look at the middle of their body. Instead, we generally look at the other person's head. What happens at that second is a bit of an "illusion", but it actually is happening. The person's center of mass is shifting and this causes his head to stay in the same location for a longer period.

If one person can't hang in the air longer than another, what is the solution? It comes down to the fact that one person can JUMP HIGHER than the other! If you can't increase your hang time then, you have to learn to jump higher! How can you do this? These Vertical Jump Program Reviews will provide you additional information.