Is there such a thing as "Hang Time"? To get straight to the point - it is a matter of science - "ha...

1. Hang Time - Is There Such A Thing? by Tom Beagle
Is there such a thing as "Hang Time"? To get straight to the point - it is a matter of science - "hang
time" is not "real". Most people may not believe this, pointing to their favorite player and at the
same time exclaim how he can hang in the air longer than anyone else. But, in reality, any basketball
player (including "Air Jordan" himself) just looks like they are hanging in the air.
Here's the details of what is happening when a basketball player goes up for a slam dunk (or any
other sport where jumping is involved).
As he comes down the court, a player jumps and Newton's third law of physics takes over. This
clenbuterol uk law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. What this means then
is that the player's foot exerts a force against the floor and the floor exerts a force back. This
action/reaction makes the player to "jump" up into the air. The greater the force the player exerts
when pushing against the floor, the greater the force the floor exerts back - this results in the player
going higher into the air.
If a player is in motion (running) during the jumping process, his/her center of mass follows a
parabolic path, which basically looks like a rounded off mountain top. A persons "center of mass" is
located around their midsection. This means that, if the person were to stay in exactly the same
http://www.projectknow.com/research/steroids/ position during the jump, his/her midsection (and
therefore, entire body) would follow this path. But as a player jumps while running, the center of
mass is lifted -- and manipulated.
By raising his knees, he raises his center of mass in relation to his head. He does that on his way up.
On the way down, of course, he lowers his legs and that brings the center of mass back down. This
effectively raises his head in relation to the center of mass. The head no longer follows the parabola.
The head stays at one height.
So the result is during part of the time in the air, the head stays at the same height, but ,during the
entire flight the center of mass goes up and down.
In essence, the player's head is the key to why our eyes believe there is such a thing as hang time.
When we look at each other, we don't normally concentrate on the person's "center of mass". We
usually look at a person's head (or at least the upper part of the whole body) . What happens then is
somewhat of an "illusion", but it really is what happens; the head is staying constant for an longer
than normal time because he/she manipulates his center of mass.
Well, if there is no such thing as "hang time", how is it that one person can stay in the air longer
than another person? The REAL answer is that they can JUMP HIGHER.
If you can't increase your hang time then, you have to learn to jump higher! How can you do this?
This site will give you more information.

2. http://verticaljump.einfohound.com/