Reggie Miller - Jumper Extraordinaire

Reggie Miller: blue font Ori Biala: black font

Ori: Hey Reggie can you give us some background on yourself?

Reggie: A lot of people think that I have a lot of natural talent for jumping. As if I just woke up one day and had a 40 inch standing vertical. but this was not the case for me.

I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri in an urban environment. My high school had the lowest avg test scores in the state of Missouri and was 85% African-American. During my freshmen year of high school I was 4'11 and 106lbs. I tried out for basketball and didn't make the team and I was too small for football. So I took up track.

I remember during Freshmen year it was my first time seeing someone ever dunk a basketball and at the time it was probably one of the most incredible things I had seen in my life. In an environment that is mostly African American being able to dunk will instantly make you revered by all of your classmates in school and other athletes. Because the dream of Black kids is to be able to play basketball in the NBA and be able to dunk.

So that's when I made up my mind I was going to learn how to dunk because it seemed like the cool thing to be able to do.

I hope that wasn't too long

Ori: Nah man its very cool to hear all that. So i have a follow up question, when did you hit your growth spurt and how were your jumping abilities before and after?

Reggie: I grew 4 inches a year, then I stopped growing when I hit 5'11 When I started I was 15 years old and 5ft tall and I had a 21 inch vertical. My strength sucked when I first started squatting I could only use the bar. Luckily I had a good coach when I started. he taught me how to squat and clean.

I consistently did plyo metrics, squats, and cleans for 4 years gaining about 6-7 inches a year until my standing vertical reached 40 my senior year.

Ori: you did all the jumping events in high school?

Reggie: Once I got to 40 I stopped trying to increase my vertical. Idk why but 40 inches for a standing vertical just seems like the magic number. Like no matter how much stronger you get your standing vertical won't exceed 40 inches. So my vertical stayed at 40 inches for 2-3 years before I started vertical training again

Yeah I did all 3 jumping events and I was the best long jumper, triple jumper, and high jumper,In the state of Missouri my senior year.

Ori: Do you remember your PR"s in high school for those events?

Reggie: Freshmen year: High jump 5’2 Long Jump 16ft Triple Jump 32ft Sophomore year: High jump 5’10 Long Jump 18ft Triple Jump 38ft Junior year: High jump 6’6 Long Jump 21ft Triple Jump 46ft Senior year: High jump 6’9 Long Jump 23ft Triple Jump 48ft

Ori: sweet, give me a rundown on your vertical, track stats, training since high school till now

Reggie: In high school my vertical was 38-40 inches and my power clean was 235. I just guessed it was 40 inches because I had no problem dunking in high school off of vertical.

I tested my vertical last month and got 43.5 inches which surprised me because it was after a workout and I was pretty tired.

Right now my power clean is at 270lbs and I weigh 15lbs less then I did in high school.

Ori: 5 ft 11 and how much is ur weight at now?

Reggie: 170lbs now, 185lbs when I was in high school

Ori: Any idea what your current squat and deadlift maxes are?

Reggie: I never dead lift Max front squat is 340lbs My front squat and back squat might be the same I've never done more than 335 on back squat.

Ori: So what do you think has been the most beneficial for you in increasing your vert?

Reggie: I think this whole vert thing is just simple The more force you can put into the ground the higher you can jump. In track and field we have the numbers called strength to body weight ratio. Which is how much weight you can lift compared to your body weight. A lot of pro jumpers in track have a strength to boy weight ratio of 2 Which means they can power clean double body weight For vertical jumping I think it is like the same. The more weight you can clean or snatch compared to how much you weigh will determine how high you can get off of the ground There are also other factors like core strength and technique. but at the end of the day, it's just based on how much force you can put in the ground and how efficient you can make the jump

Ori: Do you think anyone is capable of jumping as high as you if they put in the time and work like you did?

Reggie:I think that everybody can reach 40 inch vertical as long as they are strong enough, have a low body weight, and take the time to teach their body how to properly jump off of 2 legs.

Ori:  How would you compare jumping and training the 1 legged jump vs the 2 legged?