My friends who are about 5 foot 10 and more can't dunk but there's this one kid who is 6 foot who can dunk. My friends who can't dunk say that I could never dunk and how I have to wait until I get taller. They say I am too short and that makes me angry. They also say how I am not ready for that because some of them doubt me. Sometimes they even laugh at me when I say I am going to dunk at this height. But they don't know that i have a passion for basketball. I can play good defense, I steal the ball well, I have a good shooting percentage from the 3 point line and from the free throw line I make 7 out of 10 shots every time. I am warming up, so all the friends that laugh at me, I want to rub it in their faces and I want to do it for myself also to prove to my other short friends about my height who also want to dunk but lose their courage because of those who laugh. I want to prove to my shorter friends that not because you are short means that you cannot dunk and also to the ones who underestimate us, plz plz help me I have faith that I can dunk. I believe in myself.

You are 14, be patient with yourself. You are going to grow AND get stronger. Your goals should be:

Be a better basketball player than they are.
Make your Varsity basketball team
Go to college and play basketball

Dunking the basketball is NOT going to achieve those goals... it will just mean that you can dunk. Where is that going to get you? Work on your game, be the best basketball player YOU can be.
Keep working on your vertical jump BUT work harder on YOUR game.

I think there is a strength coach in this group now, go to the first post you sent about Vertical Leap and maybe he can help you more.

Good luck
Coach Sar

Here Jumal, I hope he can help you........ Talk to:
My name is Alan Stein and I am a professional basketball strength and conditioning coach (www.StrongerTeam.com - bio below). I am here to help in any way possible with advice and thoughts on safe, time efficient, and proper training for basketball players of all ages and levels. I am honored and the thankful to be a part of Breakthrough Basketball!

You can reach me through this fantastic forum or directly at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.

Train hard. Train Smart.

Alan Stein
www.StrongerTeam.com
www.Twitter.com/AlanStein

Alan Stein is the owner of Stronger Team and the Head Strength & Conditioning coach for the nationally renowned, Nike Elite Montrose Christian Mustangs boy’s basketball program. Alan is a performance consultant for Nike Basketball as well heavily involved with Nike SPARQ Basketball. He is the head conditioning coach for the annual McDonald’s All American game, the Jordan Brand All American Classic, and the Nike Summer Skills Academies. Alan is a Camp Coach at the prestigious NBA Player’s Association’s Top 100 Camp as well as the Chris Paul CP3 Elite Backcourt Camp. Alan has filmed over a dozen DVD’s on improving performance and is a sought after lecturer at basketball camps and clinics across the world. He has been featured in Winning Hoops, Time Out, Dime, SI.com, SLAMonline.com, American Basketball Quarterly, Stack, Men’s Health, and FIBA Assist Magazine.

I

I was thinking about this some more today... and I know I would be ticked if someone told me I COULDN'T do something. I certainly would want to prove them wrong. It's happened to me as a coach.... and I went out of my way to prove them wrong.

So, I love your attitude about that part. You ARE going to prove them wrong and wipe that smile off their face, I get it! I loved kids like you that played for me, with that NEVER say die attitude. Most of my players were not tall, but we learned to shoot well... especially the three.

I had T shirts made up, with a guy dunking the ball, another guy shooting beyond the arc and the inscription said.... " Two for you - and THREE for me!

Work on your game to the point that you make them look bad at every aspect.. be the BETTER BASKETBALL PLAYER! You can still work on your vertical leaping ability .. but you will help your team more by using that to rebound and when you get that occasional dunk.... don't go crazy, act like you have been there before and just smile at them!

I hope this helps you. Good luck
Coach Sar

there are alot of NBA players that cant even dunk, like tony parker (i think) is one of them, because i havent seen him dunking yet. but still he is a great player. You can be one too, just practice alot