Medicine Ball Exercises – Add Explosive Power to Your Game

Medicine ball exercises are used to create strength and power, particularly in sports which require explosive power and involve explosive movements.

What is a Med Ball?

Med ball is a weighted ball, which is used also in rehabilitation. There are different sizes of med balls; we prefer using the diameter which is approximately the size of a volleyball or basketball.

The material of a med ball should be rubber, soft synthetic or similar; any material that allows the ball to bounce because it will be constantly thrown to the ground or wall. It should not be confused to inflatable much larger Swiss ball.

One Great Medicine Ball Exercise to Add Power into Your Vertical Jump

We’ll give you information about a more complete routine in the following pages, but here is one example of a great med ball exercise:

“A med ball scoop” is one of the best medicine ball exercises to activate your hip extension (which is an important factor in your vertical jump power).

"Med ball scoop" is also a great exercise to perform back extensions with explosive speed. We believe it is the best of all back workouts, which are often worked out with slow speed.

What is a med ball scoop?

you grasp the ball with both of your hands

lower the ball somewhere between your legs with your straightened arms

bend your knees approximately to the “jumping knee angle” (about 90 degree knee angle)

lean your torso forward a little bit, like you would do when jumping

before performing and explosive lift up with your legs

which is assisted by hip extension and arms to release the ball

A ball could be thrown and released straight up, forward or even backwards, whatever is your preference. I personally prefer the throw in which the ball is released straight up.

This particular exercise is a good for an athlete of any sport that involves explosive throwing, hitting, swinging, lifting or vertical jumps. Med ball scoop, like many other med ball exercises are widely used among track & field athletes, basketball players, golfers, tennis players, volleyball players etc.

This exercise very closely mirrors the vertical jump what you perform for example when playing volleyball. This particular exercise is one of the very few work outs in which the volleyball player or any other athlete is able to work on the arm lift up.

Medicine Ball Training Tips - Performing a Med Ball Scoop

When athlete performs the med ball scoop with an intension on add power on your vertical jump, an athlete should pay attention to

the powerful lift up with arms.

To perform the lift up mainly with “jumping knee angle”, which is the knee angle you use in your vertical jumps when playing volleyball.

And before everything to execute an explosive hip extension.

The med ball scoop will work out various muscles on your core – it could be a surprise that it will hit your abs hard even if the focus is on extending your hips and back with it.

We have talked quite a bit about hip extension on these strength and vertical jump training methods. We have paid attention to it that athletes and coaches would notice there are other muscles and body parts besides the legs, which contribute to the vertical jump. For a complete routine of medicine ball exercises, click the following link.

Medicine Ball Exercises

Don’t forget to check out the medicine ball exercises on video clips in the member’s section to give you a better idea about these workouts.

Med Ball Related Pages

Med Ball Exercises and Explosive Power
Read how med ball exercises develop explosive power in your specific sport.

Med Ball Workout Routine
Advice how to design a med ball training routine.

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