He Couldn't Touch Rim All Summer. 21 Days Later He Was Dunking On His Own Hoop.
It's not your genetics. It's not your height. It's not even how hard you're training. The hoopers who actually start dunking figured out one specific thing the rest haven't, and it has nothing to do with lifting more weight.
In June, Tyler's standing vert was 22 inches.
He knows the exact number. You tend to remember the ones that embarrass you.
He'd been playing ball since 6th grade. Decent handle, solid shot, worked harder than most of the kids on his team. But he couldn't dunk. Couldn't even catch rim cleanly on a two-foot jump. His buddies had started throwing it down over the summer and he was still watching from the baseline. Every few weeks he'd test again, expecting something to finally move. It never did.
He'd tried the usual stuff. Ran through a YouTube jump program for a month. Did squats three times a week at the gym his brother goes to. Followed some guy on TikTok doing 500 calf raises a day. Bought a pair of those platform jump shoes and wore them to practice until his coach told him to take them off.
By August, he'd started asking himself the question every hooper chasing their first dunk eventually asks: Am I just not built for this?
He wasn't lazy. He wasn't small for his age. He was just stuck. And he couldn't figure out what he was missing.
The Problem He Didn't Know He Had
Here's what most hoopers eventually figure out, usually after wasting a year of training.
Trying to dunk without a plan is like sprinting on a treadmill. You're working hard. You're sweating. You're burning legs. But the scenery never changes, because you're moving in every direction except the one that actually gets you off the ground.
Tyler was doing what 95% of hoopers do. He was mixing random jump drills from TikTok, heavy squats from the weight room, and high-volume calf work that was beating his legs up faster than it was building them. None of it was connected. None of it was specific to dunking. And most of it was canceling itself out.
The programs he'd tried were one-dimensional. One was all plyometrics, no strength. Another was all lifting, no actual jumping. Another had him doing 60 box jumps a day until his knees were screaming and his vert had gone down. Nobody had ever shown him the order things needed to happen in. Nobody had taught him what dunking actually requires on a mechanical level.
The Coach Who Stopped Him From Quitting
In September, a teammate sent Tyler a link. A program called Dunk Everything, built by the coaches at Good Drills, which is a basketball training company that's put thousands of inches on verts over the last few years.
The pitch was different from everything else Tyler had seen: 21 days, one plan, no guessing. Not "do these five drills a day forever." Not "here's 80 workouts, good luck." A day-by-day schedule, from day one to day twenty-one, built around three specific things and nothing else.
Tyler was skeptical. He'd been skeptical for a while. He'd bought two programs that promised the world and delivered a PDF with stick figures and bad advice. But this one came with a guarantee: add 3+ inches in 21 days or get your money back. He figured he had nothing to lose but 19 bucks.
He started the program that weekend.
What Happened Next
By the end of week one, Tyler's vert was up 1.5 inches. Barely noticeable on a tape measure, but he could feel it on the court. He was getting to spots he couldn't reach before.
By the end of week two, he was grabbing rim clean off a one-foot jump.
Day 21, on his own hoop in the driveway, he threw down his first dunk. Two-handed, off a dribble, nothing flashy. But it counted. He'd gone from a 22-inch vert to a 28.5.
No new weight room. No new diet. No new equipment. Same Tyler, same body, same schedule.
Just a different approach to the pieces he'd never been shown how to put together.
What Actually Changed
It wasn't one thing. It was three things, done in the right order.
Jump Technique
Most hoopers are leaving 2-3 inches on the table before they've even added a pound of muscle, purely because they're jumping wrong. Bad arm swing, wrong penultimate step, weight on the heels. Tyler's takeoff got rebuilt from the ground up on day one. Inches showed up the first week with no new strength at all.
Jumping Power
Strength matters, but only the kind that transfers to the floor. Tyler stopped grinding heavy back squats and started doing the specific power work that actually makes you explode off two feet. Less volume, more intent. His legs stopped feeling dead and started feeling springy.
Specificity
This is the one nobody else does. Dunking is a basketball skill, not a gym exercise. Tyler started doing the exact approach drills, rim work, and basketball-specific jumps that turn raw power into dunks you can actually pull off in a game. The bounce he was building in the weight room finally showed up on the court.
Three pillars. Done in the right sequence. That's the difference.
It's Not Just Tyler
These aren't cherry-picked. Good Drills tracks this stuff obsessively. The typical hooper who finishes the 21 days and follows it as written adds 3 to 6 inches.
That's the average. Which means half the guys who go through it do better than that.
Why This Works When Other Programs Haven't
The stuff most hoopers have tried before Dunk Everything: free YouTube workouts, random TikTok drills, generic jump programs, and whatever their football coach told them. They all have the same flaw.
They're one-dimensional.
A jump workout gives you drills. It doesn't fix your technique. A lifting program gives you strength. It doesn't teach you how to use it on the court. A free plan off YouTube might work for the guy who made it, but it doesn't know anything about where you are or what you need.
The combination is what most hoopers are missing. That's why you can grind a program for three months and still not touch rim. You're getting one piece of the puzzle without the other two.
Dunk Everything stacks all three. Technique, power, and specificity, in the right order, over 21 days. That's the gap it fills, and it's why hoopers who've tried everything else finally start seeing inches show up.
Is It Right For You?
Probably not if you're looking for a magic pill, a pair of shoes, or a supplement that does the work for you. If you won't commit to 30 minutes a day for 21 straight days, this isn't the program.
Probably yes if you're a hooper between 5'6 and 6'6, you've got access to a hoop or a driveway, and you're willing to follow a plan exactly as it's written. Doesn't matter if your current vert is 18 inches or 28. Doesn't matter if you've never touched rim or you're already dunking and want to dunk harder.
Good Drills is specific about this because they back the whole thing with a guarantee.
✓ The 3-Inch Guarantee
Complete all 21 days of Dunk Everything exactly as written and if you don't add at least 3 inches to your vertical, email them within 30 days and they'll refund 100% of your money. No questions. The program is $19. The guarantee is in writing. The risk is on them.
What To Do Next
There's one thing to do: start the program.
This is sponsored content. Results shown are real but not typical. Individual results depend on starting level, consistency, effort, and other factors. The 3-inch guarantee is subject to completing the 21-day program as written. See full terms at checkout.
Jordan R.
The technique piece in week 1 changed everything for me. Didn't realize I was jumping off the wrong foot my whole life. Picked up 2 inches before I'd even done the strength stuff.
Marcus T.
Finished the 21 days last week. Went from barely grabbing rim to catching it clean with one hand. I'm 5'10". Anyone telling you short guys can't jump is lying.
Devin P.
Bro I'm 5'8 and just started. How long before you felt it start moving?
Marcus T.
Honestly day 4-5. Once my arm swing clicked I felt way more pop off the ground. Just follow it exactly.
Brandon H.
Was skeptical about another vert program after wasting money on two others. But 19 bucks + the guarantee made it an easy yes. Three weeks in, up 4 inches. Not dunking yet but I'm grabbing rim clean on both sides now.
Anthony K.
The specificity part is what nobody else teaches. I was strong in the gym and could jump off two feet in shoes, but I couldn't do anything on the court. Approach drills were the missing piece for me.