How can I find out what the longest hang time is (time in air from vertical leap)?

[newbie~wan]

An argument has insued between some friends of mine about who has the longest hang time ever and how long it was. I have no idea where to find this statistic.

I have gone to guinessrecords.com and every sports site I've been too is just so full of glittery crap and pop up windows that I absolutely cannot stand it!!!!! That sh*t makes me want to kill myself is so intolerable!

Are you talking boards / high jump / pole vaulting / gliding or what??

Gravity will dictate how long you can remain in the air unaided...

Anyone, my vote goes for Ned Kelly, the Australian bushranger. They took a long time to hang him!!

[vass0922]

hmm my guess woulda been guiness
LOL mick... sick.. very sick hahaha
needed a taller tree/longer rope eh? hahah

[newbie~wan]

I seem to remember that no one has ever gotten one whole second of hang time. You are correct that gravity will dictate how long you remain in the air. The thing that will help you get up and combat gravity for as long as possible is vertical leap, or your initial exertion of force. After that, all you have acting on you is gravity.

My roommmate doesnt believe me that no one can hang 1sec. I'm not sure I believe myself anymore....

At any rate, I need to find the record from some sort of authoritative source if possible.

EDIT: just in case I was unclear, I mean hang time as in a person just jumping straight up in the air as high as they can and then landing.

Basketball?? Is that where you're at???

One site I saw (a Chinese one, BTW ) said Michael Jordan has the longest hang time - but didn't quote a figure. Do a google and search on " jordan hang time" and you might find it

Hmm - found this:

How does Michael Jordan manage to hang in the air for so long when he goes up for a slam dunk?

Actually, he doesn't hang in the air any longer than any other basketball player. It just looks that way. Once he leaves the ground, Jordan is governed by the same laws of physics as the rest of us. How high he jumps depends entirely on how much force he generates with his legs as he leaves the ground. And how long he stays aloft is directly related to the height of the jump: the higher the jump, the longer he stays in the air.

A vertical jump of four feet leads to a hang time of one second. That's an unusually high jump and, it turns out, most basketball players, including Michael Jordan, don't jump that high. A three-foot-high jump has a hang time of 0.87 seconds. All the artistry of a slam dunk takes place in just eight- or nine-tenths of a second!

Jordan makes it seem longer because he holds onto the ball longer than other players before shooting or dunking, waiting until he's on the way down to let go of the ball. His tendency to pull his legs up as the jump progresses also makes it seem like he's staying higher than he really is.

Next time you watch the Bulls play, try to time how long Jordan stays aloft and compare it to other players' hang times. You'll see there's not much difference.

Was at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/sports/...l#anchor445332

Hope it helps

And from the same site (just above the other one ):

How high can you jump?
Next time you watch a basketball or volleyball game, notice how high the athletes jump to block a shot or spike the ball. Ever wonder if you could jump as high?

Stand next to a wall with a short pencil in your hand and hold your arm as high above your head as you can, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Make a mark on the wall to note your standing reach. Then jump as high as you can, keeping your arm high above your head. At the top of your jump, make another mark on the wall. It works best to stand close to, but not touching, the wall when you jump. The difference in height between the two marks is a measure of how high you jumped.

You may be able to jump higher if you change how much you bend your knees before jumping. As you straighten your knees, you push your feet harder into the floor, which allows you to push off the ground with more force and jump higher. If you don't bend your knees much, you don't get much extra push. On the other hand, a deep crouch overstretches the thigh muscles, making them less efficient in pushing you off the ground. Experiment to find the amount of knee bend that gives you the most height.

Swinging your arms up can also add to your jump's height. As your arms swing up, your body is forced downward in reaction, increasing the force with which you push off the ground, and, therefore, the height of your jump. To be effective, your arms must finish their upward motion before your feet leave the ground.

This method of measuring a person's vertical jump is known as a Sargent jump, after Dudley Sargent, one of the pioneers in American physical education. When he studied a group of college students early in this century, he found that, on average, they jumped about 20 inches. There are no official records for a jump like this, but in 1976, basketball player Darrell Griffith's standing vertical jump measured four feet!

Empasis added

Put both together for an answer of sorts.

[vass0922]

I wouldn't bother watching MJ play wth teh bulls nowadays..
1. he no longer plays for them...
2. He doesn't have the hang time he used to

but yes in his day, it was rather amazing

[newbie~wan]

Mick, I happend to come across that same article, too. It was pure luck. I don't know where I got the idea that no one could hang for 1sec, but apparently they can.
thanx for the help.