Dunk Camp was right around the corner, and I (Dylan Haugen) wanted to sit down and walk through everything I did over the past year to prepare for it. This is a solo episode with no guests, just me breaking down my full training timeline from the previous Dunk Camp all the way through to the week before this one in Utah. I pulled out my actual training journal for this one because there was so much ground to cover and I wanted to get the details right.
Post-Dunk Camp Reset and Program Changes
After the previous Dunk Camp, I took some time to reset and figure out what I wanted to change in my training. I had been running PJF Performance programs, which are great, but I started modifying things to fit my own body and goals more specifically. The biggest shift was getting more intentional with my lifting. I started tracking everything more seriously and paying closer attention to how my body responded to different loading patterns. Instead of just following a program blindly, I was making adjustments based on what my numbers and my jump were actually doing week to week. That level of self-awareness in training was something I had not done before, and it made a real difference over the course of the year.
The October Session That Changed Everything
Throughout the summer and into fall, I was training consistently and keeping my technique dialed in with low rim sessions. Then on October 20th and 21st, just two days before my sixteenth birthday, my co-host Hunter Castona came out and we had what was by far the best dunk session I had ever had at that point. It was me, Hunter, Gideon, and JRob, and I hit a 360 windmill, which was only my second one ever. I also landed about five new dunks that day including a double-up windmill and a reverse pump. That session was a massive confidence boost and proved to me that the training adjustments I had been making were actually translating into real results on the rim.
Dominican Republic Detour
Shortly after that incredible session, I went on a family vacation to the Dominican Republic. I barely trained while I was there. I had two dunk sessions total, and the court situation was rough. No shade, not enough water, and it was insanely hot. That trip set me back a little physically, but it ended up being a decent mental reset, especially for the lifting side of things. The only real downside was that I ate pretty terribly while I was down there, so if I could go back I would have been way more disciplined with nutrition. That is one of those lessons you learn the hard way as a young athlete: what you eat directly affects how you perform, and a week of bad food can take two weeks to recover from.
Meeting TDUB: A Surreal Minnesota Connection
One of the biggest highlights of the entire year was connecting with TDUB. If you do not know who TDUB is, he is arguably the most influential dunker of all time and the inventor of the double-up, which is jumping over someone to dunk. He essentially started competitive dunking as a sport. What blew my mind was finding out he lives in Minnesota, same as me. We talked about setting up a session, and even though our schedules did not align perfectly at first, I eventually got to go out and dunk with him on a random weekday. Getting to session with a legend like that, and in my home state, was one of those surreal moments that reminded me why I love this community so much. There is something special about the dunking world where even the all-time greats are accessible and willing to train with up-and-coming guys.
Minnesota Dunk Squad and the Value of Low Rim Sessions
Through the winter and spring, I linked up regularly with the Minnesota Dunk Squad guys for Wednesday sessions on a nine foot eight low rim. These sessions were crucial for keeping my technique sharp and working on new dunks in a controlled setting. I was getting more consistent with my eastbay during this stretch, which was a huge deal because that had been a primary goal dunk for a while. The low rim work also let me experiment with different approach angles and timing without the wear and tear of going full ten-foot every session. For anyone reading this who is working on a specific dunk, I cannot recommend low rim sessions enough. You get way more quality reps per session, you save your joints, and the skill transfer to ten feet is very real.
Lifting, Nutrition, and the Final Deload
On the strength side, I made real progress with my trap bar deadlift and squat numbers over the course of the year. I also got a lot more serious about nutrition, tracking protein intake and eating cleaner overall. Heading into Dunk Camp, the plan was to run a proper deload phase so I could show up fresh and explosive. I had learned from previous years that going into camp fatigued defeats the entire purpose, so this time I was very strategic about tapering my volume in the final couple of weeks while keeping intensity up enough to stay sharp. The goal going into camp was to showcase the dunks I had been working on all year, the eastbay, the 360 windmill, and a few other things I had been refining. More than anything though, I just wanted to show up as the best version of myself as a dunker. A full year of consistent training, better nutrition, smarter programming, and real sessions with guys like Hunter, Gideon, JRob, and TDUB had gotten me to this point, and I was ready to see what I could do.