One of the Most Unique Dunkers on the Planet
Episode 30 of the Dunk Talk Podcast features one of the most unconventional and fascinating dunkers in the community. I (Dylan Haugen) and co-host Hunter Castona sat down with Dillan McCarthy, a 5 foot 9 and three-quarters, 18-year-old dunker from New York who had just turned 18 on September 5th. What makes Dillan remarkable is not just his 49-inch recorded vertical at his size and age, but the completely different training methods he used to get there. Hunter introduced him as someone on the come up, but by the time this episode ended it was clear Dillan was already there.
How It All Started
Dillan’s dunking journey started in an unexpected way. About five months after he first started jumping, he had what he described as a very unimpressive 2-inch vertical. But instead of getting discouraged, he found creative ways to train wherever he was. While sitting in class listening to teachers, he would do seated calf raises under his desk every single day. He went through four pairs of broken shoes just from the constant flexion of doing calf raises in class, because the cloth material of his shoes could not handle the repetitive motion. That level of dedication to training in every available moment, even during school, set the tone for his entire approach to dunking.
The Unconventional Training Approach
What makes Dillan truly stand out in the dunking community is his training methodology. He tried structured programs like Bounce Kit for about three months early on, but ultimately found that he could not stick with traditional programming because it made him feel like a robot. Instead, he developed his own approach based largely on feel and what he calls an intuitive style of training. He does not follow a fixed program but rather listens to his body and trains based on what he thinks he needs on any given day.
The centerpiece of his training is calves. Dillan estimates that about 90 percent of his training volume is calf work. He does calf raises constantly: standing in line, sitting down, waiting for something, before class, after class, between classes, and one last time before he leaves school. At his college he has access to a calf raise machine, and he hits it multiple times per day. His typical sets range from two to five plates with 20 to 50 reps, going down really slowly on the eccentric and then stripping the weight as fast as he can until his legs give out. He wants to get the full effect from every single rep rather than just going through the motions.
Jumping Seven Days a Week
The title of this episode is not an exaggeration. Dillan jumps seven days a week with no structured rest days built into his routine. This goes against almost every conventional training philosophy in the vertical jump space, where rest and recovery are considered essential for adaptation. But Dillan has found a way to make it work for his body, and the results speak for themselves at 49 inches. We discussed whether this approach is sustainable long-term and whether it would work for other athletes, and the honest answer is that it is very specific to Dillan and how his body responds to high-frequency training.
He had some early structure with a structured program but quickly moved away from it because he felt restricted. His current approach is to train with maximum intent whenever he is doing something, whether it is a calf raise at his desk or a full session at the gym. The key factor is that even without a written program, he is incredibly consistent. He never takes days off from doing something related to his vertical, even if it is just bodyweight calf raises in a random location.
Early Lifting and the Leg Press Numbers
Despite his unconventional approach, Dillan is not lacking in the strength department. He mentioned doing 500 pounds on the leg press early in his journey, which is impressive for someone his size and age. He got some structure from Bounce Kit initially and then built on that foundation with his own programming. The combination of heavy leg press work and the insane volume of calf training created a unique stimulus that his body responded to extremely well. His approach is not something you would find in any textbook, but the numbers do not lie. A 49-inch vertical at his height puts him in an incredibly elite category of jumpers worldwide.
Content Creation and Documentation
We talked about Dillan’s approach to social media and content creation, which was refreshingly honest. He posts about three times a week on Instagram and generally only shares new dunks or particularly notable clips. He admitted that there are tons of incredible dunks he has hit that are not on camera because he does not have a tripod and relies on asking random people at the gym to film him. We encouraged him to consider starting a YouTube channel to archive his sessions and build more of a following, because with his numbers and his style, the content basically creates itself.
What Makes This Episode Special
Dillan McCarthy represents something important in the dunking community: proof that there is no single path to an elite vertical jump. His methods are completely different from what most coaches and programs recommend, yet he has achieved a 49-inch vertical at 5 foot 9 and 18 years old. That challenges a lot of assumptions about what optimal training looks like and opens up a conversation about individual variation in how athletes respond to different training stimuli. This episode was one of our most popular with 3,500 views and 131 likes, and it is easy to see why. Dillan’s story is genuinely inspiring and his approach to training is unlike anything else in the space. Follow him on Instagram at @dillan_mccarthy and watch the full episode above for all the details on his remarkable journey.