What it actually takes to dunk
To dunk you have to get your hand above a 10-foot (305 cm) rim, not just level with it — add roughly 6 inches (15 cm) so the ball clears. Your reach at the top of a jump is your standing reach plus your vertical, so the height you fall short is the vertical you still need. Tall arms beat raw height: standing reach is what the whole thing turns on.
Vertical needed to dunk, by standing reach
| Height | Standing reach | Vertical to touch rim | Vertical to dunk (+6″) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5′8″ (173 cm) | ~7′3″ (221 cm) | ~33″ (84 cm) | ~39″ (99 cm) |
| 5′10″ (178 cm) | ~7′5″ (226 cm) | ~31″ (79 cm) | ~37″ (94 cm) |
| 6′0″ (183 cm) | ~7′9″ (236 cm) | ~27″ (69 cm) | ~33″ (84 cm) |
| 6′3″ (191 cm) | ~8′0″ (244 cm) | ~24″ (61 cm) | ~30″ (76 cm) |
| 6′6″ (198 cm) | ~8′4″ (254 cm) | ~20″ (51 cm) | ~26″ (66 cm) |
For scale: an untrained man jumps about 16″ (40 cm), a recreational athlete around 20″ (50 cm), and the NBA average is roughly 28″ (71 cm). A 6-foot player needs an NBA-tier jump just to reach the rim.
Measure your own numbers first
- Standing reach. Stand side-on to a wall, flat-footed, and mark where your fingertips touch with your arm fully stretched up. That mark is your reach — the single most important input.
- Vertical jump. From a standstill, jump and touch as high as you can. The gap between that mark and your standing reach is your vertical. Take the best of three tries on a firm floor.
- Don’t confuse jump with reach jump. If you already measured “how high I touch,” that is reach jump — subtract your standing reach before entering a vertical.
Common questions
What vertical do I need to dunk at 6 feet tall?
A 6-foot (183 cm) player usually has a standing reach around 7 feet 9 inches (236 cm). A regulation rim is 10 feet (305 cm), so you need to clear the rim plus about 6 inches to actually dunk. That means roughly a 30 inch (75 cm) vertical, which sits in the top few percent of adults.
Is standing reach the same as my height?
No. Standing reach is how high your fingertips touch with one arm stretched overhead, measured flat-footed. It runs about 1.3 times your height, so a 6-foot person reaches nearly 7 feet 9 inches. This is the number that matters for dunking, not your height alone.
Does hand size help you dunk?
A little. A larger hand lets you palm and control the ball above the rim, so you can grip and slam rather than just tip it in. But it only adds an inch or two of effective reach, far less than the difference an extra few inches of vertical makes.
What is the difference between vertical jump and reach jump?
Vertical jump is how high your feet leave the floor. Reach jump is how high your hand gets, which equals your standing reach plus your vertical. This calculator wants your vertical jump, not your reach jump. Enter the wrong one and the answer is off.
