It’s not too late to improve your vertical jump
Daz’s training story of how he is working towards Dunking by the age of 50 years old.
Name: Daniele Milazzo
Primary Sport: Basketball
Age: 50 yrs
Began Training with Acceleration: January 2024 (48 yrs of age)
Goals:
Daniele’s goal for starting with Acceleration was that of a true basketball player and that was to be able to dunk by the time he was 50 yrs of age, whilst also trying to feel faster and more agile when playing.
Focus Areas:
Like many who walk through the doors to Acceleration, Daniele didn’t have much exposure to the foundations of movement – he had been in a gym before but needed a structured plan to assist him in getting to his goals.
From his Initial Performance Testing assessment, it was identified that his body held some limitations in its flexibility and how well each component worked together to create the movement he’d been doing for many years. We needed to address movement quality and create a more stable base for Daniele before continuing to his goal of dunking.
Daniele’s Training:
Daniele began training just once a week, 60-minute sessions for his Individualised Training – that was until he fell in love with the environment and the style of training and increased to twice a week (less than 6 months in).
Every session Daniele trains with Acceleration; we continually work towards improving his acceleration through his sprints and his ability to change direction before transitioning into the gym to build stability in his joints and improve his body’s overall strength capacity.
Daniele wasn’t shy about pushing his body, and once he was able to gain further understanding and control of his movements, we began introducing explosive movement training – getting not only solid movement in the gym but also out onto the court during his gameplay.
What Daniele had to say:
“Before joining Acceleration in 2024, I hadn’t been in a gym for a long time, only playing social basketball during the week. My dream was to dunk before 50, so I decided to reach out to the team to help me with my goal. The team at Acceleration has designed an amazing program specifically for my needs. I had to build the foundations, and with their support and care, I have seen the results. At 6’4” I couldn’t even touch the rim, but now I can confidently and consistently do so. The program is working; I have lost weight, and I have built strength. The journey to dunking is a work in progress, but the training is helping my mental health and my confidence, and my partner Nicky are also happy with the results. I made her join too.” – Daniele, 2025
Results:
Daniele has recently turned 50 years young, and whilst we haven’t officially tested his ability to dunk in the centre, the improvements in his ability to create enough force vertically and consistently reach the rim are frequent (not always at the choice of us coaches), as demonstrated in his rest period during his sessions.
He is committed to becoming his best athletic self and always provides an encouraging environment to those that train alongside him.
He is the perfect example of someone who not only wanted to improve himself for a particular goal but also proves repeatedly that it is never too late to get started.
Interested in improving your Vertical Jump or Sports Performance?
Learn more about our Individualised Training today!
Written By
Ashleigh Harding
Head Performance Specialist and Daniele’s weekly coach
24/02/2026
