How do basketball players jump straight up into the air?

[sweetheart901]

The question asks to describe in terms of physics how basketball players can jump straight up into the air. I also have to show free body diagrams of the forces on the ground and on the player.

The basketball player has gravity and normal forces acting on him and I am assuming that the rest has something to do with muscles, but I'm not completely sure. Any ideas?

 

[Andrew Mason]

The question asks to describe in terms of physics how basketball players can jump straight up into the air. I also have to show free body diagrams of the forces on the ground and on the player.

The basketball player has gravity and normal forces acting on him and I am assuming that the rest has something to do with muscles, but I'm not completely sure. Any ideas?

How does the force the leg muscles have to exert on the body compare to the player's weight?

AM