Medicine-Ball Slam

The medicine-ball slam is a ballistic overhead-to-floor throw: the athlete raises the ball overhead with full extension, then explosively pulls it down and slams it into the floor using the lats, shoulders, and trunk flexors, finishing in a hinge/squat. It develops explosive shoulder extension and trunk flexion power, is simple to coach, and scales readily into a conditioning/metabolic drill at higher rep counts.

Technique: stand tall holding the ball overhead (slight hip extension), then forcefully throw it straight down in front by extending the shoulders and flexing the trunk, hinging at the hips; let the knees bend to follow through. Catch or pick up the ball and reset. Keep the spine controlled — the downward action is fast but the trunk should flex through the hips and abs, not collapse the lumbar spine under load.

Use a non-bouncing "slam ball" (a dead-bounce medicine ball) to avoid a dangerous rebound to the face. Light-to-moderate load; for power, low reps with maximal intent and full reset; for conditioning, higher reps.

• Ballistic overhead-to-floor slam; explosive shoulder extension + trunk flexion.
• Easy to coach and scale (power drill at low reps; conditioning at high reps).
• Hinge/flex through hips and abs; keep the spine controlled.
• Use a non-bounce slam ball to prevent dangerous rebound.

• ballistic-training — a ballistic released-load drill.
• medicine-ball-overhead-throw — related overhead pattern.
• medicine-ball-rotational-throw — transverse-plane sibling.
• latissimus-dorsi — prime mover of the downward slam.
• rectus-abdominis — trunk flexor driving the slam.