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Tag: pro dunker

  • My 2024: From 500 Followers to Pro Dunker

    I went back on the Dunk Talk podcast with Dylan Haugen for episode 43 to recap what ended up being the biggest year of my life. The title of the episode called me one of the most improved dunkers of 2024, and looking at where I started versus where I finished, that is fair. The full conversation is at the top of this page.

    Where the Year Started

    At the start of 2024 almost nobody knew who I was. One contest changed the entire trajectory.

    “Start of 2024 I had like 500 followers on Instagram, was an all right dunker but definitely nothing crazy. Went to Dunk Camp, won the 10-foot contest, that ended up sending me to the FIBA contest, which basically started everything for me down the line.”

    Finn Addy

    Before that camp I did five months of training completely on my own. I had watched so much jump-training content that I had a decent idea of what I was doing, and I added about three inches to my vertical in those five months. After I won, I joined THP for a couple months, and once I met Jordan Kilganon I moved onto his Jump Master X program, which is where I have been since.

    FIBA, Then a Run of Shows

    The FIBA 3×3 contest in Edmonton was the first domino. I crushed my first two dunks, then went for an Eastbay on my third and my lob let me down. After that the events kept coming. I dunked at Jordan Kilganon’s, did an outdoor show in Toronto with Sherman Sue on a legit 10-foot rim, went to Detroit with Mason Baker and Travis Slade, and then got flown to New Jersey for a camp run by my childhood idol.

    “One Foot God is my idol. I’ve been looking up to him since I was like 13 years old, so to then be paid to dunk for One Foot God camp was crazy to me.”

    Finn Addy

    If I had to pick the single most electric one, it was Detroit. That was for Next Chapter, and the room was on a different level.

    “Detroit was like the most energy I’ve ever felt in a dunk setting. It was the most fun setting I’ve ever been in for dunking.”

    Finn Addy

    We went for almost an hour and I was dunking every ten seconds, running out of dunks by the end. That is the day I hit a Yanni windmill, missed one, the crowd started yelling run it back, so I took my shirt off and hit it right after. High-energy chaos, exactly the kind of dunking I want to be doing.

    The Real Change Was Mental

    People assume the biggest change in a year like that is the vertical or the follower count. For me it was in my head.

    “After I met Jordan, plus just having that feeling of FIBA, I basically knew this is all I want to do. Before that I was kind of half in, half out. Now it’s all I do and it’s taken over me.”

    Finn Addy

    Winning the 10-foot contest at The Dunk Camp is still my favorite memory of the year, because that is the moment I stopped being an underrated amateur and became a pro. Everything else grew out of that one Thursday. If you want the story of how that contest actually went down, I told it in full in how Dunk Camp sent me to my first pro contest.

    Goals for the Next Year

    Coming out of 2024 my list was long: win a FIBA contest, land in a Dunkademics video, and above everything, finally hit the under-both. Mostly I just want to be a great show and contest dunker. A few months after this episode I had the best session of my life and got the under-both done, which I broke down in how I hit my first under-both dunk.

    The full year recap is in the video above. You can follow along on Instagram @finnaddy1 and on YouTube, or get in touch through my Connect page.

  • How Dunk Camp Sent Me to My First Pro Dunk Contest

    I’m Finn Addy, a 6’1″ one-foot dunker from Ontario, Canada. I went on episode 17 of the Dunk Talk podcast with Dylan Haugen to talk through how I got into dunking and how winning the 10-foot contest at The Dunk Camp turned into my first professional dunk contest. The full episode is at the top of this page. Here is the short version in my own words.

    Lowering the Rim and Finding Stephen Celi

    I started messing around on low rims when I was really young, way before I could touch a real one. It was never serious, I just liked it.

    “I always kind of liked dunking on low rims since I was probably 12, 13. I’d lower the rim, pretend I’m Derrick Rose, pretend I’m LeBron James.”

    Finn Addy

    Once I got closer to actually dunking, I found Stephen Celi on YouTube and watched his whole journey from the start. That was the thing that made me want to really chase it. I got my first dunk around 16, at about 5’10” and 120 pounds, on a 9’10” rim. I grew up playing hockey and soccer before I switched to basketball in grade seven, and I played one year of college basketball. That year my vertical actually went down. I basically turned into a marathoner. When I quit the team, my bounce started coming back.

    Why I Jump Off One Foot

    I have always been a one-foot jumper. I could barely dunk off two feet until recently. When people ask who I study, it starts with Celi, but for one-foot specifically it is all Jordan Southerland.

    “Southerland, easily. I think he expanded the one-foot bag like crazy. He does every dunk that two-foot guys do, but off one.”

    Finn Addy

    The first time I went to The Dunk Camp back in 2022, I was there as a spectator and I still hit my first Eastbay off pure adrenaline, no lifting at all. I tested a 39 that year just from jumping. After five months of actually training, mostly heavy quarter squats, I got up to around 43 inches. For a one-foot jumper, that quarter squat is the whole game.

    Winning the 10-Foot Contest at Dunk Camp 2024

    A few days before the 2024 camp I tweaked my hamstring wrestling my brother. Honestly it might have worked out perfectly, because I barely dunked Monday through Wednesday and showed up completely fresh for the contest on Thursday. I put my headphones on, listened to “Untouchable” by YoungBoy for a few hours, and came up with my plan right there.

    “I made them all last attempt, came into the finals in last place, and then I made a two-hand reverse windmill and won first try in the finals.”

    Finn Addy

    Winning that contest is the moment everything changed for me. I went from feeling like an underrated amateur to being a pro dunker, and it set up the whole rest of the year.

    From The Dunk Camp to FIBA Edmonton

    Because I won, I got invited to the FIBA 3×3 World Tour dunk contest in Edmonton, against Donovan Hawkins and Brandon Ruffin. They flew me out, covered the hotel and the food, and I got to compete on a real stage for the first time. I wrote all my dunks down beforehand. I was nervous right up until I walked out, and then the crowd energy hit and the nerves were gone. I punched my first two dunks and missed the third.

    “It was probably the best weekend of my life. It was so fun.”

    Finn Addy

    The other thing that came out of that camp: I walked up to Jordan Kilganon after I won, told him I would make the drive to Sudbury any time, and a few days later I was at his house dunking with him. Training with the best dunker alive came directly out of one contest.

    What Comes Next

    Dylan and his co-host spent a chunk of the episode convincing me to make more long-form content and post my full sessions, which is something the whole Dunk Talk crew preaches. They actually wrote a whole piece on why every dunker should make long-form content, and they are right. My goals from here are simple: the under-both is my holy grail, then a Tomahawk and a J Rich, and someday a double Eastbay even if it takes a lower rim to get there.

    The full conversation is in the video above. A few months later I went back on the show to recap the whole year, which you can read in my 2024 recap on the podcast. You can follow the journey on Instagram @finnaddy1 and on YouTube, or reach me through my Connect page.