TO become a good basketball player, budding cagers especially those below the age of 15 will need to play more streetball and basketball games.
Basketball coach Tan Chee Wan, 46, believes body-contact sports could help young players improve their individual fundamental skills and stamina.
“All youths should be involved in these kind of games so that they will be fit enough to participate in tournaments.
“They need to increase their stamina to last from morning to evening,” he said.
With 31 years of playing basketball under his belt, Tan has been training youths at the MVP Basketball Academy in Kedah, Penang and Selangor since 10 years ago.
Tan said the concept of his coaching clinic was simple — to introduce basic fundamental training skills.
“Here, players are introduced to dynamic stretching, which is a more intense warm-up session but it helps to activate muscles.
“After that, we will teach them the tactical part which focuses on the one-on-one, two-on-two, and three-on-three defence and offensive training methods,” he said.
Recently, Tan was invited to coach 15 Perak streetball players in Gunung Rapat, Ipoh for the upcoming And1 3x3 Streetball Challenge in Penang.
“It was a gruelling three-hour session from 9am to noon.
“These youths were able to learn a lot from the physical training exercises such as the ladder jumping.
“This allowed them to strengthen their body and leg muscles to better prepare them for the challenges ahead,” he said.
The And1 3x3 Streetball Challenge, an event sanctioned by the Malaysian Basketball Association, will be held at Penang Times Square on Oct 4.
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