Friday July 23, 2010 By CHRISTINA LOW Photos by SIA HONG KIAU
WHETHER it is rapping, dancing or even performing tricks with a basketball in hand, freestyling is a definite attention grabber.
At one look, freestyling certainly looks easy as most of these moves are self composed and you need not have to be a good basketball player to excel in it.
However, getting the tricks right and having the patience for it might deter many from being part of this exciting sport said executive director of Ossia World of Golf Saw Swee Leong when met at the recent freestyling clinic at Hoops Arena in Summit USJ.
At one look, freestyling certainly looks easy as most of these moves are self composed and you need not have to be a good basketball player to excel in it.
However, getting the tricks right and having the patience for it might deter many from being part of this exciting sport said executive director of Ossia World of Golf Saw Swee Leong when met at the recent freestyling clinic at Hoops Arena in Summit USJ.
Spinning around: Mohd Razin spinning two basketballs using one finger.“After years of organising basketball competitions, we saw there is a potential in freestyling but the youngsters who are interested in it are afraid and shy to come forward to show off their skills.
“Maybe they feel that they only know a handful of tricks and it will embarrass them if they are not as good as the rest,” said Saw.
Hence, it prompted Ossia World of Golf who are organisers of the AND1 3-on-3 Streetball Challenge to help these youngsters pursue their dream by introducing the Freestylist Competition.Hence, it prompted Ossia World of Golf who are organisers of the AND1 3-on-3 Streetball Challenge to help these youngsters pursue their dream by introducing the Freestylist Competition.
“With freestyling, these youngsters are able to not only show off their hidden talents but also express themselves with the moves and tricks they have created,” said Saw.
At the clinic, freestyling guru Mohd Ismail Mahidi taught participants several tricks together with last year’s winners Viktor Zeidler and Yap Tee Shen.
Many participants who were present, came with some basketball freestyling knowledge and were eager to share it with others.
For 16-year-old Suhaily Azmin, freestyling was not a new sport for him as he had previously participated in football freestyling but moved on to basketball recently as he wanted to try out something new.
“It’s easy for me because I don’t need to be good in football or basketball to do freestyling,” said the SMK Taman Desa student.
Watch and learn: Participants of the coaching clinic watching how Mohd Ismadi (second from right)performs a trick.Another enthusiast Mohd Razin Safwan Roshdi, 18, who has been freestyling for over two years, said he made it a point to attend the clinics, so that he could brush up his skills with other freestylers and pick up some new tricks.
“Freestyling needs a lot of practice and sometimes it takes a few weeks just to learn a new act that I have seen on YouTube.
“Attending coaching clinics can help in perfecting some of the tricks and also make new friends,” said Mohd Razin, who is one of the 13 finalists shortlisted in the Freestyling Competition this year.
Besides hosting coaching clinics prior to the finals, Saw said participants as well as the public would also be able to catch Grayson Boucher or better known as “The Professor” from the team Streetball And1 Mixtape Tour.
The 26-year-old American basketball player will be in the country for the first time to share his experience on the game.
He will be meeting his fans at Hoops Arena, Summit USJ on Aug 6 (4pm), Bandar Parklands, Klang Aug 7 (5pm) and at Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 8 for the final leg of the AND1 3-on-3 Streetball Challenge where the finals of the Freestyling Competition would also be held.
