 |
| The boys get it right during the crossover drill at the AND1 basketball clinic. — Photo By CHAN TAK KONG |
Two national players, Ng Sing Tee and Yim Shen Hao, paid the school a visit and shared tips with the boys on doing what they do best.
On the clinic, Yim said such activities would help increase interest in basketball among youths while Ng hoped that this interest would help in some ways to renew the pool of talent in basketball.
“Nowadays, it is more difficult for us to get the younger crowd interested in sports because there are many other things that compete for their attention, such as gadgets and devices.”
“It will be good to see talented players rise from the AND1 tournament, it is not an easy tournament to win.” said Ng, who is a former participant of the clinic.
Of the drills that were taught, Yim believed that dribbling would be the most helpful for the youths if they chose to join the tournament.
“Dribbling is a fundamental part of basketball, if they can master what we have shared with them today, it will help them a lot,” said Yim.
Because of their age, Ng does not encourage them to lift weights and introduces resistance training as a substitute for strength training.
“We try to make it challenging and, at the same time, fun, with the pairing-up during the resistance training, they (the boys) can laugh and have fun but they gain strength at the end.” Ng said.
Besides guiding the boys with drills for passing, dribbling, the national basketballers gave tips on defence techniques such as how to mark the opponent, highlighted by one trying to block another from touching a basketball on the ground.
After the two-hour clinic, the boys were well worn out, But before it was time to go, Ng and Yim got the boys in a circle for a few minutes of “planking” to improve their strength, which is useful when it comes to shooting from a distance.
“It was very taxing, especially after the last exercise (planking), but I am thankful for being able to experience this.” said 17-year-old Ong Ming Shen.
“I found it really tough and challenging but the resistance training was fun. And to get tips from national players and train under them, this kind of opportunities don’t come everyday. It was very good” said Chin Shi Xiong, 18.
The first leg of the AND1 3x3 Streetball Challenge is set to take place on May 25 in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang with spots for 300 teams duking it out for cash prizes along with exclusive merchandise from Milo and AND1.
The first 100 teams to register will also receive a limited edition LA Lakers basketball in addition to the Spalding ball for each team and AND1 jersey for each player.
There will be several highlights, including a search for the top three streetballers, the best shooter, a slam dunk competition as well as lucky draws.
