Coronavirus lockdown: Learn to play basketball at home with NBA's online sessions

Online has become the new normal for students. While students are extensively engaging with academies online, sports is not far behind.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) has introduced curriculum-based online basketball sessions as part of the NBA Basketball School.

NBA Basketball School is a network of basketball development programs around the world, open to international male and female players between the ages 6 and 18 years.

“Following the recommendation of state and central authorities regarding the developing situation related to coronavirus in India, we suspended all basketball development programming in India, including our sessions at the NBA Basketball Schools across the country," Marc Pulles, Basketball Operations Team Leader, NBA India, told Moneycontrol.

"But looking at the availability of flexible online learning solutions, we decided to introduce curriculum based online basketball sessions,” he said.

A typical online basketball session starts with a warm-up, followed by some ball handling drills, form shooting work, and defensive work.

“We finish up with a group discussion on a basketball related topic and end with usually assigning the participants some videos to watch and give homework to do such as form shooting and show gratitude to your parents etc,” Pulles said.

Of the 24 partner schools across India, 17 of them have enrolled for NBA's online basketball sessions.

In the first two weeks of the launch of online basketball sessions, NBA has conducted over 25 sessions.

With two sessions per week, the average number of participants who are opting for online basketball sessions are around 12-15 so far.

“We have also conducted online sessions with our coaches to bring them up with the new ways of training," Pulles said.

Children sitting at home are constantly on the lookout for physical activity. Such online sessions give them a chance to brush up their skills and not lose touch with the game, all from the comfort of their homes. "The drills are designed in such a way that it will keep the kids active in a fun way,” Pulles stated.

12-year-old Saishaa Patel, who studies at Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu, Mumbai, told Moneycontrol, “During these boring lockdown days, I have continued to train for basketball via online classes conducted by the NBA Basketball School. This has helped me in staying in touch with my peers and teachers, and has also helped me keep in touch with my favorite sport.”