nagpur the lockdown has forced people from all walks of life to think out of the box city basketball club dharampeth krida mandal dkm has been conducting online skillbased training for their 30 players 27 girls and 3 boys for the last 45 days dkm officials say theirs is the only club conducting online training in vidarbhawhen the lockdown started in march clubs head coach dhiraj kadao was worried about the fitness of players we had two choices either do something about it or let our players waste time with gadgets we chose the first option we started when google meet was launched no one else is conducting online skillbased coaching in the region kadao who also works as a physical education teacher told toiearlier i was doing online activities with school kids i would make kids run zigzag at their home by using utensils i realized it can be done at our club too had i let my players sit idle for a long period their fitness levels would have dipped in that case after lifting of the lockdown i would have been forced to work on players weight loss rather than concentrating on basketball training he saidnow when these 30 players will hit the ground they wont have to start from scratch in the videos players could be seen honing their skills under the watchful eyes of kadao on their terrace parking area and porch some players are doing it on empty roads in the early morning and evening hourskadao soon discovered the benefits of online coaching a player can have a ball in herhis hand for two whole hours it will improve their allround game at courts its not possible to let everyone handle the ball for such a long time they will have to pass it immediately i think they will be more confident ball handling and dribbling we are also doing fitness related exercises by utilizing staircase furniture and other available resources he saidkadao shares videos of a particular drill with players and then follows their progress live if i find any mistake i correct it immediately it took some time to get used to it but after a few days it became a normal routine for all players have marked a space on the walls at about 305m height for basket ring he saidkadao has been receiving positive feedback from many coaches of the region they ask me how we are doing this probably being tech savvy helped me said kadao dkms proactiveness is one of the reasons they have been the district basketball champion for almost a decade