CLEVELAND — Summer camp doesn’t mean days spent at the pool for some Northeast Ohio kids. Some are going to sports camps with a technological twist that is even being used by some professional athletes.
John Dorsey has dedicated hours and even days of work with his 9-year-old son to improve his basketball skills.
“Doing our usual basketball practice three times a week, a few shots and now some ball handling and passing drills,” he said.
Now they have a new tool at their disposal.
“The technology, the instant feedback they get from the passing drills, the ball handling, the visualization he can get of the ball handling,” he said.
Dorsey was talking about Shoot 360, a system of large TVs that offers a variety of interactive exercises, something he said is improving his son’s game.
Hooptech, a basketball training center, uses Shoot 360 technology in its facilities, offering several clinics at its camps and summer programs. It’s something Kahrin Spear, director of women’s basketball, said is extremely important in today’s game.
“It’s really great to have technology incorporated into camps because it creates more opportunities for diversity in the structure of the camp rather than just being out in the open,” he said.
It doesn’t end there. Spear said the technology gives athletes feedback instantly.
“What’s amazing about this technology is that they get real-time analytics on what’s happening with the photo. You can see up there on the screen, he’s tracking his depth, his arc and his left and right,” she said.
Dorsey said this type of basketball training is something he could have benefited from when he was a player.
“When I was that age, we didn’t have things like that, places to work as much, so we did a lot of that work in the garage,” he said.
Dorsey said he is hopeful that with the help of this technology and his motivating spirit, his son will go a long way in the sport.
