Basketball #normalsport

Basketball is a sport played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The main objective of the game play is to put the ball through a hoop around 3 metres high from the floor, which the hoop is mounted with a blackboard on each ends of the court. Basketball is one of the most popular and most viewed sports in the world and the National Basketball Association (NBA) is considered as the highest level of professional basketball league in the world. 

Players can score through regular players or penalty free throws. If a regular field goal is rewarded with 2 points, however field goals made behind the ‘3-point-line’ is rewarded with 3 points. Players can dribble with either hands or create their moves before shooting or holding the basketball. Once the ball is held off the ground, players have to be stationary on the court whilst any extra movement will be penalised for ‘traveling’. Also, basketball is a contract sport and rules of penalty are strictly applied for any unnecessary aggressive physical contacts. 

Aside from the regular ’48 minutes’ of game play of NBA that is broadcasted on TV, there are other variations basketball games. Half-court basketball is often recognised by the public spectrum as the game play is short and more compact for daily recreational exercises. Other mini-games such as HORSE and One-on-One emphasise individual skills of dribbling, defending and scoring that also provide an interactive and friendly game play.

- Kenny (43801641)

 

Table Tennis #normalsport

Table Tennis as known as “Ping Pong”, that can be played by 2 or 4 players using a small round bat to hit a lightweight plastic ball back and forth. Table Tennis is often associated with a relative well-known sport like Tennis, as Tennis also involves players hitting a ball back and forth with a racket. 

Table Tennis is a non-contact sport, which is very player-friendly as the setup is relatively cheap and affordable by the majority of the households. As much as Ping Pong is deemed to be a ‘backyard’ or ‘garage sport’, Table Tennis is often played as a competitive sport in the Olympics since 1988.  

The rules of Table Tennis are rather straightforward, as a player starts the play by simply serving the ball straight to other player’s side of the table. During the ‘service’, the play has to bounce the ball consecutively from their side to the other, whilst the returns can be hit straight to the other side of the table. Serves are to be without the interference of the net, whereas a return is ruled as adequate as long as the ball does not fall under the net or out of the bounds of the table.    

  - Kenny (43801641)