Two Sad Stories of Youth Zone Defense - And It's BIGGEST Flaw
One of the biggest issues with zone defense at the youth level is that kids can use poor defensive habits and still win a lot of games.
And because you are winning, it gives coaches and parents a false sense that your players are developing good defensive habits.
On the other hand, man-to-man defense immediately exposes a player's poor defensive habits.
If you can't defend the ball...
If you lose sight of the ball on help defense...
If you lose sight of your player cutting to the basket...
If you don't deny a post entry pass...
If you don't get in proper position on a screen...
If you lunge out of position...
You are immediately exposed!
And think about that for a second, if any future coach plays man-to-man defense, your players aren't getting reps in these situations! They are going to be behind other players who got reps playing man-to-man defense.
Fortunately, I had multiple situations early in my coaching career that made this apparent. Some situations in which I messed up. Some situations in which I benefited when facing players who didn't develop good defensive fundamentals.
I came to this conclusion after reflecting on a group of kids whom I had a chance to watch mature.
When I Taught Zone Defense to a 7th Grade Team That Was Struggling
Early in my career, I was coaching a seventh and eighth grade team that stunk at man-to-man defense.
After much frustration, we switched to zone defense and we actually ended up winning a few games that year. As a matter of fact, I think we might have even finished above .500 in the league by playing zone defense.
The only issue is that I gave my players a crutch because I never taught them to play good defense and like any other mistake...it always catches up with you in the long run!
Here's how it impacted my team...
When they played at the varsity level, they had back to back seasons where they hardly won any games. One season those same players did not win a game at the varsity level.
It's because we never laid a foundation of great defensive habits. We took the easy way out.
Starting to see the reason I don't like zone defenses at the youth level?
Why This Group of Generational Talent Flourished As Youth Then Crashed As High School Players!
I've also seen it on the flip side.
A group came to high school that was extremely talented.
In fact, this group of kids all from the same town competed against all of the "elite" AAU teams. In their 8th grade season, they even took 4th place at the state tournament against these all-star teams!
But here's the kicker...
This was a team of players from a small town of a few thousand people.
Which is kind of crazy if you think about all the types of teams they were competing against.
Now, when these players reached the high school level, guess what...
While utilizing zone defenses at the youth level, they formed horrible defensive habits. Habits that were impossible to break for most of the players!
And the zone defenses they played at the youth level hid their bad habits rather than expose them.
I'll share a few examples of what I mean to paint the picture...
I won't reveal their real names.
Alec Always Gambling For Steals
There was one kid named Alec.
Alec was super athletic and long, with a real knack for stealing the ball at the youth level.
At the youth level he could just go for the steal every time and still recover in time. The risk-reward was worth it......at that time.
But at the high school level, where the other kids also got older, bigger, more mature, and more skilled...
...lunging out of position and going for the steal every time no longer worked.
Bigger, stronger, faster, and more skilled players quickly exposed this and scored easy buckets.
Now, the amount of times he actually came up with a steal diminished greatly.
And he couldn't recover in time from gambling.
He was getting exposed much more and hurting his team on the defensive end.
George Always Jumping Out of Position
There was another player, let's call him George.
George was another kid who could deflect passes at will when he played at the youth level.
But once he got to the high school level...
He just wasn't as good at it... for all of the reasons already mentioned.
So jumping out of position trying to steal the ball, once again didn't work.
He often put his teammates at a disadvantage at the high school level. Every time George went for a steal, his teammates had to try to cover up his mistake.
Larry Who Couldn't Guard His Shadow
And another guy, let's call him Larry, looked like an absolute stud at the youth level. But he never learned to play solid defense.
When Larry got to the high school level...
...his weakness was routinely exposed and exploited.
Isolate Larry on the perimeter and go right at him! He couldn't guard his shadow!
Gordon - The Lone Defensive Survivor
I think there was only one kid out of that group, let's call him Gordon, who really adjusted and managed to play great man-to-man defense.
But keep in mind that he was also one heck of an athlete.
And he had some fresh/soph coaches who pounded great defense into him for two years. While others just couldn't break their poor defensive habits, Gordon did and became the pillar of their defense.
Trevor The Center Who Didn't Form Bad Habits, But Also Didn't Develop...
There's one more person from the group who didn't develop many poor defensive habits. And you'll understand why in just a moment.
Let's call him Trevor.
He was actually the center, and he didn't develop any bad habits because...
The coaches stuck him underneath the basketball hoop.
As a result, he wasn't lunging at the opposition all the time. Nor did he have a chance to develop athleticism as much by constantly moving and cutting around the court.
So he was able to more easily pick up on the correct habits when learning man-to-man defense at the high school level..
Why Zone Defense Can Be Fool's Gold At The Youth Level
This same group of talented kids at the youth level went from being extraordinary in their younger years...to being less than mediocre as they got older.
They went undefeated in their freshman year and then...
...got knocked out in the first round and second round of the playoffs their varsity seasons.
They went from being a team that everybody thought would win multiple state championships... to a squad that never made a state tournament and underachieved tremendously.
So, their inability to play with good defensive habits caught up to them. And other youth players learned good man-to-man principles and surpassed them on the court..
The zone defense at the youth level acted as fool's gold... they thought they had something great because they were winning, but they really didn't.
At the youth level, making sure kids know how to play man-to-man defense is probably the optimal solution... because if they play with poor defensive habits, they're immediately exposed!
They have to get better to compete.
And the only way to learn good habits is through practicing good habits.
Even elite zone defense coaches like Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and high school hall of famer Al Marshall emphasize that players must form great defensive fundamentals and habits first!
One more important coaching lesson from this...
Imagine if those same players came to high school with great defensive habits. The coaches could've immediately built upon that.
Instead, they spent countless hours just trying to break bad habits. They spent countless hours re-building and re-teaching
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