Basketball Zone Defense Concepts, Tips & Drills

I coach a middle school team of 7th and 8th graders. This year I am blessed with several athletic players. Last year I ran a very effective 1-3-1 zone with my tallest player at the top of the zone causing havoc to the offensive players. I am wanting to run a 4-1 defense this season to switch things up a bit. Has anyone ever ran a 4-1 defense?

Like

A personal foul results in either player taking free throws or a team surrendering possession.
HOLDING: When personal contact is made with an opponent which restricts their movement.
ILLEGAL GUARDING: Where a defending player makes contact with an opponent from behind.
BLOCKING: Any sort of contact between two players where an opponent''s movements are impeded.
PUSHING: Called when a player moves or attempts to move an opponent with force, even if they do not have control of the ball.
ILLEGAL SCREENING: An attempt to slow down or stop an opponent who does not have control of the ball.
HAND CHECKING: When a defending player uses their hands on an opponent to slow their progress.
CHARGING: When a player, with or without the ball, pushes or moves into an opponent.
ILLEGAL USE OF HANDS: When contact is made by a player''s hand on an opponent when they are attempting to play the ball.
Fouls in basketball not covered by the personal category are as follows:
TECHNICAL: Covers such things as bad language and other unsportsmanlike conduct.
DISQUALIFYING: Called if a player commits a serious foul, such as striking an opponent. They will be dismissed immediately from the game.
FIFTH FOUL: If a player commits five fouls, either personal or technical, they must leave the game and cannot return. They can be replaced by a substitute.
TEAM FOUL: Each personal foul committed by a player is also counted against his team; when a team goes over the limit, its opponent is awarded a free-throw.
In America''s NBA, the limit is five fouls - personal or technical - in any one period, after which the opposing team get two free throws.
VIOLATION: Covers such things as an illegal dribble or spending more than three seconds in the restricted area. Possession is handed to the opposition, usually via a throw-in.

Like

This is what you are getting paid the big bucks for.... teaching kids how to play a game / have some fun doing it / and as Jeff put it, some LIFE LESSONS along the way.

As for low effort.... kids love to compete.... so make your drills competitive and the losers can give you 3-5 pushups. Keep the drills short

Low skill? Now is where your job comes in... find a way to improve their skill levels through drills.

They are not getting better? Maybe things are too difficult for them right now? You might scale back a bit until they are doing things they can be successful at.

I coached varsity ball for a long time... had some really good team and a few really bad ones.... all you can do is try to make them better at the things they don't do well. It can try your patience, no doubt about it.

But think about it.... as a young kid, how good were you at certain things? I know I was pretty demanding but I made sure that we ended practice doing something that was fun for them... that way they wanted to come back and work a little harder.

Don't take it personally, just teach / coach them.... and try to have some fun yourself... IF you do, they will follow you.

Like

Like

I know some coaches (like me) that never change defenses, some will change a couple times during the game based on flow/situations, and others that will change defenses continually. From a winning standpoint all of those methods can be very effective. It''s not "what you do... it''s how you do it".

With some practice and the right emphasis, players should be able to switch defenses effectively. Some coaches will play zone after the miss baskets and play man after made baskets. Some will call it out each time. Lots of ways to go about things but it needs to be practiced to be effective.

With that said, I''m not a fan of changing defenses frequently with 6th graders. Changing defenses often is very effective with young teams... even as high as 9th graders because it confuses the offense. So you can have really poorly executed man to man and zone defense, yet still be successful simply because the changing of the defenses confuses the offense. That in my opinion can cut the kids short.... they should learn solid defense fundamentals and not use switching defenses as a crutch.

Like

How often do you typically change defenses in a game? The coach of our 6th grade travel team changes the defense practically every possession and we tend to give up points due to confusion. I'm just wondering what is typical / sensible number of changes in a game. Thank you

Like

Jeff says: 2/23/2016 at 7:26:29 AM I know some coaches (like me) that never change defenses, some will change a couple times during the game based on flow/situations, and others that will change defenses continually. From a winning standpoint all of those methods can be very effective. It's not "what you do... it's how you do it". With some practice and the right emphasis, players should be able to switch defenses effectively. Some coaches will play zone after the miss baskets and play man after made baskets. Some will call it out each time. Lots of ways to go about things but it needs to be practiced to be effective. With that said, I'm not a fan of changing defenses frequently with 6th graders. Changing defenses often is very effective with young teams... even as high as 9th graders because it confuses the offense. So you can have really poorly executed man to man and zone defense, yet still be successful simply because the changing of the defenses confuses the offense. That in my opinion can cut the kids short.... they should learn solid defense fundamentals and not use switching defenses as a crutch. Like     login   register

I was 23 years old and I attending one of the sports program based on: coaching/officiating, sports in administration, presenter and assessor. I am now would like to seek more information/ tips to administrate the big sporting event.

thank you.

Like

I would like to share a quote with the coach that was playing a team the he thought had more talent than he did. "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Like

Also, here are some ideas on motivating kids and getting them to buy in:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/mental/motivate-players.html

Like

Dan -

This is what you are getting paid the big bucks for.... teaching kids how to play a game / have some fun doing it / and as Jeff put it, some LIFE LESSONS along the way.

As for low effort.... kids love to compete.... so make your drills competitive and the losers can give you 3-5 pushups. Keep the drills short

Low skill? Now is where your job comes in... find a way to improve their skill levels through drills.

They are not getting better? Maybe things are too difficult for them right now? You might scale back a bit until they are doing things they can be successful at.

I coached varsity ball for a long time... had some really good team and a few really bad ones.... all you can do is try to make them better at the things they don't do well. It can try your patience, no doubt about it.

But think about it.... as a young kid, how good were you at certain things? I know I was pretty demanding but I made sure that we ended practice doing something that was fun for them... that way they wanted to come back and work a little harder.

Don't take it personally, just teach / coach them.... and try to have some fun yourself... IF you do, they will follow you.

Like

Dan - I think having fun is important. But it's also important to teach life lessons. And you learn life lessons both by succeeding and failing. I don't think the kids are learning much about life by "letting them go". They can do to the playground and play pick up games if they want to do that.

Here are a few intangibles you might want to instill:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/coaching/core-coaching-values.html

Like

I'm assistant couch of middle school b ball team. Great kids but not catching on to almost everything I'm couching. Effort low ,skill low, knowledge low and not getting better 15-20 practices in. Our first game 2 weeks away. My question is do I keep trying to teach them or do I let them go and just play. Run around have fun and just play.

Like

Bill -

That's one big boy!! Ok, I will relate this to a varsity game where they would have a big kid like that.
I would dead front him and have a lot of back side help. I would also pressure the ball IF you can ... and sag a lot and force them to beat you from the perimeter.....

Here is a game where they had a 6'11" center, they were #8 in the state at the time.... we are in the light colored uniforms.

http://www.ihigh.com/osbornecardinals/video_886382.html

Like

Ellen says: 4/12/2016 at 3:45:40 PM Some strategy right there! Like     login   register

I am coaching a middle school team.
wwe are playing a team that has a center that is 6' -1" and 190 pounds which is huge in our league. We have a much smaller team but are very aggressive on defense. What can we do to minimize the big mans affect on the game?

Like

Surya says: 4/17/2016 at 5:29:38 AM Then u should search for perfect PG Like   1 reply   login   register gr says: 11/13/2018 at 2:01:43 PM GREAT POST BUDDY BOY! Like     login   register