Questions From Subscribers...

Thanks for the story, Mike. Like you said, it proves that teaching man principles first will make your zone much more effective.

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man vs zone

I coach 5th and 6th grade rec team. I have taught my kids man to man right out of your book from day one. We are 7 games into the season. All the teams we played use zone D. This saturday I only had 6 kids show up for the game. I felt like I had no choice but to put them in a zone so they would not be worn out for the 2nd half. Also one of my kids is Autistic so he has trouble with endurance. I explained this to the parents and the kids 5 minutes before the game. Bear in mind that we have not even set up any zones in practice.Well they were monsters in a triangle and two. 22-4 at the half and I back them off,explaining to them that its no fun for the other team and this was why I worked them so hard on man to man.They really got it and we did win 36-28, but more importantly to other coaches and myslf man to man D simply develops better skilled players. Save the zones for the playoffs if you must.your kids will be better players at the end of the season learning solid man to man priciples

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My team recently displayed a weakness that i am having trouble correcting. A team ran a box-in-1 on my point guard and my other guards could not handle the pressure. We turned over the ball and lost the game. How can i become effective offensively against a box-in-one??

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Hi Jalisa,

A zone is a defense where the players guard a particular area rather than a player. In man to man defense, you guard a particular player.

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what is zone

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Before you consider pressing or using zones at the youth level, please read the following article. It may change your mind forever on this topic: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/age.html

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