Your talking about 7th graders! How many college coaches are watching 7th graders? Too much emphasis on recruiting in youth lacrosse. It should be about learning the game and trying to win the game. Being seen should not be the ultimate goal - especially for 7th graders.
Read an article on why zone is bad for youth basketball. The quote and list were interesting and applicable to youth lacrosse.
"A player that is taught man-to-man defense when they’re young will have a much easier transition to playing zone defense than a player who plays zone defense exclusively at a young age will have transitioning to a man-to-man defense when they’re older.
So this comes down to a case of ‘do you want your players to be better prepared for the future or do you want them to win now?’"
15 poor defensive habits that a zone defense promotes…
1. Lazy on-ball defense
2. Standing and watching off ball
3. Poor closeout technique
4. Little accountability
5. Lack of communication
6. Minimal defensive movement
7. Fewer opportunities to guard different positions and areas of the floor
8. Fewer opportunities to practice communication in defensive transition
9. Fewer opportunities to practice decision-making in defensive transition
10. Reduced accountability on box outs
11. Fewer decisions while playing help defense
12. Decreased defense-rotation repetitions
13. Fewer opportunities to learn what constitutes acceptable defensive risk-taking
14. Minimal opportunities to defend a screen
15. Fewer opportunities for bigger players to guard the ball.
