Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
No need for a zone defense at this age. Teach the kids to move their feet and play man to man. Strictly about the wins if you are playing a zone at this age.


Introduction to zone is completely appropriate at this age. Most club and competitive travel teams are expected to play to win at this age.


That's a load of crap. Yes, clubs try to win. But most 7th grade coaches don't feel the need to play zone in order to do it as their "primary" job is to develop the players and prepare them to play for their HS teams. As a parent of a LSM, I would be quite irritated if my son was playing a lot of zone defense as opposed to developing skills to play one on one defense, learning the proper slides, etc. Much more important than a free t-shirt.


Introducing the concept is much different than making it primary. But then again, reading and the ability to comprehend are different as well, as you make abundantly clear.


There is no reason to teach zone to middle school kids. They will learn it when they get to high school. It's not like there is a specific skill set that needs to be developed to excel in a zone defense.


Most competitive club players are going to have some zone experience, or at least a more than elementary understanding on the concepts going into HS. With clubs running basically year round, the only reason to not introduce is if the coach does not understand. The only people viewing this negatively are those that have kids that haven't learned it yet. Otherwise, why care what some other kid learns..