Originally Posted by Anonymous
I think you can teach kids to play defense in a zone or in a man, but I'm sure everyone on here is smarter than I am. I do think more teams will go to zone defenses with the rule changes.


If you are referring to NCAA rule changes what does that have to do with youth? Youth leagues/tournaments aren't going to have the resources to manage a shot clock. And they shouldn't. Officiating is bad enough. Yes - these kids are going to learn zone defense/offense when they get to high school and college. But that's when their teams are practicing/playing 6 days a week. Youth teams running zone do so only for a competitive advantage. They know that their opponents aren't competent in running a zone offense because they only see a few times a year. When you only practice 3-4 hours a week you're not going to spend much time on zone offense. Unless your focus is on beating the team that runs zone vs. focusing on fundamentals. Youth game should be about teaching fundamentals and having fun. Ask any defender who played in college whether man or zone is more fun