(First Go at a true BLOG so please forgive grammatical errors and typos. After all I am a Math Teacher, I'm only use to dealing with numbers.)
Yes...I said it. Zones are for Zombies. If you are a youth basketball coach what is your goal? To win a plastic golden trophy or teach kids about the FUNdamentals of basketball? Personally all of my trophies pre-high school are in a plastic box somewhere in my parents basement. They hold no weight or value. It's not like I'm going to set up a display in my Man Cave of 30+ trophies that show I won a Basketball or Baseball Little League Championship. If all you teach to 2nd-8th graders is how to stand on the Elbows, Blocks and in the Middle of a 2-3 Zone then what have they learned? To play like Zombies, hold their hands out and stand in a spot? Plus you're not helping the opposing team work on the skills they need like Dribbling, Passing and Shooting. The goal of a Zone is to really hope teams settle for Three Pointers... and from my experience 99.9% of those kids aren't anywhere close to being physically ready to shoot that far out. So by little league teams playing Zone we have kids who are "chunking" the ball as hard and as far as they can hoping they might hit the rim. None of those kids have learned about "Ball-You-Man" or how to defend a pass and cut action, or how to help if someone drives to the basket, or how to box out (it's harder to box out in a zone than it is man to man). For long term success youth player need to be taught Man to Man Defense. As they learn those basic concepts and then get introduced to "SHELL DRILL" concepts they will have a better understanding of how to play defense. Plus at the same time, you can be working on Offensive Spacing, Awareness, Passes and Cuts. Teaching Man to Man is a WIN-WIN! So instead of having little league games with everyone standing around with their hands up playing like Zombies, let's teach them how to play real DEFENSE. Build up by teaching the proper Stance, Footwork, Angles, and Actions to take. As Youth Coaches let's teach them how to see ball and man, deny a pass, not get face cut, etc. Years down the Road they'll appreciate that more than their 2nd Grade Basketball Trophy that was broke anyways after an epic Nerf Gun battle (Speaking from experience)! Down the road by the time these players are competing in middle school/ high school basketball they'll be a time where a Good Zone Defense looks like Man to Man, and a good Man to Man Defense will look like Zone (i.e. Virginia's Pack Line Defense). If you're a youth coach/ travel team coach and need help implementing man to man defense click the contact page! Elite Athletic Training is excited for 2019 and the launch of a 14U Boy's Travel Team.
Team Info, Tryout Dates, etc will be made available soon. This team is for Middle School players in the Yadkin Valley Area! Team Elite will focus on individual and team basketball development. We will play in Regional Tournaments around the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Charlotte areas. |
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