Don't Put Winning Over Learning at This....

Recently the travel team that my daughters are on (4th grade and 5th grade team) played in a tournament. It was their first one. They did an outstanding job for the first go around. Previous to this, we played in a scrimmage against one other team. It was great for my kids to get more exposure to the game and against other teams. But there is something bothering me...

Last night I did an interview for the Basketball Speed Insiders ( http://www.basketballspeedinsiders.com/) with my brother Jim Taft. He was the first interview I did for the Basketball Speed Insiders and members loved it so I did another one with him. While we were talking about youth basketball programs, I brought up my displeasure with youth coaches (basically 13 and under teams) using a zone defense at this level. I believe the only reason you would do this is to win, but I think you can still encourage winning and not jeopardize the integrity of the game. I believe zones hurt the game at this age level. I don't know too many kids that can shoot a quality jumper from the range you need to be effective versus a zone. Plus I feel zones teach players the wrong concept of defense. They need to learn to cover their man and how to help and recover and switch if needed. But not get lazy by playing in a zone. I asked my brother Jim about his feelings and he totally agreed. He actually felt the commissioners of the youth leagues need to make it a rule that zones are not allowed. I totally agree.

Here's the thing; I am not opposed to zones at the upper levels- I think they are useful and a great strategy at times. But at the youth level you are basically saying "I don't care about the development of the player I just don't want to lose this game." In my opinion that is a poor decision.

The goal of the youth game is to teach the kids to develop their most fundamental skills and then gradually expose them to more strategies and tactics. Playing a zone is saying the heck with fundamentals I am going to use this strategy. Come on! Let the kids learn how to dribble versus man-to-man. Let them learn how to make a back door cut and a pick and roll. Teach them to set up a defender and penetrate. These are the parts of the game the kids need to learn.

In this tournament my 4th grade team which is mainly comprised of 3rd graders with a few 4th graders, had to play against a zone. I had to call a time out and walk out on the floor and place the kids in the correct spots- even then they were trying to dribble into the zone. I talked to them about passing the ball and reversing, but they are 3rd graders who have never played the game before. When the team played us man-to-man we could make some things happen. The game should be man-to-man. Coaches should teach their players how to play help defense, denial defense and anything in between but keep it man-to-man.

Well, I have had some people say, "Well they have to learn it sometime" or "Why don't you teach them how to play versus a zone?" I don't have one 3rd or 4th grader that has the strength to shoot the ball from outside 10-11 feet with correct form. I don't want them to have to chuck the ball up just because the other coach doesn't see the importance of proper coaching and plays us in a zone. The bottom line is I could waste a lot of practice time teaching the kids how to beat a zone and all that it would do is take away from coaching time on important fundamentals.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Play Hard,

Lee

PS: Hey, Now is the time you should be focusing on developing your players. The season are pretty much over. Basketball Speed Insiders is a great resource for you to do just that. Go To http://www.basketballspeedinsiders.com/