How to Attack a Zone Defense in Youth Basketball

Zone defenses can be tough to beat in youth basketball. The strategies in this article will help you knock your opponent out of their zone and back into man to man defense in no time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Beat the zone defense down the floor. If your point guard can push the ball up the floor quickly, your team can get easier fast break points before the zone defense can get a chance to set up.

2. Flatten out the zone defense with vertical ball penetration. Even if your team can't get fast break points by pushing the ball up the court quickly, your team can still benefit by causing the retreating zone defense to compact itself. This effect will make the zone smaller and give your players a better chance to shoot closer, higher percentage shots.

3. Overload one side of the zone defense. By placing 3 or 4 offensive players on one side of the court, your team can create mismatches in your favor as the defense will not have enough people to cover all of the open people on that side.

4. Attack the gaps in the zone defense. Having your players drive or cut into the gaps of the zone can create confusion as both of the nearby defenders will over react to compensate. This will create even bigger openings in the zone. By attacking the gaps, two defenders will have to slide and commit to covering only one offensive player creating openings in the spots vacated by the defenders.

5. Distort the zone defense by reversing the ball often. Have your players establish themselves on one side of the court and then quickly reverse the ball, either by passing around the outside or throwing the dangerous but effective skip pass. The defenders in the zone will be forced to scramble to the other side to balance their zone, but will get further out of position with each movement of the ball.

6. Screen the edges of the zone. Many coaches incorrectly believe that a zone defense cannot be screened. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the best ways to get open medium range jump shots against a zone is to set a screen on the outside of one of the guards in the zone. Then, either on the dribble or with a pass to an offensive player stepping into the open area created by the screen, an open shot can be created. The same effect can happen on the baseline by screening the outside of the defender closest to the baseline.

7. Pound the boards. One of the biggest weaknesses of a zone defense is its rebounding. Since defenders are guarding an area and not a particular offensive player, they have to locate someone to box out before trying to get the rebound. Your offense can take advantage of this by sending four players to the boards after each shot. I teach my players to try to get to the front of the rim, this gives them the best opportunity to get an offensive rebound or tip in.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your players are patient as they attack the zone.
• The more passes your team makes on offense, the more the zone defense will distort.
• Teams playing zone defenses tend to pick up more fouls as they are out of position for rebounding. Prepare your players to go to the free throw line and shoot with confidence.
• Zones can be intimidating. Practice against them often to take away their mystique.
• Resist the temptation to simply launch 3 point shots or other low percentage shots. Those shots over the zone will always be there and will play right into your opponent's hands.