[CMHCoachNRef]

As has been pointed out, the problem with allowing 4th and 5th grade teams to play zone defense is that coaches are able to avoid teaching any defensive fundamentals while being successful since many 4th and 5th graders cannot consistently make shots from outside 12 - 15 feet.

All defenses -- man-to-man, match-ups and zones -- require man-to-man principles in order to be successful. If coaches are merely allowed to pack players in the lane, these fundamentals are not being taught.

Years ago I administered a 4th - 6th grade boys basketball program. From the start of the 4th - 6th grade program, a man-to-man requirement was in effect. However, the year before I took over, several coaches were taking advantage of the man-to-man rules (all defenders had to be within 6' of their men).

We instituted a number of changes to the rules that were designed to teach man-to-man defense that included helpside principles -- which had never been addressed in the past. Our rules were not designed to be simple to enforce (as most man-to-man rules are). They were designed to force the coaches to teach the fundamentals of man-to-man defense which are utilized regardless whether a team is playing man-to-man defense or zone defense.

Our man-to-man rules were in effect for virtually the entire game for the 4th graders (except last minute and OT) and 5th graders (except for the last three minutes and OT). The rules were in effect for the first half for 6th grade teams.


Our rules required the following (sorry in advance for the length):

A. Player defending the player with the ball must attempt to be within a closely guarded distance whenever the ball handler was within 20 feet of the basket.
B. All other defenders of players on the ball side of the floor must be in a denial position (within 6' of the opponent) except
1. when the opponent is more than 20' from the basket,
2. when "helping" to stop the ballhandler from attacking the basket.
C. All other defenders of players on the non-ball side of the floor may assume a good "help side" position in the lane. These players must react to the movement of their opponent including:
1. obtaining a denial position should their opponent move to the ball side of the floor,
2. obtaining a denial position should the ball move to their opponent's side of the floor.
D. When defending "Stack" offenses, only the top player in the stack needed to be guarded (this was to prevent teams from utilizing stacks to create the 1v1 plays described in the original post) the other players could assume a good helpside position.
E. Trapping is prohibited except in the following situations:
1. two offensive players are within 3' of the ball.
2. in the lane when the ballhandler is driving to the basket when a defender is helping to stop a drive.
3. during transition during a fastbreak when the defense is not able to be organized.
Such situations are not to be penalized.

While the rules seemed somewhat complicated on paper, the enforcement was actually rather simple. We wanted to force each player to learn the fundamentals of man-to-man defense. As the coaches began to learn how the rules were being enforced, they began to implement offenses requiring team play and team movement.

We were very happy with the results over the eight years I administered this program.