Why Zone Defense is Effective in Youth Basketball

If there’s one point I’m not going to argue in this article, it’s this:
Zone defense is incredibly effective at a youth basketball level.
That is a 100% indisputable fact. Coaches use zone defense because it flat out works against young teams and players.
Here are the 2 main reasons why…

1. Players are forced to shoot from outside

How a 2-3 zone will usually set up in youth basketball.

We all know that most of the points scored in youth basketball come from layups and shots taken from close to the ring.
By implementing a zone defense, the defensive team packs the paint and takes away the driving lanes to the hoop.
What’s option does this leave the offensive team with? The outside shot.
Therefore, since the offensive team can’t get to the basket and take a good shot, you’ll see a bunch of young players chucking up long-distance shots and praying they’ll go in.
As I’m sure you can imagine, not many of these shot attempts are successful.
Most of these youth athletes are simply not physically developed enough to make outside shots consistently. They lack the strength required to shoot the basketball properly.
But since that’s the only open shot they can get, they take them anyway.