Youth Zone Defense play
Youth Zone: Dribble Over and the Guard Hand-Off
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 11 steps
About this play
For ages 12 and up, after the man-to-man series. Offenses do not only pass against a zone; they dribble the ball from spot to spot to drag defenders out of their areas. This play shows the two dribbles that matter and how the guards answer them: the dribble over, where the point guard dribbles from the top to the wing to pull the forward up early, and the dribble across the top, where the guards hand the dribbler off to each other at the middle instead of one guard chasing him across the floor. Why the forward stays down on a dribble over: the guard already has the ball, and a forward who comes up anyway leaves two defenders on one player and the short corner empty. Why the guards hand off: a guard who follows the dribbler across the top leaves his own elbow, and the gap he leaves is the drive the zone cannot concede. Where the advantage lies: a dribbler who has to go around the zone instead of through it is using clock and getting no closer to the rim; the zone concedes the dribble and keeps its shape. Common youth mistakes: the forward sprinting up when the guard is already on the ball, both guards following the dribbler, and the hand-off happening late so the dribbler splits them. The guard hand-off here comes from Upward Sports' lesson on perimeter movement in the 2-3 and Coach's Clipboard's notes on defending the point; look them up if you want to go deeper.
