Best way to teach a zone defense

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[RockyTopRowdy]

I played 2 years at Tennessee and whenever we ran zone we had a 3 man cup with a mark, crotch and leg and would force to one of the sidelines where one of the wings would trap as well.  We also would have 2 wings, a short deep and a deep deep.  I want to teach this to my summer league team this summer.  My team is a bunch of guys who are athletic and for the most part can all throw well.  It took a while last summer to really get them to focus on forcing one way or another and to really get the ho stack.  If we can run a zone in our summer league we could roll a lot more teams than we did last summer.  What are some of the best ways to teach the zone to a team of kids who have never run it before?  Would it be best to draw it out on a clipboard, just put everyone in position on the field and explain everyone's role to them and then have them shadow run it?  Any help i can get would be greatly appreciated.  For those in Pennsylvania enjoy the nice weather.     

[jrc21]

if i were teaching a team zone, id start off with watching some video of zone d from competitive ultimate as a team so everyone can understand the concept and general idea behind this type of defense. from this id assign positions based on your players strengths and explain the theory behind each. because the standard zone is built around the cup, id work with them first so they get the mechanics of working together as a unit and then go from there. when im learning something new in sports i find it useful to view it from the other perspective, ie. set a cup on one of the players learning the cup position and get him to see what makes it hard to throw through/around/over or dump when a cup is set on that player.

best of luck.

[Checkity]

(only a short post sorry, ridiculously busy with university deadlines!)

Firstly, do a circle drill.. if you are unsure what this is, it's basically a "piggy in the middle" thing but with a 3 or 2 person cup in the middle (depending on numbers). A force and stall count gets put on the person with the disc while the other defenders create the rest of the cup with the intent on forcing a turnover...... Overheard throws (hammers, knives etc), pass backs or throwing to the person immediately on your open side are not allowed.

This teaches a cup to form up properly to put pressure on the thrower while those around the circle learn skills like breaking the force and dummying throws to pull defenders away...

Ofcourse, to teach about wings, mids and deeps a different strategy is needed. I agree with the previous post about explaining it and drawing it out.

The tactic to teaching zone really is to be patient, set it up in a drill and reset everytime there is a turnover. Let people mix up the positions as everyone should feel comfortable having to play anywhere.

If you have any people left on the sideline, get them talking to the D... (1 person talks to cup, 2 talk to the wings, 1 for mid and 1 for deep for example). Get them to tell them when they need to drop back, move up, cover the swing, be aware of the crash etc etc. communication is the key to a good zone.


It'll take a while to learn, I tried to teach some beginners a zone during a beginners tournament and we just got ripped apart but hey.. we tried at least.


I'll be glad to help out more once I get my dissertation done.. 16,000 words for 1st April isn't an exciting concept!

[AstroLucjan]

I know the most about Zone D from "Ultimate Techniques and Tactics" book:
http://books.google.pl/books?id=Zvgbmv7OinAC&dq=ultimate+technics+and+tactics&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=pl&ei=lJCoS7eNI8v5_AbDnrj2Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

The Huddle always help me out, so i guess You will find there usefull tips as well:
http://the-huddle.org/issues/7/
http://the-huddle.org/issues/13/
And here You can find some videos of Sockeye runnin' Zone D with comments :
http://the-huddle.org/features/2007-open-finals/

In my team we also use the circle drill.
Sometimes we did a drill/game 7on D vs 4 or 5 on O. This teaches the O line to run thru the Zone Defence when they have not a lot of opportunities. Of course when there is a turnover or a point - O gets the disc back on their goal line (or D pulls) and starts again. 10 times, and switch.

[Checkity]

Off topic and I do apologise 

Re: Ultimate Techniques and Tactics

I do love the face of the guy in red laying out! True layout-face.

[RockyTopRowdy]

Wow guys thanks for all the help.  Feel free to keep firing information at me, the more I know the better.

[tommynomad]

Since you're teaching, I thought I'd jump in as the educator. 

All of the above responses are right, because each of your players is going to have a different learning style.  By mixing up graphics, video, text, and re-enactment, you're appealing to many of them. 

I've seen top Japanese ulti teams use singing to reinforce their learning drills, so that's another option. 

I also use Ultimate-the Board Game and let my teams move the player pieces around for a birds'-eye view of what I want them to do.  Finally, I laminated my copy of the game board so I could use it with dry-erase markers on the field, where playing pieces aren't as viable.