Hi Kaye,

Coming up against a team who are good at zone defence can always be challenging, however there is a simple way to get around this. As with zone defending, the defending players mark the space rather than the player, it can be fairly easy to break through by splitting these defenders. 

Get your players to take on a defender, this means running at them so they will go to a man-to-man mark, and changing direction to pull that defender out of the zone. This will have now left a space for another attacker to drive through. Although the player who has taken on the defender may not receive the ball, they will have created space for their teammates to drive through. Alternatively, if the defender does not come with them, they will be free to receive the ball. 

Ensure your team have the confidence to take on the defenders and split the zone. As soon as one player breaks the zone, the whole zone defensive unit is broken.

Hope this helps.