Backer Zone Defense

[Swishy K]

I've heard a little about this defense where one player stays in the middle while the others play man to man and am interested to hear from teams and coaches who use this type of defense.

Is it considered a hybrid system? Does it eliminate the need for slides? Is there reference material I can access to read up on in more detail?

Thanks.

[SharkCoach]

A backer zone is usually a 2-3 man down zone with the 6th guy(the backer) as a constant slide/double. The backer floows and totates with the ball and is ready to attack any dodges to the cage. Where a backer zone is vulnerable is to a 1-4-1 and quick but dangerous passes. NYIT does use this as their base defense though and is pretty successful.

[laxdevil666]

we ran it this year, and it worked very well. what it does require is for people to be very good on the 2nd slide to the slider's man on the crease. you also need to person on the crease to be a very hard hitter since there isnt much else in the shooters way if he beats his man except for the backer, and if the backer dosnt hit hard, its easy to beat. but if you have a good backer, you can be an impeneterable d-unit.

[Swishy K]

I saw a clip from the new Jack Kaley DVD about pressure zone defense. It looked like one player stayed in the middle and followed the ball around. Does anyone know if this is the backersone defense?

[WHEELAX2]

backer or rover or roamer or whatever you choose to call it works well if you have a very athletic and very active defense..

it requires a lot of communication and awareness by each defender.. this defense can be quite effective when playing teams who do not move the ball well and who are prone to keeping their heads down when dodging.. it can cause them to force a lot of passes and make mistakes..

[CoachK]

We run it as a counter rotation (like many man down defenses) which leaves one defender splitting the two offensive players furthest away from the ball. The extra man is a rover in the middle & will be the slide & presence in the middle.

We do not run it against a 1-4-1, as it is really ineffective.

[geiselj]

We used a backer zone in poor weather or against teams that insist in dodging from up top. While we made several adjustments to cover the top-middle middie and the attackman at X, I'm not sure that any of them were sound. What's the best way to cover these 2 men (areas) when using a backer zone?

[zlax]

The questions that we have about backer zone D: how do you handle multiple creases, multiple cutters and circle offense. If you are playing against a single crease, dodging offense it seems pretty sound. We're just wonder if it's worth the work( it takes alot of coordinated team action and therefore alot of practice time) if a team realizes what you are doing and they just jump into a 1-4-1 or a circle. Is it worth the effort? Any comments?

[geiselj]

The multiple creases are simple in that you already have 2 defensemen in the crease area and just bump over one guy toward ball side sliding to dodge with closest crease man. Quite honestly, the offense probably won't dodge too much with 2 players on the crease against a zone d anyway. Against multiple cutters, the backer zone should work well for 2 reasons- first, the offense will probably move their crease-man out of the crease area to provide space for the cutters- thus freeing-up the 2 defensemnen on the crease area to pick-up cutters and pass them on; second, if the offense is sending multiple cutters through, they are probably looking to feed or use the cutters as a screen for outside shots rather than dodging. Against a 1-4-1 , we'd go to a man coverage with a crease slide package similiar to what Princeton uses. Against a circle you can go to a matching circle man-to-man with adjacent slides or drop into a man-zone with one guy on the crease to help pick-up cutters and double dodges. If you do this, you'll have to cover the ball and adjacents and split the 3 backside offensive players with 2 defenders (probably not the greatest situation- but works if you have players that do a good jub one on one at the ball). I still haven't heard how teams typically cover the offensive player when ball is at top center or at X.

[dlex35]

How is the backer zone against a 3-3 and a 2-2-2?

[SharkCoach]

Against a 3-3 offense you really need to run a 3-3 zone unless the opponent's 3 up top are weak and don't pass quickly (or have no range on a shot). We ran the backer this past weekend against a 3-1-2 (from midfield to attack) and never gave up a shot from the three middies. Against a 2-2-2 you really need to switch into a crease slide because of the distances involved. We simply have the backer be the first slide.

[dlex35]

Thank you..