I realized that my team needed a zone defense. I always thought it was difficult to coach against teams that could run a man and a zone effectively, rather than have different slide packages with a standard defense.
However, I want to keep it simple. I should run a 3-3 zone. The trouble with a 3-3 zone is when offenses hit the seams — rotating and sliding can be difficult. The most difficult spot for me is when they carry into that spot between the top 3 and the bottom 3.
Therefore, after getting this idea from a fellow coach, I thought I would give this a try. Look at it like two triangles rotating towards the ball. This worked great for my bottom triangle. However, it did not for my top triangle because I wanted to keep my talented long pole in the middle. Therefore, I ended up bailing on the top triangle and having him just run a string. This kept my long pole in the most dangerous spot of the zone and put less burden on the short sticks, which I had stay in the top right and top left now.