Zonal defence has been common in the women’s international game for several Olympic cycles, Kerry says, citing Marc Lammers in the Beijing era and the Australian women. Belgium’s zone was the point of difference in the men’s game, one reason teams struggled against them, and others copied it through the Tokyo cycle. Now he sees hybrids, sides snapping between zone and man to man within a quarter to ask different questions of the attack. Watch the full masterclass: Closing and tackling in a zone defence.
