I have a Canon 7D, and typically shoot everything I do in its single-point autofocus zone select mode, because I usually want fine control over exactly what the camera is focusing on and I often find that its two automatic focus zone select modes don't focus on what I want in focus. For most of the photography I do, this is fine -- I have enough time that I can compose the shot the way I want, use the joystick on the back to select the right focus point, and take the shot at my leisure.
However, recently I've been doing more event/action photography, and I've been running into issues with this mode of operation. Too often, I will see a person start to do something interesting, but my autofocus point is not in the right place -- so by the time I get the camera up, adjust the settings, and move the autofocus point, the opportunity to take the shot has passed. My question is, what autofocus zone selection mode and workflow should I use for this type of photography? I could use the 5-zone partial-auto mode (which gives me a choice of top, middle, bottom, left, or right, and then the camera chooses the points within my selected region), but I find that the time needed to switch in between that mode and the single-point mode is similarly prohibitive, and I have to hope that the camera chooses the right thing to focus on.