The match up zone defense is hybrid between man on man defense and zone defense.  Describing the match-up zone defense in detail is probably one of the more difficult things about the sport for me to articulate.  This defense has two prerequisites: quickness and intelligence.

First, there are a couple of terms that are commonly used between players for communication.  One is switch and the other is rotate.   The difference between a switch and a rotation is that a switch is when two players swap coverage of two offensive players.   A rotation occurs when a defensive player, who has been working in one section or quadrant of the field, switches into another section.  Also, for the sake of this description, the 'top' of the offense refers to the offensive players furthest from their attacking endzone and the 'bottom' of the offense refers to the players closest to the endzone they are attacking.

As with the motion offense, defensive players should try to keep their hips 'square' to the thrower as much of the time as possible.  This will allow for better communication between the defenders and also allow for you to have better field awareness of your opponent and a better ability to move laterally to adjust to their moves.

The main form of communication in the Match Up Zone D is eye contact.  I like to draw the analogy that verbal communication on defense is to eye contact what snail mail is to instant messaging.  Eye contact is so much more faster and so much more can be conveyed using eye contact than attempting to use language.

In general, the idea behind the match up zone is to be able to play tight man on man defense but at the same time, provide a framework for which defenders can take liberties to disrupt the offense in trying to execute their scheme.

There are three basic positions in the defense; markers, middles and deeps.  As I mentioned, as a player transitions from playing one position to the next, it is referred to as a rotation.  The positions are somewhat similar to normal zone positions.  The deeps tend to play deepest of the the furthest offensive player downfield as to keep the offensive players in front of him.  The deeps have full view of the full field on offense and defense and are always watching for players cutting deep out of the front of the offensive formation.

The middle's job is to slow down the attack of any would be penetration moves by players coming from the 'top' of the offense and to also take offensive players that are filtering back in from the 'bottom'. Since the middles job is made more complicated by the fact that there are players entering and exiting their zones from both directions, it helps if they alternate from being square positive (hips facing towards the thrower) and being square negative (hips facing away from the thrower a.k.a. braveheart).

The markers job is to chase the disc and try to come in at the thrower at unsuspecting angles to cut off any flow opportunity and disrupt the rhythm of the of offense.  Assume as a marker that your thrower is going to have a decent penetration move and concede it to him, allowing your middle to pick him up and rotating over the the next open offensive player (usually in the case the person who was just thrown the disc).

There are a few important things to remember about this defense.  First, this defense is extremely dynamic.  Just because you just picked up a player on a switch doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to be on him very long.  This is very much a read and react sort of defense.  As you adjust to whatever the offensive players are doing and switch on and off players, they are also going to counter adjust to your moves.  Be prepared to release a receiver just as soon as you've picked him up.  Also, commitment to covering your receiver is critical in both eliminating options for the offense but also in communicating to your teammates that you've made a decision.  Often times in the match up zone the worst decision is the one that you don't make.  Be mentally quick and alert and be prepared to take advantage of mistakes this defense encourages the offense to make.

In a sense, the defense resembles something like the prevent D used in football at the end of the halves.  Bend but don't break.  I liken it to a pair of German Shepards herding sheep.  The idea is to work as a team to contain the offense and force them into the mindset that they need to capitalize on windows of opportunity when they arise and then be ready for the kill.

This defense is very liberating for an aggressive player.  Since it relies heavily on teamwork, there is a lot of room for players to take chances knowing that their teammates are going to be in position to be supportive.  Also, by virtue of the fact that the seven players are already operating and communicating as a team, when turnovers do occur, they are in far better position to transition to offense and score compared to other types of defenses.

Also, one of the most important elements to remember while playing this type of defense is that from time to time, the offense will get an easy score.  The defense will break down, a switch won't be picked up and there will be a receiver wide open in the endzone.  There are things that you can do to mitigate this eventuality but it will happen.  What you need to remember is that for every easy score a team scores against you in the Amoeba D, you will have gotten five easy turnovers where the offensive player threw the disc right to you.