When the defence is set up as a zone, the offence must realise it immediately and set up with three handlers as soon as possible. If the offence has set up a horizontal stack then it is very easy to change to this as the 7 players are already split into 3 handlers and 4 receivers.
The main idea of a zone offence is to make passes back and forth across the pitch, thus ensuring that the cup gets as tired as possible. Making gains are usually done through the wide players. The three handlers are basically stationary. One must stay a little deeper to make himself available for the dump, and the other free handler must be a bit further upfield to ensure that the team in possession doesn’t make a loss on the dump and swing.
The 4 receivers work slightly differently than the 4 receivers in the horizontal stack. The two on the wings, basically time their in cuts so that they are in position when the wide handler receives the disc.
Once they receive the disc, they pass it back to a handler and the same move is attempted on the other side of the pitch
The tow players in the mid rarely receive the disc, and basically just try to occupy the two defenders, maintaining the one-on-one situations out wide. The one time they can be very effective is when they “crash” the cup. That is, come in very close to receive the disc to avoid a stall out.
