How to play Ultimate Frisbee: Field Size, Rules and Discs

The most important accessory – the disc

If you want to play according to the official Ultimate Frisbee rules,the right disc* is a must. It has a weight of 175 Gram . These features, combined with the right material – ideally bio-plastic – and flight stabilisation grooves on the top of the disc, ensure that the disc flies quite stably. As a result, beginners can throw more than 164 feet quite quickly with a little practice. And professionals often crack the mark of 328 feet.

What does appropriate clothing for Ultimate look like?

You don’t need any special clothing for Ultimate Frisbee – but you can get it 😉 HERE*. However, it is best to wear breathable trousers and shirts that offer you great freedom of movement. In addition, various advanced players also use gloves* that are precisely designed for Ultimate Frisbee. These have a good grip and therefore have a positive effect on throwing and catching. But it’s not as if you’d be played into the ground without them.

Spirit of the Game

Or to put it briefly: A sporting fight, but with absolutely fair means. Of course, the aim is to score points. But respect for the opponent, the fun of the game and the other rules must never be lost.

Playing field

Since an Ultimate Frisbee field is as big as a football field (328 feet long, 121,4 feet wide), you should have a certain basic level of fitness. In addition, the field is divided into two 18-metre deep end zones and a main field of 210 feet in a 1-3-1 ratio.

Start of the game

At the start of the game, the teams line up at the baseline. The throw-off is done by the defending team passing the disc to the attackers.

Backhand throw:

This is also called backhand. First you grip the disc with three fingers plus your thumb, with your index finger on the edge of the disc. Then place your supporting leg, which stays in place. With a star step, step out with the active leg and swing the Frisbee past your body with your arm. Make sure your arm is at chest level throughout the movement from back to front. The underside of the disc should also be facing downwards. Give the disc a rotation with your wrist at the end of the throwing motion. In this way, the curve of a right-handed throw will ultimately be a left-handed curve; for left-handers it is the other way round.

Forehand (sidearm throw):

The forehand throw is also called sidearm. It is ideal to let the disc describe a right-hand curve (right-hand throw). To do this, first pick up the disc in a v-shape with your index and middle fingers. Alternatively, you can hold it closed; just see how you like it better. Your thumb rests on the top while your ring and little finger stabilise the disc. The step position is basically the same as for the backhand. However, you should set the star step outwards. Pull the disc from the back to the front at waist level and gradually straighten your arm, which is bent at first. You can also use your wrist to rotate the disc at the last moment of the throw.

Upsidedown throw

A real overhead! Grasp the disc exactly as in the forehand throw. Now take your arm with the disc upwards and point your upper body straight towards the target. As with a slam throw, pull your arm over your head and release the disc when the arm angle is about 45°. You can also rotate the disc with your wrist.

Catching techniques

There are three main catching methods available to you.

• Sandwich catch: As the name suggests, the disc is enclosed by your two hands from above and below, just like the topping of the sandwich.
• Both hands on the edge: In this variation you also catch the disc with both hands. This time, however, your thumbs are on the top of the disc and all the other fingers are on the bottom.
• One-handed on the rim: As with the two-handed catch, but with only one hand.

Ultimate Frisbee…

• requires no more special equipment than a fairly affordable disc. No extra sausages are needed in terms of sportswear either.

• can be played on a wide variety of playing fields. Whether on the football pitch in summer or on the basketball or handball court in winter with an adapted team size. Ultimate always goes!

• is fun for pupils of all ages. In particular, the fact that the technique and rules are not particularly complicated increases motivation.

• promotes coordination, tactical understanding and the idea of fair play. Win-win-win.

• is not particularly physical and therefore less likely to cause injury than other team sports. This is a fact that can whet the appetite of more reserved pupils for team play. However, a certain level of fitness is a prerequisite, because the game simply involves a lot of position changes.

Warm-up

What is trained?

• Throwing technique
• Star step technique
• Keeping track of the throwers when team members run into each other.

What do you need for the exercise?

• A playing field of about 32,8 x 32,8 feet (for one group, more fields if there are more groups)
• a disc
• and a group of 4 to 6 players (ideally 3 or more groups).

How does the exercise work?

• The group members decide on the order in which they want to play.
• Everyone runs in sequence
• Player 1 is the first thrower, stops, makes one or two star steps and passes to player 2.
• The game continues like this, but in the course of time two other groups are added to the pitch.
• Further adjustment after a few minutes: one team becomes the opposing team with the aim of knocking down the discs of the other teams.

Be faster than the disc

What is trained?

• Throwing technique
• Star step technique

What do you need for the exercise?

• A disc
• several players (depending on the number of participants, form several groups with one disc each)

How does the exercise work?

• The players line up in a circle
• Person 1 passes clockwise to person 2 and then runs counter-clockwise around the group.
• The other group members pass the disc as quickly as possible.
• Aim of the exercise: Person 1 must be in their old place before the disc arrives there.

Double run

What is trained?

• Throwing technique
• Throwing at moving teammates

What do you need for the exercise?

• Two players
• One disc

How does the exercise work?

• The players line up a few feet apart and walk forward parallel to each other.
• They pass the disc back and forth to each other.
• Important: Whoever receives the disc and wants to pass it must stop after receiving the disc!

Relay race

What is trained?

• Throwing at moving teammates
• Speed

What do you need for the exercise?

• Several games (split into two or more groups)
• One disc per team

How does the exercise work?

• The members of a group line up in a row.
• the first person runs forward as fast as possible and spontaneously changes direction before receiving a pass from the second person.
• person 1 passes back to person 3, who passes the sprinting person 2, and moves quickly back to the end of the line
• The game continues until everyone is back in line – the team that gets through first wins.

King’s box

What is trained?

• Throwing technique
• Catching technique
• Situation overview

What do you need for the exercise?

• Players for two teams
• one disc
• two boxes

How does the exercise work?

• First, a playing field is determined, a box is placed in each ‘end zone’; a person from team 2 positions him/herself at box 1 and vice versa.
• the teams now play on opposite sides
• if the person from team 1 receives a pass at the box and is able to catch it, a point is awarded
• then another person from the same team can go to the box and team 2 gets the Frisbee for their attack.

4 against 2 squared

Good for implementing the Ultimate Frisbee rules under somewhat more complex conditions.

What is trained?

• Star step combined with
• Throwing under pressure and
• Throwing at moving teammates

What do you need for the exercise?

• Six players (one team of 4 and one team of 2)
• A disc
• a square playing field (about 49,2 x 49,2 feet)

How does the exercise work?

• The team with the 4 players is the attacking team and scores a point after 5 passes are successfully passed (caught) in a row.
• The two defenders try to intercept or hit the disc.
• alternatively, they make sure that the disc falls to the ground without being caught.
• Additional difficulty: the respective throwers of the attacking team are counted by the defenders (markers) and have only a limited time for their passes.

3 against 3 with overview

What is trained?

• Throwing at moving teammates
• Throwing under pressure
• Situational awareness
• spatial awareness
• Alternative passing options
• Deception of the opponent
• Observation of the opponent (1-to-1 man-to-man defence)

What do you need for the exercise?

• Two teams with three players each (more teams are of course no problem, but need more fields and discs or have to play alternately)
• one disc
• a playing field with an area of about 65,6 x 49,2 feet
• In each of the four corners, there is an area marked by hoops, boxes, etc. to indicate where the points are to be scored – make sure that these markings can still be played around.

How does the exercise work?

• One team attacks, the other defends (as with the king’s box)
• additional challenges: no zone defence, but 1:1 between thrower and marker, whereby the person throwing must not be touched
• Trick behind it, which should become clear to the players over time: Passes to score should be made to the corners of the end zone if possible.

Stack

The stack is used to create spaces for incisive players. To do this, all attackers line up centrally in the main playing area so that they are parallel to the sideline. The person from the attacking team who has the disc stands a good 49,2 feet away from the handler (player at the head of the stack).

Then the distance shortens to about 16,4 feet from the handler to the mids (in the middle of the line) and longs (at the end of the line). Now a cut is run by the handler to one of the two free sides. If he receives the disc, his successor runs into a corresponding position so that the disc can be passed on and on and finally arrives in the end zone to score. If the free run away from the centre is not successful, a return into the stack is an option to free up the space. However, it does not have to be the old position in the stack – lining up at the end of the line-up can also make sense.

Advantages of the stack: It is easy to learn. In addition, it offers the possibility to take a short break in between and to get a new overview of the situation.

Zone Offence

If the opposing team plays a zone defence and a stack is therefore rather unfavourable, the offence must be aligned to it. One way to do this is to have three handlers play as many swing and dump passes as possible. Two poppers then have the chance to run into the holes in the defence (= the free spaces) and receive the passes there. The two wings on the wings also offer themselves as play-off stations.

Advantages of the zone offence: The zone offence allows much more variability than the stack and can therefore be very surprising. However, the players already need practice with very complex situations and must be quite fit and spry with short sprints. After all, they are always on the move.

Man-to-man defence

This is the easiest defence to organise. Here, a pair is formed – i.e. a defending person is placed directly opposite an attacking person before the throw-off. In this variant, the defenders also stay with ‘their’ attackers during the rest of the game. It should be noted, however, that the handler (person with the disc) has a ‘protection zone’ with a diameter of 9,84 feet around him/her, where only one defender is allowed to stand. But: If another attacker runs into this circle, the corresponding defender can run into it.

Advantages of man-to-man defence: Easy to learn and very effective when played correctly. However, the defenders must be fit and, above all, attentive.

Zone defence

Zone defence is not about defending a specific opponent, but a specific area. This means that short backwards or sideways passes by the attackers remain playable, but the upward movement is stalled. The provocation of the handlers during the cross passes can lead to additional mistakes on their side, which the defenders can exploit. Popular tactics here are the cup and the junk zone.

Advantages of the zone defence: It forces the attackers to play in a rather energy-consuming way. In return, however, the defenders must be able to quickly anticipate and respond to many possible and then real attacking options.

The “Frisbee®” itself dates back to the 1950s. At that time, American children used round cake trays as throwing toys. However, adults quickly acquired a taste for this game and came up with more and more types. One of them was the Ultimate (alternatively called Ultimate Disc)! This Frisbee variant goes back to students from New Jersey who wanted to develop a sport in the 1960s that…

• all players would have equal rights and
• does not require a higher (referee) authority.

And whatever additional rules were needed could be found, for example, in basketball (step-fault and star-step rules) or American football (type of scoring). Admittedly, it may sound a bit adventurous at first. But the fun and success of the game proved the concept right. Thus…

• European and World Championships have been held since the 1980s,
• since 2007 “Champions League” Games in Europe
• and since 2011, biennial U17 and U20 European Championships

… have been played.