ULTIMATE

Kelvin Valdez Gacuray

2BSA-IS 2
Physical Education
HISTORY

Ultimate, also and originally known as ultimate frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a flying
disc (frisbee). Ultimate was developed in 1968 by a group of students at Columbia High School in
Maplewood, New Jersey. Although Ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its athletic
requirements, it is unlike most sports due to its focus on self-officiating, even at the highest levels of
competition.[4] The term frisbee, often used to generically describe all flying discs, is a registered
trademark of the Wham-O toy company, and thus the sport is not formally called "Ultimate frisbee",
though this name is still in common casual use. Points are scored by passing the disc to a teammate in
the opposing end zone. Other basic rules are that players must not take steps while holding the disc, and
interceptions, incomplete passes, and passes out of bounds are turnovers. Rain, wind, or occasionally
other adversities can make for a testing match with rapid turnovers, heightening the pressure of play.
From its beginnings in the American counterculture of the late 1960s, ultimate has resisted empowering
any referee with rule enforcement. Instead it relies on the sportsmanship of players and invokes "Spirit
of the Game" to maintain fair play.[5] Players call their own fouls, and dispute a foul only when they
genuinely believe it did not occur. Playing without referees is the norm for league play but has been
supplanted in club competition by the use of "observers" or "game advisors" to help in disputes, and the
professional league employs empowered referees.

In 2012, there were 5.1 million Ultimate players in the United States.[6] Ultimate is played across the
world in pickup games and by recreational, school, club, professional, and national teams at various age
levels and with open, women's, and mixed divisions.

The United States wins most of the world titles, but not all of them. US teams won four out of five
divisions in 2014 world championship,[7][clarification needed] and all divisions in 2016 competitions
between national teams[8][9] (both grass). USA men (Open) won the 2017 beach world championships,
but the Russian women's team ended the American previous undefeated streak by defeating team USA
in the women's final[10] (US teams won the other six divisions).[11]

Team flying disc games using pie tins and cake pan lids were part of Amherst College student culture for
decades before plastic discs were available. A similar two-hand, touch-football-based game was played
at Kenyon College in Ohio starting in 1942.[12]

Frisbie pie tin

From 1965 or 1966 Jared Kass and fellow Amherst students Bob Fein, Richard Jacobson, Robert
Marblestone, Steve Ward, Fred Hoxie, Gordon Murray, and others evolved a team frisbee game based
on concepts from American football, basketball, and soccer. This game had some of the basics of
modern Ultimate including scoring by passing over a goal line, advancing the disc by passing, no
travelling with the disc, and turnovers on interception or incomplete pass. Kass, an instructor and dorm
advisor, taught this game to high school student Joel Silver during the summer of 1967 or 1968 at
Northfield Mount Hermon School summer camp.

Plaque commemorating the invention of Ultimate at Columbia High School

Joel Silver, along with fellow students Jonny Hines, Buzzy Hellring, and others, further developed
Ultimate beginning in 1968 at Columbia High School, Maplewood, New Jersey, USA (CHS). The first
sanctioned game was played at CHS in 1968 between the student council and the student newspaper
staff. Beginning the following year evening games were played in the glow of mercury-vapor lights on
the school's student-designated parking lot. Initially players of Ultimate frisbee (as it was known at the
time) used a "Master" disc marketed by Wham-O, based on Fred Morrison's inspired "Pluto Platter"
design. Hellring, Silver, and Hines developed the first and second edition of "Rules of Ultimate Frisbee".
In 1970 CHS defeated Millburn High 43–10 in the first interscholastic Ultimate game. CHS, Millburn, and
three other New Jersey high schools made up the first conference of Ultimate teams beginning in 1971.
[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Alumni of that first league took the game to their colleges and universities. Rutgers defeated Princeton
29–27 in 1972 in the first intercollegiate game. This game was played exactly 103 years after the first
intercollegiate American football game by the same teams at precisely the same site, which had been
paved as a parking lot in the interim. Rutgers won both games by an identical margin.[14]

Rutgers also won the first Ultimate Frisbee tournament in 1975, hosted by Yale, with 8 college teams
participating. That summer ultimate was introduced at the Second World Frisbee Championships at the
Rose Bowl. This event introduced ultimate on the west coast of the USA.[14]

In 1975, ultimate was introduced at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto as a
showcase event.[18] Ultimate league play in Canada began in Toronto in 1979.[19] The Toronto Ultimate
Club is one of ultimate's oldest leagues.[20]

In January 1977 Wham-O introduced the World Class "80 Mold" 165 gram frisbee. This disc quickly
replaced the relatively light and flimsy Master frisbee with much improved stability and consistency of
throws even in windy conditions. Throws like the flick and hammer were possible with greater control
and accuracy with this sturdier disc. The 80 Mold was used in Ultimate tournaments even after it was
discontinued in 1983.[21]

Discraft, founded in the late 1970s by Jim Kenner in London, Ontario, later moved the company from
Canada to its present location in Wixom, Michigan.[22] Discraft introduced the Ultrastar 175 gram disc
in 1981, with an updated mold in 1983. This disc was adopted as the standard for Ultimate during the
1980s, with Wham-O holdouts frustrated by the discontinuation of the 80 mold and plastic quality
problems with discs made on the replacement 80e mold.[23] Wham-O soon introduced a contending
175 gram disc, the U-Max, that also suffered from quality problems and was never widely popular for
Ultimate. In 1991 the Ultrastar was specified as the official disc for UPA tournament play and remains in
wide use.[21][24][25]

The popularity of the sport spread quickly, taking hold as a free-spirited alternative to traditional
organized sports. In recent years college Ultimate has attracted a greater number of traditional athletes,
raising the level of competition and athleticism and providing a challenge to its laid back, free-spirited
roots.[26]

In 2010, Anne Watson, a Vermont teacher and Ultimate coach, launched a seven-year effort to have
Ultimate Frisbee recognized as full varsity sport in the state's high schools.[27][28] Watson's effort
culminated on November 3, 2017, when the Vermont Principals Association, which oversees the state's
high school sports programs, unanimously approved Ultimate Frisbee as a varsity sport beginning in the
Spring 2019 season.[27][29] The approval made Vermont the first U.S. state to recognize Ultimate
Frisbee as a varsity sport.
EQUIPMENT and FACILITY

Equipment

Discs- In order to play ultimate frisbee you a need a frisbee (makes sense). The regulation size for a
frisbee is 175 gram disc.

Cones- in order to properly play ultimte frisbee you need to label the endzones. the endzones are
exactly. If you don't have cones, you can use shoes if you don't have cones with you.

Shoes- this one is a matter of personal preferance. some people like to play ultimate in running shoes,
cleats, or play barefoot. i like to play barefoot. I know that most people perfer to play in shoes, but no
matter how you play, you want some sort of protection on your feet.

Facility
a) Ultimate is played indoors from September to December as this is the Indoor season for British
Ultimate. This presents potential hazards;
(i) The hard floor can result in injuries where players dive or fall over bidding for the
disc.
(ii) The boundaries of the pitch are close to the walls so players must be aware of
their surroundings. Removable obstacles such as netball posts and benches will
be removed before play.
(iii) The indoor pitch is small and with 10 players in play it is important to avoid
contact through good communication and understanding of the sport.
(iv) Good sports halls should have even floor to avoid trip hazards as well as no
obstacles that could interfere with the playing area.
(v) A clean, dry, non-slip floor is essential to reduce the risk of injury.
b) From December through to September the outdoor season means trainings and matches are played
outside on a 70 yard long x 40 yard wide pitch. This presents different dangers.
(i) The ground can be wet or uneven resulting in a risk or trips or falls. Appropriate
footwear is important to prevent injury from twists or slips in wet conditions.
(ii) Large holes should be filled in or covered to prevent injury to players and good
pitches should be flat without rises and falls that can lead to trips.
(iii) 14 players on a pitch can result in high speed collisions as players bid for the
disc, paying attention to your surrounds and being well trained in the sports
should reduce the risk of injury.
(iv) Play should not continue in conditions that are frozen or too wet as the sport can
become dangerous and increases the risk of injury above a satisfactory level.

Terminologies

assist (or goal-assist)

To throw the disc to a player who catches it in the endzone for a score.
Bid
To make a play on a disc, usually by diving, jumping or performing some other athletic movement.

Bookends
To both cause the turnover and score the point.

Brick
When the pull goes out of bound, play starts at the sideline or the brick mark located in the center of the
field 20 yards in front of the goal line the receiving team is defending. The offensive player picking up
the disc signals that she or he wants to play from the brick mark by clapping hands above head.

Callahan
A defensive player catches the disc in the far end endzone while defending. This yields an immediate
score for the defending team (akin to an own goal in other sports), as this endzone is their endzone to
score in.[80]

LayOut
A player extends her or his body horizontally towards the disc, ending up lying on the ground usually.
This can happen offensively to catch a far or low disc, or defensively to hit the disc and force a turnover.
[81]

D
Getting the defense or turnover.

Greatest
A player jumps to out of bounds for the disc, and while in the air throws back the disc to be caught
inside the field of play.[82]

huck
To throw the disc a long distance.

pick
One player obstructs or screens a defensive player, preventing them from placing an effective guard on
the player they are marking. Picks are generally accidental, and the player causing the pick may be an
offensive or defensive player.

Rundquist
To throw the disc immediately out of bounds on the pull giving the other team field position at their goal
line.[dubious – discuss][citation needed]

sky
To grab the disc in the air over the opponent.

spike
To throw the disc to the ground forcefully after scoring; borrowed from American football.
BASIC RULES

a) The Field: A rectangular shape with end zones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards,
with end zones 25 yards deep.
b) Initiate Play: Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front

of their respective end zone line. The defence throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense. A regulation game
has seven players per team.
c) Scoring: Each time the offense completes a pass in the defence’s end zone, the offense scores a point.
Play is initiated after each score.
d) Movement of the Disc: The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a
teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to
throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.
e) Change of Possession: When a pass is not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception),
the defence immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
f) Substitutions: Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an
injury timeout.
g) Non-contact: No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A
foul occurs when contact is made.
h) Fouls: When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts
possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul
disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.
i) Self-Officiating: Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own
disputes.

OFFICIALS and OFFICIATING

First, some elite level games (notably the 2010 College Open Finals between Florida
and Carleton) become unwatchable due to constant foul calls — some warranted,
others not — that lead to long stoppages which slow the game down. This, while not
necessarily bad for players (indeed, Florida used a very short rotation and made ticky-
tack but usually legal calls as a strategy to rest their legs), is terrible for spectators.

Second, observers don’t always help play continue quickly, as players feel they can
argue their case at length to help persuade the observer.

Third, observers are not able to make active calls that would affect the game. Players
can’t see everything (travels, e.g.) so they miss calls that might get made by a referee.

Fourth, many feel that penalties are not severe enough for infractions. The TMF and
PMF system is effective at tamping down aggressive fouls, but rarely stops players
from playing less physically or getting away with travels. Players who have played in
the American Ultimate Disc League generally praise the more severe yardage penalty
system and instant turnover on a travel.

Do referees solve these problems? Well, yes. But they also create a different problem,
perhaps bigger than any of the above. Players can get away with clear fouls.
The beauty of maintaining the “call your own” system is that there is no way to do
that. If you push off on the defender to open up space to catch the disc, the defender
will call that foul. And we already have observers in place to determine whether that
call was legitimate or not. As Adam Ford pointed out in our series on observers, “A
hybrid system of player officials and third-party officials (Observers as we currently
know them) gets us the best of both worlds…The game ends up being called more
fairly than either a pure self-officiated system or a pure third-party system. And just
as importantly, the game is played more cleanly.”

So how, then, can we address the issues above without moving to third-party referees,
which have their own major downsides?

It’s simple. Keep the observer system, but make the following changes:

Put a time limit on foul discussions.

Stop the endless arguing about whether the defender hit you before or after the block.
Put a fifteen second cap on discussions. If the two players can come to an agreement
in that time, great; if not, it goes to an observer for an immediate call. You don’t get to
make your case to the observer. They make their decision. And if they didn’t see it, it
goes back. Play on.

This will keep the game moving and make the game much more fun to watch.

Let both players and observers make active travel calls.

USA Ultimate experimented with allowing observers to make travel calls but not let
players do so. Just let both parties make the call. Better enforcement on both sides.

Foul calls should still be player initiated. This allows for players to accept a physical
level of play, much like players do in a pickup basketball game. And observers still
have the power to set the tone like referees. If they feel too many chippy fouls are
being called, they can overrule calls on light and incidental contact.

Give observers more penalty options.

There has to be a way to cut back on both bad fouls and bad calls without just the
threat of ejection. There are many possibilities here: AUDL style yardage penalties,
penalty boxes, possibly even a foul limit. There need to be immediate and tangible
consequences for unspirited play.

In the case of particularly bad calls, players should be given an instant TMF, much
like diving in soccer earns a yellow card.

The penalty for travels should also be increased — adding a yardage penalty or even a
turnover would instantly cut down on the constant handler foot-dragging
FUNDAMENTAL SKILSS

A player may catch the disc with one or two hands. A catch can grab the rim, or
simultaneously grab the top and bottom of the frisbee – in a clap-catch / "pancake
catch". Care is needed with the hand placement when catching with one hand on the
disc rim, making sure to catch on the proper side of the disc, according to which way
the disc is spinning. When a frisbee is thrown at high speeds, as is frequently the case
in a competitive game of ultimate, one side of the disc can spin out of the player's
hand, and the other side can spin into their hand, which can make a catch far more
secure. For this reason, along with the desire to secure the frisbee strongly and
"cleanly", the general advice is to strongly prefer to catch with two hands if possible.

The most popular throws are backhand, and forehand/flick and less frequently,
hammer and scoober or any other throw. Part of the area of ultimate where skill and
strategy meet is a player's capacity to plot and execute on throwing and passing to
outrun another team, which is colloquially known as "being a deep threat". For
example, multiple throwing techniques and the ability to pass the disc before the
defense has had a chance to reset helps increase a player or team's threat level, and
merging that with speed and coordinated plays can form a phalanx that is hard for
competitors to overcome.

When referencing the curve of a throw, the terms out-side in (OI) and inside-out (IO)
are used. An OI throw is one that curves in towards the opposite side of the throwers
body from which it is thrown. An IO throw is one that curves toward the same side of
the throwers body from which it is thrown. With the rotation of the disc in mind, an IO
throw has the side of the disc rotating toward the direction of the throw angled to the
ground, whereas an OI throw has the side of the disc rotating toward the thrower
angled to the ground. IO throws are generally the more difficult throw, and are very
useful for breaking the mark.

Apart from these formal strategies, there is also a freestyle practice, where players
throw and catch with fewer limitations, in order to advance their ultimate handling
skills.