What is Ultimate?

For visual people…THIS IS ULTIMATE.

For those preferring to dig a little deeper…Ultimate is a limited-contact team sport, meaning that fouls are used to discourage contact between players. The unique combination of:

• A flying disc as the object of play (official size: 175 grams)
• Gameplay elements from Soccer (Football), Basketball, and American Football
• Player-based officiating through “The Spirit of the Game”

makes Ultimate a unique, fascinating, and demanding sport. But you have to know the rules first. Luckily there’s only 10 simple rules you need to know before you can start playing. Since Ultimate is self-officiated, it’s important for all the players to have a good understanding of the rules.

The Field: The official field size is 70 yards by 40 yards (64 meters by 37 meters), with end zones on both ends that are 20 yards (18.28 meters) deep. This rectangular field is a fairly large size, although it is still smaller than a soccer or football field.

Starting Play: Each team of 7 players lines up on their own end zone line at the beginning of a point. Once both teams have indicated that they are ready to start, the defense throws (“pulls”) the disc to the offense.

Scoring: The team with possession of the disc has to complete a pass in the defense’s end zone in order to score a point. Play is then restarted at the team’s respective end zones.

Disc Movement: The player with possession of the disc (“thrower”) cannot move around the field, except for the use of a pivot foot. The disc can only be moved elsewhere on the field through a pass to a teammate, and must be done within ten seconds. The defender guarding the thrower (“marker”) does the counting.

Change of Possession: If a pass goes out of bounds, is dropped, blocked, or intercepted it is considered a turnover. The defense immediately becomes the offense and can take the disc.

Substitutions: You can only replace players in the game if there is an injury or after a point is scored.

Limited-contact: Physical contact is not allowed between players, and this includes picks or screens. When contact is made a foul occurs.

Fouls: If the foul disrupted possession of the disc, play restarts as if the possession was kept. If the player who made the foul disagrees with the call, play restarts as it was before the foul occurred.

Self-Officiating: The player who is fouled is responsible for calling the foul. This is done by yelling “foul” to alert the players on the field. If there are disputes, they must be resolved by the players themselves.

Spirit of the Game: This is the most important rule in Ultimate. Sportsmanship and fair play are very important, due to aspect of self-officiating. Competitive play is important, but never at the expense of following the rules, respecting other players, and having fun.

*video by Kingw2nd on Youtube.com
*rules by hubpages.com

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