Ultimate Frisbee A presentation by Matthew C. C. F. Vaughan

General things  No contact – vertical air space  Spirit of the Game: cheesy, but sweet.  Don’t spike the disc unless you’re in the College Nationals tournament and you made a sick bid to win a game.  You have to run a lot so get in shape  Carry your disc with you everywhere

Terms to know  Huck: Any long throw (Hail Mary)  Universe Point: when a game is tied 15-15, this is the game-winning point  Callahan: When the defending team intercepts a pass in the other team’s endzone (it DOES count as a point)  World’s Greatest: When a player jumps from in- bounds to grab a disc going out of bounds and throws it in (all in the air)  Brick: Any pull that lands out of bounds, untouched by the receiving team (taken to the Brick Mark 20 yards in front of the endzone)  “UP”: Called by team on sidelines or on field to let everyone know that the disc has been thrown.  Bid: a try. More commonly: a layout  Skyed/Skying/to sky: to beat someone vertically to the disc (“he skyed him”, “you got skyed”, etc.)

Disc Care  Pray to your favorite disc before going to sleep  Do NOT let any good disc hit the pavement. If this happens, apologize to the disc, then to me, then to the Spirit of the Game  Make sure that you catch the first throw of a new disc, for obvious reasons  People steal discs all the time at the league and tournies, but only if they’re laying around on the grass. Keep yours in your bag or with everyone else’s if it’s not being used  Only take a disc that is not yours if everyone else is gone (it has clearly been forgotten), and if it is a really sweet disc.

The Physics of Frisbee Flight

Practice  Everyone brings their own disc (Ultrastar 175), finds ONE other person to toss with while people are showing up. If odd number, go to 3  Everyone on this team will have a strong flick. It only takes about a week of constantly practicing and it is worth it. If you don’t have a strong flick yet, that’s all you’ll work on until it becomes strong.  We will run for warmup, maybe drills…more than just scrimmage.  If a skill of yours is lacking, ask someone to work on it with you.

Pull  Both teams must be behind goal line until pull is released  If we’re pulling, start running behind the line, and run down field to man or zone positions  Yelling is appropriate while either pulling or being pulled to  Only catch easy ones  Can’t bring pulls to top of endzone so aim for back corner  Throwing a high pull gives you more time to set up defense  If you’re pulling, make sure everyone is ready, hold the disc up and make sure you wait for their signal (raising their hand).  No hammer pulls. Or I’ll break you.

Pull (Cont.)  Man D:  “Line up” - Guard the person in line with you (only when pulling)  “Count off” – Go down the line saying the number of the person you’re covering

Pull (Cont.)  “Hold the Line” – When you’re NOT pulling, you’re on offense and don’t have to mark up. Get on the line and don’t switch positions so the other team can mark you. (technically, one foot should be on the goal line, but it’s more important to just not move relative to each other)

Pull (Cont.)  If the other team scores, jog in a brisk fashion back to our goal line so we can talk about what happened and how we need to stop it. Don’t walk back  Technically: 90 seconds max. between points, but no one really keeps track.  Remember to hold the line while we’re talking about what to do for the next point.  If playing a good team, we’ll call out offensive zone positions in case they throw one.

Marking  Other names for defending person with the disc:  Disc (“I got disc”=I’m marking the person who’s picking up the disc)  The mark/ Point mark, etc.  Point Block: Blocking the disc from being thrown (if hand is hit, it’s a foul)  **The primary objective of the marker is NOT to make a point block. The primary objective is to cut off angles and to limit options for the thrower. **  The point block should be attempted only when it does not jeopardize the primary objective (don’t lose your balance).  Keep in mind: turnovers in our favor should generally come from good defense on the field, AIDED by the marker limiting the options of their offense.  Foot block: do in practice before game; don’t lose balance, follow through with hand (show)

Marking (Cont.)  How to mark:  In general, pick a side to force. (show how to force)  “Force/Forcing Home” force the thrower to throw toward the side of the field that the team is on (where we put our bags, where people are sitting out)  “Force/Forcing Away” Same, only the side that we’re NOT on.  Force forehand at the GRADA league because most kids don’t have good flicks (which is why we will)  Stay on your toes, get low, bend from you knees not waist, move with your legs not arms (in other words, shuffle rather than reach), and HOLD THE FORCE

Marking (Cont.)  Strike: Called by people on sidelines or someone who sees something the marker doesn’t. It means to switch the side you’re forcing for TWO stall counts because someone is making a cut to the open side (show).  “NO HUCK”: Again, yelled by someone who sees something the marker doesn’t. It means someone is cutting long so don’t let them huck it. Get in front of the thrower with arms low, etc. (show)  Call “UP” when the disc is thrown  Don’t over-commit or take reckless chances to make a point block.

Throwing  According to the rules, the disc is allowed to leave the thrower’s hand in any way.  Never use a thumb throw. Ever.  If you ever find yourself avoiding throws because it requires the flick, work on your flick until you bleed.  Never throw across your body (for right handed people: throwing to right side? Flick. Left side? Backhand)  Use feet appropriately to coincide with not crossing over your body to throw (Show).  Outside In/Inside Out: Angle the disc slightly so it floats from the outside in/ from the inside out  In general, accept the force that the defender throws on you.  Breaking the Force: throwing to the side that is NOT being forced (the side that they don’t want you to throw to). This is utilized at higher levels of play, but avoid it for now.

Throwing (Cont.)  The HUCK:  Everyone should have a good forehand and backhand huck.  For a good huck, use your arm for power, and angle the disc in an inside-out way so it levels out (show).  Usually teams who are not very good get one kid who can throw to huck it down the field every play. We won’t do this unless the situation calls for it  Use your judgment if there is a quick turnover and someone gets a good head start down the field.  Put float on the disc accordingly (the more wide open they are, the more float should be on the disc to give them more time to not screw up)  Hucking can lead to easy points, but should not be relied upon.

Throwing (Cont.)  Regular throws to cutters should be crisp, and to their waist/ stomach area. Higher throws are more vulnerable.  When tossing the disc around, practice making good throws that you would do in a game, not just throws that get to the person  Special throws  Hammer: Not simply an upside down throw. Its purpose is to be released high to go over the head of the mark. Will be used only as a LAST resort (stall 8-9) when there is no dump (which shouldn’t happen anyway).  Scoop/Scoober: Upside throw, but on backhand side. Used sometimes to break the cup (show) or for people who think they’re really good to show off

Throwing (Cont.)  Fakes: Used to throw the marker off balance  Generally, only fake when someone is cutting.  Faking can include a twitch of the arm, pump fake, or just a look (show)  All good players use fakes, and it’s easier to mark someone who isn’t faking… so use fakes.

Catching  USE TWO HANDS (unless you can’t). There is no reason not to and it makes drops less likely  ALWAYS go to the disc. Always.  Learn how high you can jump  When on defense, ALWAYS go for the catch. Do not swat the disc down or just hit it. This leads to disastrous consequences.  Fingers down for low throws (show)  When at practice, consciously practice catching with right hand only and left hand only to build coordination  How to sky: start with arm back, jump and drive knee up

LAYING OUT  Laying out is awesome.  Everyone will lay out  Dive so your body is parallel to the ground, and land on your entire stomach/chest/legs to increase surface area and decrease pain.  Layouts only hurt when you don’t catch the disc  When someone has the chance to lay out, everyone on the team must yell “LAY OUT” at them to incite a sick bid

Defense  Good defense wins games because it stops them from scoring, but more importantly, gets turnovers.  Analyze situation based on type of person you’re defending (tall/fast/slow/novice/good person, etc.)  COMMUNICATION is ultimately the most important aspect of a good defense. Always be yelling, people on sidelines especially.  Man on man:  Stay with them at all costs, but not right on top of them. That can be risky because they can cut away from you  Usually, primary objective is to not let them get available for a pass. Cut off angles  If they get in a stack, get on the side that’s being forced, and give them room to start running, cutting off the angle (show)  In GRADA league you’ll get kids who run around all day and no one throws it to them. In this case, conserve energy by cutting off angles, but don’t let them get away from you.

Defense (Cont.)  Switching: You should swap people you’re guarding in certain situations, but make sure your teammate knows what’s going on and that you’ve switched.  Poaching: When a defender leaves the person they’re guarding to help out with another potential threat. Use judgment (obviously someone in the endzone is more important, but be careful about leaving your person)  Laying Out on D: Is a sign that you didn’t mark the person well in the first place, but is still awesome. Make sure that if you fail in a layout D attempt that you jump right back up to mark the disc. Also, laying out on D when you clearly don’t have to is good because it psyches the other team out.

Zone Defense  Zone/Cup Defense: Any defense where defenders are guarding a certain area of the field rather than a specific player (just like any other game).  More specifically in Ultimate, the zone tries to stop progress of their offense by covering dangerous parts of the field, and force the offense into making risky throws to force a turnover.  Every good team has a zone defense and zone offense. Usually games start out man to man, then if a team is having a hard time they throw a zone.  Good for windy days because their throws are more likely to be turned over.

Zone Defense (Cont.)

 Basic Positions:  Cup (In the cup): Creates a U-shaped “cup” around the mark/handlers to prevent up-field movement  Left/Right: Depending on what side of the field the disc is on, one of these players marks the disc and forces the mark back into the cup, while the other one prevents lateral throws.  Middle: Prevents throws up the middle  Keep in mind, on the person on the mark can be on the thrower. All others must stay beyond three meters of the mark.  The cup will run full speed at the pull to set up and prevent offensive progress (make sure it is a high pull if we are throwing a cup to give us more time to set up)

Zone Defense (Cont.)  Left/Right Wings: Prevents offense from advancing up the alleys (covers cutters who move in after dump/swing (to be discussed later))  Should stay hovering in the center to clog things up for the offense, but move out to the lines when they see a threat. Communication is important here.  There will be people that you’ll be covering, but don’t actually be on them unless there is an immediate threat (show)  VERY important position because when the wings fail, the cup can easily fall apart and the offense has an easy shot at proceeding to the endzone.

Zone Defense (Cont.)  Short-Deep/Deep-deep OR Middle/Deep: These are two positions to prevent long throws  They have no backups  They can switch as they see necessary  Usually offset to cover more area  Short-deep: Prevents throws over top of the cup, helps out the cup in general  Deep-deep: Basically just plays deep defense. They can call on a wing for help if they see a big threat.

Zone Offense  For our purposes, the zone offense will only be used when the other team throws a zone defense on us.  A regular stack and cut offense will be easily stopped by a zone defense, so we have to throw a zone offense.

Zone Offense (Cont.)

 Basic Positions:  Handlers: three people with good throwing and catching skills.  Dump-Swing to get the disc out of the cup. The cup will follow the disc, and the handlers will keep dumping and swinging until something opens up up-field with the wings.  Wings: They make cuts as the handler receives the disc.  If the opposite wing receives the disc, the wing on the other side makes a cut (to the endzone or across the field depending on where the defenders are)

Zone Offense (Cont.)  Poppers: Position themselves right outside the cup.  The poppers hang out behind the cup, and either get throws from the mark to there (which is risky) or cut right into the cup.  When the poppers “pop” into the cup, the thrower either fakes to him or passes to him.  A fake to a popper in the cup makes one of the side cup defenders move inward. This makes room for a throw to either a wing or a handler who has moved up field (show)

Zone Offense (Cont.)  Some things to remember with the zone offense:  Zone defenses are more common when it’s windy, therefore zone offenses will be used when it’s windy. Handlers have to be very careful.  If you have good handlers, dump/swinging all day can really tire out the cup.  The cut from the wing should be while the disc is in the air to the handler (show)  Any progress up the field should be taken advantage of so the cup can’t reform, but NOT at the expense of a reckless throw.  Variations/other types

Stack/Cutting