A (fairly in depth) guide

1. A (fairly in depth) guide Ultimate Written by Henry Lau EEAAASSSYY

2. Throwing • Throwing • There are two main throws used in ultimate, the backhand and the sidearm (or forehand). The backhand grip is basically grabbing the disc and sort of making a fist. The thumb should be on top of the disc and all fingers underneath. Some players use their fingers to grab the rim, some have their fingers spread out and flat pointing to the centre of the disc. Use whatever you find comfortable to you. • The sidearm grip looks like pointing a gun. Again your thumb is on the top and your middle finger (and optionally your index finger) is pushed against the rim. Some players put their index finger towards the centre of the disc to help stabilise their throw. • For more information check out • http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/uh/training_backhand.html • http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/uh/training_forehand.html • When you throw you should try and impart as much spin on the disc as you can as this will keep the disc stable during its flight. Scientific studies have shown that 90% of the spin comes from the wrist, so try and use your wrist to put spin on, not your arms. • The angle of release is also important when throwing. If the disc is leaning either towards or away from you the disc will have curvy flight path. Sometimes this is desirable, for example if you make a pass gently curve into someone’s running path. Try throwing flat and curvy throws at practice and see how the disc behaves. • When throwing outside you want to keep the throws as flat as possible so they don’t get taken by the wind. Also try to release your throws as low as possible as the wind is slower closer to the ground. Throws going downwind tend to drop as they haven’t got as much air to push against relatively so try and put a bit of float on downwind passes. Try throwing when the wind is up and see what you have to do to make a throw successful.

3. Throwing cont… • Pivoting is a vital part of throwing. Pivoting installs good throwing technique and leads to more completed passes. For right handed players their left foot is their pivot foot and vice versa. If you pivot to one side before throwing, this helps to get round people and give you enough space to get a good clean throw out. Remember to pivot before you throw. • If you pivot from one side to the other the marker will follow your fakes. Fakes are important when you come up against decent marker. Fakes will move your marker if you are looking like you are going to throw. You should not look to make a set number of fakes before throwing. Once you have proved that you can pivot, a marker may fall for body fakes. Try throwing break mark throws during practice to see how a marker reacts to your fakes and pivots.

4. Forcing • Don’t forget to count seconds when you are forcing. The ideal position to force is when you have knees bent, a straight back and arms out low. In this position you are looking to stop low throws but you can also react to high throws and their pivots easily. Look at the non-pivot foot foot, the one that moves when the person you are forcing is allowed to move. The side that their foot is on gives an indication of where they are going to throw. You should only move when their foot moves. Try not to use your feet or legs to go for feet blocks as you are left stationary when you attempt these.

5. Catching • How to catch • There are several ways to catch the disc. The best way is to use a pancake catch or crocodile catch. This is where you have one hand above and one hand below where you think the disc will arrive to you. This is recommended for most situations, especially when it’s windy and the disc can suddenly rise or drop. • If a disc is up high and you are running towards the disc it is sometimes impossible to get one hand above the disc for a pancake catch. Here a two handed rim catch is suggested. Your hands should be like when you are making a talking hand, with fingers on top and thumbs underneath pointed away from you towards the disc. This also works for when the disc is low. Here your fingers should be pointing down and thumbs pointing up. • A one handed catch should be used when the disc is far out to one side of you. If the disc on your left use your left hand, if it’s on your right use your right hand.

6. Stack As you have probably been shown at training we have been trying to use an offensive structure called a stack. The stack is roughly a line of players up the middle. The purpose of the stack is to create space on the field for players to run into. As you see from this picture, the defense (shown by wiggly line) have set up with a force (to the right hand side). The reason there is a force is to limit the space of or protect a part of the field. The direction of the force can also be influenced by the conditions (mainly wind) or the abilities of players (beginner’s normally have trouble with sidearms). In this picture the player with the disc (small white circle) is being forced to use his sidearm. The defender is placed where he would normally swing his arm for a backhand thus preventing the player throwing a backhand. The player can easily throw a sidearm. The idea of the force is that when the thrower manages to get a throw out on the side that he or she is being forced to, the player receiving the disc will receive it on the right hand side but with less space. Eventually the disc will be forced against the sideline which is a smaller space and thus easier to defend.

7. Cutting When a player makes a run into space this is called a cut. There are two options for the player; to cut to the open side or to cut to the break side. The open side is the side that the player with the disc is being forced to throw to. We play (for now) a system where we cut from the back of the stack and if we are not clear we clear out into the front of the stack. Clearing out is important as it allows other people to cut into empty space.

8. Clearing out • Clearing out is the term for getting back into the stack when you have made an unsuccessful cut. Perhaps the thrower wasn’t looking at you when you made the cut, or your marker is sticking to you too tightly but if you think you aren’t going to get the disc you should look to get back into the stack as soon as possible in the most direct and convenient way possible trying to avoid the cuts of other people. By clearing out once you have finished your cut you leave the space for other people to cut into.

9. Where should you stand on defence? • Defence is hard because you have to keep up with the player you are marking:-He or she dictates the play. There are 3 things that you should try and keep an eye on. • The player you are marking (most important) • The thrower • Where the throw is most likely to be thrown. • Watching all three of these will give you information about where and when the player is going to cut. When defending you also have to have a bit of trust that the person marking the thrower will hold the force. You should be positioned on the open side of the player you are marking and slightly closer to the thrower than the player. If you stand side on and close enough to feel their presence and their movement you can also watch the thrower and other cutters, while feeling and watching the movement of the player you are marking. This position is in between the thrower and where the pass is most likely to be thrown. This gives you a best chance of blocking off the space. All you have to do now is follow your player as he or she makes a cut. Since you started in front of your player, you should always be able to get to any throws before the player you are marking. • One important consideration; Always know where your man is, watching only the disc concedes points, especially on the endzone line. Never turn your back to your player on your line because they will have an easy cut to either side to score. The only difference in marking is the last player in the stack. The last person in the stack protects any deep threat by standing slightly deep of their player. They are still on the open side but their main objective to watch for any deep throws.

10. How to cut? • The open side cut is the normal cut as it is the easiest for the thrower to make. When the defence is in the way of where you want to cut the offence tries to get in front of their marker. There are many ways to achieve this, the simplest and often relied upon by most beginners is the out pace your marker (road runner style). However there will come a point where you will eventually meet a marker who is as fast as you. Then you need to play intelligently. • Faking is an important part of cutting. By faking you are making your marker off balance and giving you an opportunity to get past and a few steps ahead of your marker. Faking can be done using the eyes, the head or the body, although a good marker won’t fall for these. To make a decent fake you will have to run as if you were making a cut to a certain part of the field and watch your marker and wait for a sign that they are unbalanced then capitalise on their mistake. Possible signs include • Defender’s weight is on their heels or moving backwards • Defender’s weight is not over their hips and are fully committed to protecting a particular cut • Defender’s legs cross over • Defender is working hard to accelerate or already at high speed • Defender is slow to react and doesn’t stay with you • Defender is not facing you • By looking at the defender’s shoulder should tell you if they are fully committing to your fake and their shoulders will turn in the direction of the cut.

11. Where should you cut? • There are 4 main options for where to cut, break under, break deep, open under and open deep. • Open Cuts: • Open cuts almost always require a fake to break free from your marker. It is also important that you always cut forward towards the disc and diagonally towards the line (as shown in the diagram). A cut straight out sideways offers the defense (possibly the mark of another player) the opportunity to break out in front of you and intercept the pass as does cutting forward past the stack. Remember to keep running to the disc until you catch it otherwise your mark will get there before you. • The break side cuts don’t require a fake because the marker is already on the wrong side of you so you can run directly into space. For the thrower the break side cut is harder to hit as the thrower has to pivot around their marker, however this is not impossible. A break deep cut is rarely seen as it is an extremely tricky throw to pull off, however there may be a point where it is on, for example if the person marking the thrower is forcing the wrong way or the disc is quickly picked up.

12. Poachy poachy poachy • Normally you should look to cut open but there are two circumstances when a break force throw is on. The first is when your marker is poaching off you. A poach is where the marker stands on the open side and underneath you by a couple of metres. A poach tries to cut off the space for your cut and also allows the marker to see your cut with plenty of time and space to get ahead of you. Someone who is poaching can also step across to block the space where you are cutting for someone who he or she isn’t directly marking. • When you are poached your marker will stand a couple of metres in front of you in the space where you would normally cut. To counteract this you shout “poach” and run to the break side. Since your marker is trying to protect the open side when you run to the break side there will be a huge gap between yourself and your marker. This should be enough margin of error to give the thrower an easy enough throw to the break side. • Playing a poach on “D” (defense): is generally not advised but you can be guaranteed people will do it. Poaching allows the blockage of the whole cutting lane (or side) but opens up the chance of a break and consequently a deep threat. NEVER poach on the deepest player. Alex will shout at you if you poach too much.

13. Poach part deux • There is another way to play against the poach. If you run through the poach all the way to the sideline, there is going to be space behind you for the next cutter to use. It is always worth running through the poach as the poach will be blocking the lane anyway and the chance of a break side pass will always be on.

14. Dump and swing • There are going to be times where you are hard pressed against the sideline and being forced into the sideline. Since you are being forced into the sideline, there isn’t going to be much space. The best way for you to create space is to move the disc back to the break side. The dump is a player who stands near you and is your “get out of jail free” player. They will be standing nearby for an easy throw when the stall count rises and you have no options left. If you are on the sideline the dump will normally look to break the force again and pass it to another player on the break side. This is called a swing. Put together a dump and swing should take you a good way across the field. This switches the area of play and give you more space if you were caught against a sideline. • There are several variations of the dump and swing for different situation. These will be taught later, but for the moment the important thing to take away is that you can always move the disc off the line by breaking the force to your dump. A point to remember when dumping (ha-ha) always ensure you have eye contact with the dump before you pass, this is possibly the most important thing to remember when you dump.

15. Placement of the stack • The position and direction of the stack affects where the free space for the cutters is. Ideally the stack should be placed so that there is a large open space and also space for break side cuts. This means that the stack needs to rotate or lean to one side, depending on where the disc is. The stack in the right hand diagram is perhaps a bit extreme as it makes open cuts difficult, however the main priority of the handler stuck on the line is to dump and swing, or, if it’s on huck it long.

16. Deep cuts (ouch) • Deep cuts can be extremely effective as they gain a lot of ground but they can be susceptible to interceptions. A deep cut also provides a balance to under cut. If your marker is getting used to seeing you cut under they will stand underneath you and just poach off your under cuts. If you cut deep every now and then, you marker will have to stay honest and mark you properly, which makes faking more effective. • A deep cut should start fairly close to the disc (about 20m) and should include a fake. The deep cut should also try to stay away from the sideline as much as possible to give a larger margin of error for the thrower to put the disc into. The best way to cut is straight up the middle (as shown) as this makes either side more accessible whilst maintaining space on both sides. Sometimes the thrower may not be able to get a hit a deep cut in which case you clear back into the stack to leave the deep space empty for someone else to cut into. • Ideally during a point you should be looking to make a mixture of deep and under cuts.

17. Fouls / “Calls” • In ultimate frisbee there are generally (in a good game) few fouls (or “calls”) however this is one thing that makes a game ‘good’ as spirit is such a vital part of ultimate. There are various different fouls that can be called and it is important that you know what they are so that you can understand why one is being called on you and more importantly when you should call a foul. • Pick: A pick is basically an obstruction; if someone (whether it is purposeful or not) uses another player (regardless of which team they’re on) to prevent you from keeping up with them, that is a pick. For example if the person you are marking runs behind another player it is usually a pick. A pick is used to ensure that you have the same amount of chance to get the disc as the player you are marking and has to be called out loud. However this may only be called if you are within 10 yards (3 metres) of the player you are chasing. In the case of a pick you must shout “pick” and depending on when it is called there are a number of outcomes; if it is called before the throw, play stops and the disc goes back to the thrower, if it is called after the throw, providing the player catches it, play continues (if they do not, it is a turnover). We will try to explain these in training as it is a tricky rule to both get the hang of and explain! • Strip: A strip is called when the disc is ‘stripped’ from your hands. If you have control over the disc (either in normal play or in the process of catching it) and someone on the opposition takes it from you or knocks it out of your hands this is a strip. The attacking team will invariably have priority over ‘strip’ calls that is if it is deemed that two players caught it at the same time, possession will stay with the team on offence, if this happens in the endzone a score will generally be accepted. • Foul: There are a number of fouls, obvious ones are abiding by the ‘no contact’ rule and there are many other complex ones. Important things to know are that 1) if you are marking someone with the disc and they hit you with the disc (for whatever reason) and drop it, unless you were moving it is not a foul. However for example if you move your hand and hit theirs as they release a throw, that is a foul on the thrower. 2) When jumping for the disc you have a right to the space above you, if someone stops you from jumping it is a foul. However if someone jumps above you and gets the disc and they make contact; unless you believe you could have got it before them had they not made contact with you it is not a foul. Lastly as long as you jump up straight (which isn’t always the case) you will generally not cause a foul or be fouled. • Fast count: If you think your marker is stalling faster than seconds, say loudly “fast count”. The marker will have to drop their stall by two. Normally they won’t fast count again in the same stall, but if they do, it’s a foul and the stall goes back down to zero with a check of the disc. • Double team: Double team is sometimes called when a team is playing zone defence against you. If there are more than two of the opposition within 3 metres of you and there is no one else on your team within 3 metres of you, you can call double team. The first time this happens in a stall, they have to drop their stall by two. If they do it again within the same stall, it is a foul and the stall resets to zero with a check of the disc. • Travels: If you move your pivot foot while throwing, if you take more steps than is required to stop or if you receive a pass on the run and release a pass after making three ground contacts and before coming to a complete stop, you have travelled. The stall count returns to what is was before or 5, whichever is lower • Final Note: Ultimate is largely about spirit of the game so ensure you do not make loads of calls or silly calls. It’s a lot to take in so if you have any question just ask. Many games can be ruined by a couple of bad calls so keep your wits about you but most importantly just enjoy yourself.

18. The Rules • If you are totally keen and want to read the rules, or want to check if something is legal or not visit • http://www.wfdf.org/index.php?page=rules/wfdf_ultimate_rules.htm