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How To Play
Basic Play & Rules | Spirit of the Game | Glossary of Terms
Basic Play & Rules
- Ultimate is played with 7 players per team (5 when playing inside) on the pitch, but with as many subsitutes as is wanted. Males and females play together and there is no referee, players must call their own fouls.
- The pitch is 100m long and 37m wide and has two 18m deep "end zones" at each end. These are the scoring zones. The indoor pitch is much smaller and regulated by the size of the gym.
- To start a match, the two teams line up across the front of their end zone, and one team pulls (throws the disc to the other team). Usually each player stands opposite the player they will mark, so the team receiving the disc will hold their line (stand still in their line up).
- When a player has the disc, the cannot run with it. They have to keep one foot stationary (a pivot foot, usually the left foot for right-handed players and the right foot for lefties). They have 10 seconds (8 when indoors) from the time an opponent marks him/her to throw the disc to a team-mate. The marker counts these 10 seconds out, which is called a stall-count. If the count gets to 10, the defending team get the disc.
- The marker will usually stand side-on to the thrower and prevent him from throwing to one side of the pitch. This "forces" him/her to throw to the opposite side, called the open side. This process is called forcing, or putting a force on. The defending team will mark this side of the player they are marking, to prevent them getting the disc easily.
- While the stall-count is happening, the attacking team usually create a stack. This is a line going from the player with the disc all the way up to the opposition's end zone. From this, the attacking players will make sudden runs, called cuts, to get away from their markers and be free to receive a pass on the open side.
- The defending team can get possession if the attacking team drop the disc, catch the disc out of bounds (when their landing foot lands beyond the outline of the playing area) or when they intercept the disc. When this happens, it is a turnover, the defending team become the attacking team and vice-versa.
- A point is scored when a player catches a pass from his/her own team-mate inside the opposition's end zone. It is not a point if the player scoring lands with their foot on the front-line of the end-zone. In this situation, they take the disc back to where they landed and resumes. When a point is scored, the teams swap ends, so the defending team goes to the opposite end and the game restarts with a pull from the scoring team. N.B. In university outdoor rules, you can score by intercepting an opposition's pass inside their end-zone. This is called the Callahan Rule.
- Substitutes can only be made between points, but as many can be made as teams want, and subs can come on and off as much as they want. The only other situation when substitutes can be made is when there is an injury, but the opposition must be offered a chance to make substitutions as well.
- The game ends when one team reaches a pre-determined points total, usually 15, 17 or 19, but can be any number. At tournaments, a time limit is set for obvious reasons. Sometimes a cap is set, which means that when the time ends, the point being played is ended, then the winners are the first to reach the number 2 above what the leading team has.
- After the game is finished, both teams participate in a call, a warm-down game (not necessarily ultimate-related) to promote sportsmanship and the spirit of the game.
It's as easy as that! Don't worry though, after playing for a few weeks it will all become clear. For help on the skills you need to perfect your game, such as throwing and catching the disc, check out the Ultimate Handbook.
For the full WFDF (World Flying Disc Federation) rules of ultimate, click here.
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