How to Play Ultimate Frisbee

Learning the Rules

Find a suitable playing field. To play ultimate Frisbee, you’ll need a bit of room to spread out. Traditionally played on soccer or football fields, ultimate Frisbee can be played in any open field that’s at least 70 yards by 40 yards, with marked-off end zones at each end, where points are scored. In regulation Ultimate Frisbee, the end zones are 20 yards deep. Work with the space you have. If you’re playing in a backyard, don’t worry about measuring it off. Just set up two end zones at each end of the yard to give each team a territory, then start playing.

Divide into two teams. Ultimate Frisbee is a team sport that will require at least a handful of players on each side to play. Split up your group of friends into two evenly-divided teams. The absolute minimum of players would be four–two per team–but that would be a challenging game. It’s usually best with between five and seven players, per side. Regulation Ultimate Frisbee teams have seven players on each side, though the roster can include as many players as you want. Players may be substituted any time after a point is scored.

Play with the correct kind of disc. You can play Ultimate Frisbee with any kind of Frisbee, though it’s typically easier and more recommended to play with a slightly heavier version of the classic recreational disc. This makes controlling your passes and your distance a lot easier than with a basic beach Frisbee. 175 gram Frisbees are recommended for playing Ultimate Frisbee, which are widely available at sporting goods stores. The Discraft Ultra-Star 175 is the official playing disc for the USA Ultimate Championship Series.

Learn how play is advanced. As in soccer, American football, lacrosse, or other goal-based sports, each team has one end zone that they’re defending and will attempt to score in their opponent’s end zone. The object of the game is to move the Frisbee down the field by completing passes to your teammates. The player in possession of the Frisbee may not move and must not hold the Frisbee for longer than 10 seconds. The rest of the players will move around the field and attempt to get open for a pass. If a pass is dropped, goes out of bounds, or is intercepted, play is turned over to the defending team at the point of play. Meanwhile, the team not in possession of the Frisbee will attempt to intercept the disc and otherwise disrupt the passes made by the team in possession.

Find a league in your area to learn more. It can be hard to find enough people who know how to play informally, and get a regular game going. For this reason, the best way to learn the strategies, techniques, and enjoy playing Ultimate Frisbee is to find a league in your area in which you'll be able to learn the ropes and have fun making new friends.

Playing the Game

Launch the Frisbee to the winner of the coin toss. After dividing into two even teams and going over the basic rules, pick which team will start with possession. This can be done by tossing a coin, flipping the Frisbee, or using some other method of your choice, then launching the disc to start play. The opposing team will stand at their end zone and “pull” the disc to the other team, essentially tossing it in the air for someone to grab, much as a ball is kicked off in American football. This will also happen after each point is scored. The puller should make sure everyone is ready, then toss the Frisbee high toward the opponent's group of players. All the pullers teammates should immediately run toward the opposition to start playing defense.

Score points with complete passes. A point is scored by completing a pass into the opponent’s end zone territory. Upon scoring a point, the possession of the disc changes to the team that was scored upon. The team in possession of the Frisbee will be trying to score and the other team will be trying to disrupt play and get possession of the Frisbee, so they may score. A point is scored when a player passes the Frisbee to another player who is standing in the end zone, and that player makes the catch successfully. At that point, play ends and the defending team will receive possession of the Frisbee. Substitutions may be made in the transition period after a point is scored and before the other team takes over possession of the disc.

Do not make contact with opposing players. Physically contacting players on the opposing team is illegal. Picks, screens, and other disruptive plays are not allowed in Ultimate Frisbee. It’s important for defenders to be disruptive and guard the other team, much as in basketball, but without actually coming into contact. It is up to the defender guarding the player in possession of the Frisbee to count to 10, usually aloud. It is this defenders job to police 10-second infractions.

Play to 15 points. Typically, a game of Ultimate Frisbee ends when one team scores 15 points, though you can amend this rule to fit your time constraints and your desires for the game. Typically, a game to 15 can take as long as an hour and a half, so you might want to play to seven or 10, if you don’t have that long.

Police yourselves. Ultimate Frisbee is uniquely anarchic. Even in regulation play, no referees or line judges are used to govern play. Fouls, points, and disputes are resolved on-field by the two teams. Ultimate Frisbee requires honesty and goodwill, making it a game of trust and fun. Sometimes an “observer” is used to offer some objective party, uncommitted to each side, who may be used for procedural details, such as keeping track of the time.

Using Strategy

Practice making good throws before you try to play Ultimate. To throw a Frisbee correctly, place your index and middle finger under disk, close to the lip. Curl the two fingers to get a firm grip, and twist your body to your throwing hand side. Take a step forward with your dominant foot, and untwist your body. Once you have faced forward, flick your wrist, release the disc, and point where you want the disc to go. Keep the Frisbee parallel to the ground.

Learn more advanced throws as you improve your game. As you advance, you can develop more complex throwing motions into your game with some practice. This is To "hammer throw," put your index and middle fingers under the disk and put your thumb on top. Do not curl your index and middle fingers. Like you are throwing any ball, raise the disk over your head, and have the disk angled towards your head. Make sure you have about a 50-55 degree angle on the disk. Still keeping the angle, throw the disk forward and upward. The disk should fly perpendicular to the ground for a couple seconds and flip upside down to float softly to the ground. This throw is a little tricky to catch, but can be useful under heavy defense. Try a sidearm toss. Place your index and middle fingers under the disk, and curl them against the lip of the disk. Place your thumb on top. Twist your body slightly towards the disk, and flick your wrist to release the disk. Make sure you twist your hand towards your body when you throw to put enough spin the disk to fly. This throw is very useful when you are being defended by an opposing player, but takes practice.

Make quick passes. The difference between teams that are good at Ultimate Frisbee and teams that are just playing is in the speed of the passes. Practice making quick, crisp, accurate passes with your teammates and moving quickly down the field to keep the defense off balance. Though the player in possession has 10 seconds to hold onto the Frisbee, it should be a rarity that a player holds the Frisbee for longer than five. Don't worry about making "hail mary" passes that launch all the way down the field. These types of passes are low-probability and will more often result in picks, than in long point opportunities.

Let your quick teammates run onto the passes. Throwing a pass directly to a stationary player is a good way of getting your Frisbee toss picked off by the defense and losing possession. Instead, practice leading your teammates, passing into open space, and allowing your teammates to outrun the defense and run down the Frisbee. This is a more effective technique of moving possession down the field and gathering territory.

Don't rush it. Unless you see a great opportunity, you don't need to charge down the field as soon as you grab the Frisbee. Focus on making high-probability passes and controlling the possession of the disc, not in scoring immediately. If you've got the Frisbee, possess it. Make crisp and accurate passes and move down the field gradually, gaining territory. Like in soccer, you can move in any direction when you've got possession of the disc. If you need to make a few passes backward to regroup and control the field, do so. You generally want to be going forward and not back, but it can be a good way of strategizing.

Move to open space. When you're not in possession of the Frisbee, you need to be constantly moving into open space, looking to get open. Spread out. Make cuts, juke out your defenders, and hustle, hustle, hustle. Learn to make crossing patterns in your cuts, taking short routes across the path of the player in possession of the disc, rather than moving parallel. This will result in higher probability passes and help you control the disc. It gives the player in possession more options.

Practice pattern routes. Like in basketball, soccer, or almost any team sport, it's important to have a few plays drawn up, especially when you get into scoring pattern. Whether you want to give them fancy names ("Flying V on one, on one!") or just run them on the down-low, moving the offense in pre-drawn patterns is a good way to juke out the defense and stay ahead of the game. If the player in possession knows what kind of route you're likely to run, the passes can go to open space and allow players to run them down.

Mark up player to player on defense. When you're playing defense, the best way to mark up is usually "man-to-man," by marking up on one player for the whole game and sticking to them like glue. Defense should be played much as a combination of basketball and football, using your arms to disrupt the shots of the player you're guarding and trying to pick off passes. Defenders need to give the offensive player a bubble, at least a yard around the point of possession. You can't get in close enough to physically touch the player in possession of the disc. Remember: no contact. When you're running with players on defense, try to watch their hips instead of watching for the Frisbee. Stay between them and the player in possession of the disc, to give yourself the best chance of picking one off.