Disc Golf: Anatomy of a Disc

• Lip or Rim is the outside wall of the disc.
• Flight Plate is the flat surface on the top of the disc where the disc design (hot stamp) is placed.
• Lines of Headrick are the flight rings named after Ed Headrick, the perfecter of the flying disc.
• Wham-O's patent for the flight rings expired, Discraft added them to the Ultra-Star and became the go-to Ultimate disc.
• Line of Shelton is the mold line that runs around the lip of the disc.
• Jay Shelton, a professor of physics and one of the first people to study the flight characteristics of a disc, is who the Line of Shelton is named after.
• The Navel is the center of the disc, usually with a small spot left over from manufacturing.
• The Script Band acts like a big flight ring with an imprint of the disc name and model.
• Slope of Morrison is named after Fred Morrison, the inventor of the Frisbee.
• Slope of Morrison is the bent slope from the flight plate to the lip/rim.
• Slope of Morrison was a major improvement to prevent the disc from turning on its side during every throw.

Important Events

• 1940: Frisbie Pie Company sold pies to Yale students; students threw the pie tins for fun.
• 1948: Fred Morrison researched how to make a flat object fly straighter, resulting in the first patent for a flying disc toy (Flying Saucer).
• 1951: The Pluto Platter, the first mass-produced disc toy, was sold.
• 1957: Frisbie Pie's closed down; Yale students' nickname for the pie-tins, "Frisbees," led Whamo to change the toy's name to "Frisbee".
• 1966: Ultimate was invented within a year of the first mechanical patent on a flying disc, by Ed Headrick.
• 1968: Joel Silver and others introduced a Frisbee-based game to the student council at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey.
• 1969: The first Ultimate team was formed and practiced in the school parking lot.
• 1970: Joel Silver, Buzzy Hellring, and Jon Hines created the first edition of Ultimate rules.
• 1970: The first Interscholastic game took place between Columbia High (43) and Millburn High (10).
• 1972: The first Intercollegiate game happened between Rutgers and Princeton.
• 1975: The first organized tournament took place at Yale University, with eight teams attending.
• 1979: The Ultimate Players Association (UPA), now USA Ultimate, was founded.
• 1983: The First World Ultimate Championship was held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
• 1984: The World Flying Disc Federation, the international governing body for all disc sports, was founded.
• 1989: Ultimate was an exhibition sport at the world games in Akita, Japan.
• 2001: Ultimate became an official medal sport in the world games in Japan.
• 2012: There were over 100,000 Ultimate players across the globe.

Ultimate Rules

• The field is rectangular with end zones; a regulation field is 64 m long by 37 m wide, with 18 m deep end zones.
• Each point begins with teams lining up on opposite end zone lines.
• The defense throws (“pulls”) the disc to the offense.
• A regulation game has seven players per team.
• The offense scores a point each time they catch a pass in the defense's end zone.
• Teams switch direction after every goal.
• The next point begins with a new pull by the team that just scored.
• The disc can be advanced in any direction by passing to a teammate.
• Players cannot run with the disc.
• The thrower has ten seconds to throw the disc.
• The defender guarding the thrower ("marker”) counts out the stall count.
• The defense gains possession when a pass is incomplete due to various reasons.
• Players not in the game can replace players after a score or during an injury timeout.
• Players must avoid physical contact during play; picks and screens are prohibited.
• A foul occurs when a player initiates contact that affects the play.
• If a foul causes a player to lose possession, play resumes as if possession was retained; if disagreed, the play is redone.
• Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls and resolve their own disputes.
• The foundation of Ultimate's rules is "Spirit of the Game," emphasizing fair play, respect, and adherence to the rules.

Rules and Regulations

• Ultimate Frisbee is a fast, competitive, non-contact sport played by two teams.
• The sport relies on the spirit of sportsmanship, enabling an honor system.
• The objective is to score goals by passing the Frisbee to a teammate in the end zone.
• The team with the most points is declared winner.
• Players can wear aids like hats, gloves, or helmets if they don't endanger others.
• Shoes with cleats are permissible, but not those with sharp spikes.
• Players cannot carry sticks, bats, or rackets.
• The playing field can be grass, asphalt, sand, snow, or a gymnasium floor.
• The official field is 64 m long and 37 m wide, with 37 m wide and 18 m deep end zones.
• If a pass is completed outside the lateral boundary, it’s incomplete, and the defensive team gains possession.
• To be in-bounds, a player must land with both feet touching the inside or on the boundary line.
• If the Frisbee lands outside the lateral boundary, it’s returned to play where it went out of bounds.
• Self-officiated games.
• A game of Ultimate Frisbee lasts 40 minutes, divided into 20-minute halves.
• Half-time lasts for five minutes.
• The clock starts after every throw-off when the receiving team touches the Frisbee.
• The clock stops after every goal, at the end of each period, for time-outs, injuries, and on every whistle of 2 minutes.
• Each team gets two time-outs per half and one overtime period, each lasting two minutes.
• Time-out may be called after a goal and before the ensuing throw-off, but a team must possess the Frisbee to call a time-out during play.
• In a tie at the end of regulation, there’s a five-minute overtime period.
• Captains flip a coin to determine who will throw-off; if there’s no winner, overtimes continue until the tie is broken.

Throw Off

• Play begins with a throw-off; captains flip a coin to determine which team will throw or receive.
• Teams alternate throw-offs each period.
• All players must be on or behind their own goal line until the Frisbee is released.
• The receiving team must stand on their own goal line without changing relative position.
• A player on the goal line throws the Frisbee; once released, all players may cross the goal lines.
• No throwing team player may touch the Frisbee before a receiving team member.
• The receiving team may catch the Frisbee or let it fall; if caught, that player has possession.
• If the receiving team touches but fails to catch the Frisbee, the throw-off team gains possession.
• If the Frisbee is allowed to fall untouched, the receiving team has possession where it stops.
• If the Frisbee goes out-of-bounds before crossing the goal line, the receiving team gains possession where it went out or has the Frisbee throw-off again.
• If the Frisbee goes out-of-bounds after crossing the goal line, the receiving team gains possession on the goal line at the nearest corner.
• Each time a goal is scored, the teams switch direction, and the team scores the throw-off upon receiving.

Gameplay

• The team with the Frisbee must move it to score a goal.
• Players can propel the Frisbee in any way, but it can't be handed off.
• The Frisbee must be in the air to go from one player to another.
• Players can't walk, run, or take steps with the Frisbee.
• The momentum of the receiver is considered; if extra steps are taken, play stops, and resumes when both teams are ready.
• The player in possession may pivot on one foot, and the thrower can't change their pivot foot.
• Only one player may guard the person with the Frisbee and must be two yards away.
• The Frisbee can’t be wrenched from a player's grasp or knocked from their hand.
• The defensive team gains possession if the pass is incomplete, intercepted, knocked down, or goes out-of-bounds.
• A rolling or sliding Frisbee may be stopped but can't be advanced.
• After the Frisbee is stopped, no defensive player may touch it.
• Possession is gained where the Frisbee is stopped.
• A player can catch their own throw only if another player touched the Frisbee during its flight.
• Bobbing to gain control is permitted, but tipping to oneself is not allowed.
• Any time a team gains possession in the end zone they are defending, the player may choose to resume play where the Frisbee is stopped, or at the goal line.
• A player can carry the Frisbee up to the goal line if they approach it perpendicularly.
• The player may not pass the Frisbee as he approaches the goal line.
• If a team gains possession in the end zone they are attacking, the Frisbee is carried perpendicularly to the goal line, and play resumes immediately.

Fouls

• A throwing foul is called only by the player fouled.
• Throwing foul is defined as any physical contact between an offensive and defensive player sufficient to deter the flight the Frisbee.
• Contact occurring during the follow-through is not sufficient grounds for a foul.
• If the pass is completed, the foul is declined, and play continues.
• A foul is called when physical contact occurs because players are playing the man instead of the Frisbee (pushing, grabbing, kicking, clipping, holding, submarining, etc.).
• When a player is fouled, play stops, and the player gains possession at the point of the infraction.
• Play continues when both teams are ready.
• If a foul occurs in the end zone, possession is regained at the goal line.
• A stalling violation occurs if a player holds onto the Frisbee for ten seconds while guarded.
• If the Frisbee hasn't been released, it's turned over to the defense.

Scoring and Substitutions

• A goal is scored when an offensive player has two feet in the end zone after receiving a pass from a teammate.
• A player in possession may not score by running into the end zone; the team that scores gets one point.
• Substitutions are allowed after a goal and before the throw-off, to replace an injured player, or after periods of play.
• On the 7th defensive foul of each half, the Frisbee is automatically advanced to the defensive goal line.
• If time has expired, one additional possession is awarded to the offended team.
• Fouls by the offense will result in loss of possession.

Strategies

• Vertical Stack is an offensive strategy where players line up vertically in the middle of the field.
• Horizontal Stack involves cutters lined up evenly across the field and handlers moving the disc side to side.
• Man-to-man defense involves players defending a specific person for the entire point.
• Zone defense involves coordinated teamwork and is effective on windy days.

Player Positions

• Handlers are skilled players responsible for fielding the pull, keeping possession, and running the offense.
• Cutters are typically downfield and prepare to cut for the disc when the pull comes.
• Poachers camp out on the field in a cutting lane, instead of playing tight defense on the cutter the defender is supposed to be guarding.