Ultimate Frisbee for Freshers

An 8 Point Guide for New Players: Part 1

This is a handy guide for uni students wanting to give the sport a go and you could definitely use some of this advice – I know because I would’ve loved to have had this when I first started! If you’re looking to start playing this brilliant sport at uni should read this guide. 

1. Enjoy Drinking and Socialising

Joining any society requires a desire to go out, drink and socialise but Ultimate Frisbee societies take the cake. Weekly socials and the fact that the other players become your best friends dictates that each week you are dedicating most of your time not only to training sessions (the numbers of which per week invariably increase quickly and without you noticing) but to going on sub(way)/pub crawls, Drinking Olympics, Karaoke nights, Rubix cube socials and any other excuse you can think of to party together. If you want to get truly integrated into an Ultimate society, get out of your flat as much as you can (unless you decide to host) and socialise with everyone. You don’t need to be a good player half the time in an Ultimate society. Some members of the club will only be involved when alcohol is involved and that’s fine by your fellow players.

2. Own/Be Willing to Buy Dressing Up Clothes

As previously mentioned, socials are a key part of being an Ultimate society member. Many of these require dressing up e.g. Rubix Cube socials where each item of clothing you wear is a different colour, you swap items with other people with the goal being by the end of the night all items of clothing you have are one colour. This of course leads to various stages of undress and hilarious outfits (see photo).

Others dress-up necessities include Halloween costumes, S**t Shirt Night and themed parties e.g. Doctors and Nurses, Yellow (Minions/Bananas etc.) or Decades, when you are away at a weekend tournament and a night out is sandwiched between two full days of playing frisbee. Cue exhaustion, whiteying at the sides of pitches, still drunk players and a whopping great time! For all these events, make sure you already own some disposable items of clothing that you don’t mind being ripped, painted or stolen.

3. Enjoy Children’s Playground Games

A key part of any game of Ultimate Frisbee is the rituals that take place after matches, these being: Both teams huddle to discuss the game, comment on the opposing teams strengths and provide constructive criticism; play a game that would usually be found in a primary school playground not between 18 – 25 year olds before finishing off with a themed team high-five. Games include, German Porn Stars, Bunny Bunny, Ninja, Tanks, Gladiator, Splat and more but the majority conclude with the finalists breaking away from the circle to chase an unsuspecting person to see who can steal their hat/catch them first. This is followed by a themed team high-five including classics like, The Fresh Prince, Braveheart and Arms through Shorts. The best thing to do with these games is to throw yourself in to it and have a great time. If you feel you’re too cool for these games and silly fun then you shouldn’t play Ultimate at uni.

4. Own a Large Collection of Hats

Hat tournaments are a fun part of Ultimate with no real stakes. Designed for mixed abilities, players sign up as individuals and teams are created to ensure that each is of equal ability and often has one standout player who teaches and coaches the other players through the tournament and is always marked out by them having to wear a ridiculous hat. Some Hat tournaments require every player to wear a hat and if it falls off a turnover of possession is called, some it’s just the experienced player and some simply pick players for teams out of a hat but either way, owning a ridiculous hat is a necessity if you want to be part of this most exciting and fun of frisbee tournament types!

5. Have a Back-up Supply of Pasta Salad, Sweets and Vegemite

Going to tournaments is a fantastic experience. Exhaust yourself playing Ultimate for a full day, grab a takeaway and booze that evening, party all night in whatever university city the tournament is hosted by then drag yourself off whatever floor of the flat you crashed in early that morning to get up and play frisbee all day again. The most important thing to remember for these days spent on playing fields, however, is to bring carbs and sugar. Cook some pasta the night before you leave for the tournament and take a couple of extra tubs to cover you when the hunger is real. Bringing a couple bags of Haribo Tangfastics can’t do you any harm when a quick boost of energy is needed. (Salted nuts can also help prevent cramp arriving late in the second day too!) Oh and the Australians on your team will love you forever if you provide them with Vegemite and a loaf of bread for every meal of each day away at the tournament!

6. Understand the Lingo

Arriving at your first match or training session without understanding the lingo can put unnecessary stress on you so here are four essential translations of Ultimate terms to start you off:

• Chilly: This has a couple of meanings. One – you have plenty of time on the disc to look up and assess your options. Two – take your time either walking to collect the disc or stay calm and use the full stall count before throwing the disc. This is a common one shouted at new players so learn this one before you play and think someone is screaming at you that they are cold. When new players do not remain chilly, often they launch the disc and other players need to shout, ‘Up’!
• Up: This is pretty self-explanatory but it means the disc has been thrown and is in the air. Shouting this as a defender alerts your team-mates so they can attempt to position themselves to intercept and if you hear this as an offensive player, get your eyes to the sky so you can adjust your run and try to catch the disc. If you don’t hear an ‘Up’ call, often the disc will be given to the ‘Dump’.
• Dump: An easy one to get confused by for beginners, this is in no way toilet-related. If you are the player holding the disc and you hear this shout, turn back and throw the disc backwards to your team-mate. This is usually called when options upfield are at a premium and your team wants you to be ‘chilly’ and retain control of possession rather than risk a ‘huck’ downfield.
• Huck: This is the term used for a long, long throw upfield. Used to start every new point during a game and sometimes to simply force the opposition back towards their end-zone and relieve some pressure this is a skill that all new players can and should practice easily. However, if you have a dog or many discs, bring them with you as practicing hucking with only one disc just leads to running up and down a field far too many times.

7. Live in a University City

Ultimate is a wonderful sport but is difficult to play outside of university societies. If you want to start your own club back home in whatever town you’re from then great but good luck finding a club that operates outside of a university. These are very rare so move to a city with a university in it or go to uni if you want to play regularly.

 

8. Be Good at Driving

You want to be popular in the club? Then become a mini-bus driver for the team! One of the most rare yet most important positions in an Ultimate Frisbee society is a min-bus driver. The rare souls who put themselves forward to be a driver do also put themselves in the potential firing-line for ridicule as if they stall the bus this leads to stall-counts (the count up to 8 used while marking an opposition player in a frisbee match) whereby if they reach 8 then they are sacked as a driver. However, they also receive a great deal of love from fellow players as they are the reason the teams make it to tournaments around the country. If you are 21 or older and you’ve had your driving licence for at least 2 years then you qualify for the job and will be rewarded with love, drinks and food by grateful teammates for driving them to and from tournaments safely.

So there you are. The first 8 key tips for any new players of Ultimate Frisbee. If you follow these suggestions then you are bound for great things and will be a popular, successful player of Ultimate!