The Ultimate (Frisbee) Catch-All

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...with apologies to Wham-O. Btw, Discraft is kicking your @$$.

Some folks brought up Ultimate in the NFL thread, and I figured there might be a few Goodjers who were interested in discussing it.

So, just to get the ball rolling, there's a pro Ultimate league staring up in the US. Players will not necessarily get paid, but should get free products from sponsors. I believe all the initial teams will be in the Northeast.

Referees will be used, which I think only makes sense for a pro league, or really any league where you care who wins. Imho the sport won't be taken seriously without them.

And...discuss!

I've been regularly playing ultimate for going on 15 years now. I've haven't really been following the professional league, but some of the rules differences from standard ultimate are pretty interesting. The field is a bit bigger, the game is timed (i.e. not played to a certain point total), there are refs with actual penalties (and refs keep the stall count), the stall is at 7, etc.

I'm hoping it's a success but honestly I find ultimate a bit boring to watch as a spectator, and I know what's going on.

I haven't really tried spectating yet. I'd definitely try one of those pro games if they were convenient.

Can we add disc golf to this thread?
Because then I'm totally in.

Different subject imho. If you start that thread, I'll link it in the OP. I've never played, but want to.

Used to play casually in college. It'd be pretty cool for things to get professionalized and stuff.

I used to play every summer and have recently restarted after a 5-year hiatus, this will be my second summer getting back into it.
While I enjoy the sport (maybe not enough to watch professionally), one problem I have is the complexity of some of the rules. Not in terms of what is a foul, but in terms of the result that applies when a foul occurs, depending on the state of play of the disc at the time of the foul.

I've been playing for a little over 4 years, and I'm currently transitioning from the "we-take-it-seriously" Divison I style to the club scene. I work too much to play on a club team, but competitive spring and summer leagues have been super fun. I've played in at least four different leagues in Michigan, Virginina, New York, and North Carolina, and they've all been sweet. Ultimate folks are generally easy people with whom to spend time.

I'm a little too into ultimate for my own good... I've been playing 6 or 7 years now. I started too late to really make a run at the competitive scene, but I do love playing in tournaments.

This is where I end up playing the majority of my games each summer: http://tinyurl.com/6pjy7hf

19 fields, owned by the local Ultimate association. Sooooo nice.

Dysplastic: Are you playing in the OCUA or OSSC league?

I've been playing about 15 years now. I wish I'd started much earlier...although I probably wouldn't have good knees and ankles still if I had! Now I'm finally old enough to play in the Grand Masters division (yeah for old guys).

Played a bit of club in Baltimore for two years. That was the most fun I've had.

If any of you gets the chance to play in the Lei Out beach tournament in Santa Monica (~LA) in mid-January, do it!! They play 5v5 on bigish fields that are well marked. Good sand. I went 4 years straight and had great weather every time. For a midwesterner, that was heaven in January!

Still, you could see us get older...in those 4 years we made it to the semifinals, then quarter finals, final 16, ...well, you get the idea.

Now it's summer league, occasional low-key pick-up, and some indoor during the winter for me. The scene here isn't as big as in some other places, so that's taken some time to come to grips with, but it's still disc.

The area you're in makes an impact for sure. Being around colleges with strong D-I programs is the best way to ensure plenty of Ultimate people are handy. Most major cities have a top tier club team of some kind, but the quality of the teams and leagues below that team varies to a large degree depending on the city.

Ultimate is popular enough that there is always something around to get your frisbee fix.

I've been playing for about 13 years. I've taken some breaks here and there, mostly when my kids were born (meaning I'm on a break right now). Looking forward to getting back to it in the future.

I've never managed to play in a hat (pick-up) tournament yet; seems like something always comes up.

AndrewA wrote:

Dysplastic: Are you playing in the OCUA or OSSC league?

OSSC. I used to play with an amazing team who made the jump to OCUA right after I moved to MTL for a few years, but right now I (and my team) are just not that skilled, nor that interested in playing competitively.

boogle wrote:

Can we add disc golf to this thread?
Because then I'm totally in.

It was disc golf that made me unable to throw an Ultimate disc. It just turns over and rolls every time I try to throw it more then 50 ft.

I played allot of ultimate in college and pick up games here and there afterward. I have never tried watching pros but I think I would give it a go. Hey, it beats bowling on ESPN 3.

EvilDead wrote:
boogle wrote:

Can we add disc golf to this thread?
Because then I'm totally in.

It was disc golf that made me unable to throw an Ultimate disc. It just turns over and rolls every time I try to throw it more then 50 ft.

I played allot of ultimate in college and pick up games here and there afterward. I have never tried watching pros but I think I would give it a go. Hey, it beats bowling on ESPN 3.

Craziness sir. Are you turning your wrist over or over gripping it? Its pretty similar to a putter drive in terms of the throw, not a huge amount of snap unless you are hyzer flipping it and a lot of leg drive.

boogle wrote:
EvilDead wrote:
boogle wrote:

Can we add disc golf to this thread?
Because then I'm totally in.

It was disc golf that made me unable to throw an Ultimate disc. It just turns over and rolls every time I try to throw it more then 50 ft.

I played allot of ultimate in college and pick up games here and there afterward. I have never tried watching pros but I think I would give it a go. Hey, it beats bowling on ESPN 3.

Craziness sir. Are you turning your wrist over or over gripping it? Its pretty similar to a putter drive in terms of the throw, not a huge amount of snap unless you are hyzer flipping it and a lot of leg drive.

I think it has to do with the range of motion and probably release snap too. If I knew exactly what it was I could probably fix it. It's not just me that has the problem, it's my whole group that I play with. It's the same thing for forhand and backhand. The bounce pass still works though, so that's what I use if we do decide to do a quick pickup game in the park. I guess the throws are close enough where it changed my muscle memory but different enough where they don't work interchangeably.

Kolbo used to be big into Ultimate. I've done summer leagues since 2002 or so. I had to miss last year because of my car accident. Hopefully I can get back into it this year.

EvilDead wrote:
boogle wrote:
EvilDead wrote:
boogle wrote:

Can we add disc golf to this thread?
Because then I'm totally in.

It was disc golf that made me unable to throw an Ultimate disc. It just turns over and rolls every time I try to throw it more then 50 ft.

I played allot of ultimate in college and pick up games here and there afterward. I have never tried watching pros but I think I would give it a go. Hey, it beats bowling on ESPN 3.

Craziness sir. Are you turning your wrist over or over gripping it? Its pretty similar to a putter drive in terms of the throw, not a huge amount of snap unless you are hyzer flipping it and a lot of leg drive.

I think it has to do with the range of motion and probably release snap too. If I knew exactly what it was I could probably fix it. It's not just me that has the problem, it's my whole group that I play with. It's the same thing for forhand and backhand. The bounce pass still works though, so that's what I use if we do decide to do a quick pickup game in the park. I guess the throws are close enough where it changed my muscle memory but different enough where they don't work interchangeably.

Sounds like you aren't level on the release, or maybe your wrist-snap is weak.

Even with a true neutral disc like an ultimate disc, if you 'over speed' the disc by doing a hard snap you can make it flip away from the usual low speed fade. Basically, on a RHBH drive (what I do so I'm explaining that way) you can release a disc hyzer and have it flip up and over to the right before finishing to the left as the low speed fade kicks in.
If you smooth out your throw and use more weight shift instead of trying to strong arm it, you can fix this.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Fast is far.

wordsmythe wrote:

Sounds like you aren't level on the release, or maybe your wrist-snap is weak.

Its neither of those. I throw mostly forehand so I'm more likely over-snapping it.

boogle wrote:

Even with a true neutral disc like an ultimate disc, if you 'over speed' the disc by doing a hard snap you can make it flip away from the usual low speed fade. Basically, on a RHBH drive (what I do so I'm explaining that way) you can release a disc hyzer and have it flip up and over to the right before finishing to the left as the low speed fade kicks in.
If you smooth out your throw and use more weight shift instead of trying to strong arm it, you can fix this.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Fast is far.

I'll try slowing it down. I never really paid attention to my ultimate throw b/c it always came natural while disc golf didn't. For disc golf I had to train myself to do the towel snap / lawnmower start type throw.

I always see ultimate players throwing ultimate discs on the course and their reasoning is they don't want to screw up their throw. Do you actively play both?

EvilDead wrote:

I always see ultimate players throwing ultimate discs on the course and their reasoning is they don't want to screw up their throw. Do you actively play both?

I have been playing both, but I think I'm going to drop Ultimate as the lack of a physical recourse for someone else being a dick (cutting my legs when I jump) isn't there. I also really like the man vs course aspect of dg.

If you really want to keep your ultimate form, try a couple putter rounds with a neutral or understable putter (Gateway Soft Magic for me). It will force you to work a high ceiling shot with a slow rotation disc and work on flex/flipping.
Oh, and good work on towel drill. I feel like ultimate players could use that too to max the snap and arm speed on drives. Add a little anhyzer and you have a nice floaty shot that if you give it enough height to work with will turn left and then flip back right.
For those who haven't seen it, check Feldberg's towel drill.

People get that aggressive where you play? I haven't seen that kind of thing in Houston. I mean, people incidentally contact each other, but that sounds like a lot more.

I know as someone who primarily plays ultimate, throwing disc golf discs tweaks my arm something fierce and I don't play disc golf during the main ultimate season because of it. I do want to get into it more in the off-season though, it's a ton of fun.

EvilDead wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Sounds like you aren't level on the release, or maybe your wrist-snap is weak.

Its neither of those. I throw mostly forehand so I'm more likely over-snapping it.

If you say so. I know I've always had some trouble keeping my forehand level. Undoubtably it will be worse now that I've lost some rotation in that wrist.

wordsmythe wrote:

If you say so. I know I've always had some trouble keeping my forehand level. Undoubtably it will be worse now that I've lost some rotation in that wrist.

In disc golf you adjust the level of release for each disc and wind condition so I'm pretty confident of my release angles. I did play around with this a bit when I was last throwing an ultimate disc.

As for the snap, it's not like I have lost the ability to throw forehand, it's just I have lost the touch for the ultimate disc. I do 70% of my golf drives forehand. Also, this is happening for both my backhand and forehand throws.

If it ever stops raining here I plan to go out to a field and give it another go. I will be sure to report back.

boogle wrote:

If you really want to keep your ultimate form, try a couple putter rounds with a neutral or understable putter (Gateway Soft Magic for me). It will force you to work a high ceiling shot with a slow rotation disc and work on flex/flipping.

I browsed the DGCourse review forums and quite a few threads popped up with the same issue I am having. The advise given is quite similar to yours.

At lunchtime I started to make more distance with the backhand but slowing a forehand down is easier said then done. I had some OK throws with it but it didn't feel or float right. After throwing the ultimate disc around for 20 minutes, I did 9 holes and my putters and they are much easier to throw (soft APX and Wizard). I can get them a little over 200ft forehand without turning them over. This may take some time.

It will come. Then start working on your reach back.
I throw RHBH, and get a Teebird to 320 and a beast to about 360. Still need to work on my reach back though. Then I can really start crushing.

boogle wrote:

It will come. Then start working on your reach back.
I throw RHBH, and get a Teebird to 320 and a beast to about 360. Still need to work on my reach back though. Then I can really start crushing.

My backhand is probably max 300 (I throw noodle arm discs backhand) but I can forehand the Archon 400 on my best throws. The 150 Star Teebird is one of my favorite discs though, backhand and forehand.

I know I need to work on my elbow snap for my back hand, I can feel that I'm not getting that full whip affect in the last part of the throw(Like this guy has)

I can start a thread for separate disc golf discussion since that was mentioned earlier on this page. I will try to get some info together for tips and techniques for the OP. Not sure when it will be depending on my workload today. Hopefully there will be enough interest to keep it alive.

Perhaps we ought to.
I'll try to get some photos of my plastic and basket to throw up as well.

boogle wrote:

Perhaps we ought to.
I'll try to get some photos of my plastic and basket to throw up as well.

Created.

I totally missed this thread earlier. My friends and I just started up our summer group again. We play pretty casually, and at night. We use packing tape to attach electronic glow sticks to our arms, and our frisbee is one of these. We've tried to use the more traditional light-up frisbee styles, but inevitably, they aren't as bright as we need them to be.

I have suggested a few times that we should play by more official rules so we could eventually enter ourselves into a local summer tournament. This will be our third or fourth year as a group.

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