Objective
The objective of ultimate is to score points by receiving a teammate's pass in the opponent's end zone. The outcome of a match is usually determined by one team achieving a predetermined number of points first. This ensures that a team can only win by scoring, rather than by running the clock down.
Teams
Regulation ultimate is played between two teams of seven players. Substitutions are allowed between points and teams are usually able to have around 20 players on their roster. A shortage of players may force teams to play the entire game without substitutions, a condition known as savage or ironman.
Equipment
The game is played using a 175–gram disc. The field can be anywhere on a grassy surface and is usually smaller than a football field. Orange cones and/or chalk lines will mark the end zone and out of bounds lines.
Game Play
The pull or throw-off
The players line up at the edge of their respective end zones, and the defensive team throws, or pulls, the disc to the offensive team to begin play. Pulls are the first throws in a game. Pulls are normally long, hanging throws, giving the defense an opportunity to move up the field. Sometimes, though, a pull consists of a short throw intended to roll out of bounds upon hitting the ground.
The pull is often started by a member of the defending team raising one arm with the disc and shouting "ultimate!" to show that they are ready to pull the disc and begin play. When the offensive team is ready to receive the pull, one of its members will also raise a hand.
The team that pulls to start the game is usually decided in a manner similar to a coin toss. One popular way to decide which team pulls involves a player from each team flipping a disc into the air while a third player calls "same" or "different." If the player guesses correctly, his/her team gets to decide if they want to start on offense or defense.
Movement of the disc
The disc may be moved in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. A player catching the disc must stop after a few steps to run out their momentum, and can only move their non-pivot foot. A common misconception is that a player must setup a pivot foot before they can throw the disc. In fact, the player can throw the disc before stopping within the first couple of steps after they gain possession of the disc. It is this fact that makes the "Greatest" rule possible. A "Greatest" occurs when a player jumps from within bounds to catch a disc that has passed out-of-bounds. The player must then throw the disc back in-bounds before his feet or any other part of his body touches the ground. The thrower may only catch their own throw if another player touches it in the air.
Upon receiving the disc, a player has ten seconds to pass it. This period is known as the "stall", and each second is counted out (a stall count) by a defender (the marker), who must be standing within three meters of the thrower. A player may keep the disc for longer than ten seconds if no marker is within three meters, or if the marker is not counting the stall; if there is a change of marker, the new marker must restart the stall from zero.
Scoring
A point is scored when a player catches a pass in the endzone his team is attacking. However, current rules allow a defensive team to score by intercepting a pass in the endzone they are defending. This play is referred to as a Callahan goal or simply a Callahan. It is named after well-known ultimate player Henry Callahan.
After a point is scored, the teams exchange ends. The team who just scored remains in that endzone and the opposing team takes the opposite endzone. Play is re-initiated with a pull by the scoring team.
Change of possession
An incomplete pass results in a change of possession. When this happens the defense immediately becomes the offense and gains possession of the disc where it comes to a stop on the field of play, or where it first traveled out of bounds. Play does not stop due to a turnover.
Reasons for turnovers:
- Throw-away – The thrower misses his target and the disc falls to the ground.
- Drops – The receiver is not able to catch the disc.
- Blocks – A defender deflects the disc in mid flight, causing it to hit the ground.
- Interceptions – A defender catches a disc thrown by the offense.
- Out of Bounds – The disc lands out of bounds, hits an object out of bounds or is caught by a player who lands or leaps from outside the playing field.
- Stalls – A player on offense does not release the disc before the defender has counted out ten seconds.
