Two teams of seven each face each other on a field roughly the size of football field, 70yds long by 40yds wide with two 25 yard enzones. The object, as in football, is to get the disc into the endzone. However, it differs from football on several key points.

• You can't run when you have the disc. Once stopped, you have to maintain a fixed pivot foot until you throw the disc.

• It's a non-contact sport, so you usually dont have to worry about getting clobbered. Except on those high floaters in the endzone...

• Because it's non-contact and you can match one-to-one by gender, it lends itself well to coed play.

• Even at high levels of play, calls are made by the players themselves. This system depends on the honesty and integrity of the players involved. Typically, the Spirit of the Game prevails.

• Finally, you don't stop for a commercial break after each completed pass.

Imagine a football game where the quarterback picks the disc up off the field and checks it into play by touching it to the ground. His defender, standing a disc length away, immediately starts counting. "Stalling, one. two. three..."

Our quarterback, Drew, has ten full seconds to pass the disc. Plenty of time. He looks downfield at his teammates, positioned at intervals along a straight line between him and the endzone, their defenders twitching in their cleats.

His closest two teammates go into motion, breaking from the front of the stack straight back at him, five yards apart, their defenders close on their heels. The closer one, Ian, starts a sharp cut to the right, then breaks hard to the left, as Nikki, right behind him, steps left, then breaks hard right. They tear out to the sides as their defenders stumble in the jetwash, scrambling to close the sudden gap.

Drew pivots to the left faking a backhand pass to Ian, drawing his marker off balance. Pivoting back to the right, he winds his arm up as if to skip a stone, and flicks a high arcing forehand out in front of Nikki, stepping around his marker and breaking down the field as he throws.

Nikki, still cutting to the sideline, watches the disc arc in, floating down into the open space in front of her. She snaps a glance downfield to see Jocko breaking off the back of the stack, cutting straight at her from the endzone, down the wide open line. Nikki kicks two long strides to leap up and catch the disc early, pulling it down with one outstretched arm. She lands on the opposite foot, drawing the momentum from her fall into her throw. Cushioning with her knees, she channels it forward, gunning a crisp, flat bullet straight down the line, two feet off the ground.

Jocko continues full speed into the headon pass as his defender, closing quickly, leaves his feet, diving full horizontal over his shoulder. But Jocko has the angle, pulling it in as his defender rockets past. Jocko turns back to the field, seeing Drew, still cutting up the middle, following the play, three steps in front of his defender. Jocko tosses a floating backhand out in front of Drew, then breaks down the sideline.

The disc hangs patiently in the open space in front of Drew as he chases it down. Snagging it, he slows to a stop, and, sensing his defender right behind him, swoops a low forehand fake down the line to Jocko. His defender shoots past looking to block the throw, giving Drew a few, unpressured moments to take in the scene. Twenty yards to the endzone, right side clogged by traffic cutting for a sideline pass off Jocko. In the back of the stack, he sees Kelly, standing still, give a quick jerk of her head over her shoulder to the far left corner of the endzone.

Kelly steps forward and her defender turns to see where she's looking. By the time she turns back, Kelly's five yards away, crossing the endzone line, breaking hard for the cone. A stray defender from the stack sees the play developing and drops off his man to the left to poach the lane as Drew pivots to send the backhand.

Reeling his backhand back in, still leaning to the left, Drew winds the disc up over his shoulder behind his head, then whips a hammer throw, vertical, like a tomahawk, tight and low. The disc whistles through the air, just out of reach of the poaching defender, slowly laying down from vertical to skim through the air upside down. Leaping in vain, the poacher yells "Up!", then "Hammer!" as a last token effort of defense.

Kelly hears the up-call and glances back over her shoulder at the incoming disc. Her eyes bolt open as she realizes it's off target, overthrown, heading past the line, out of bounds. A quick cut shifts her course toward the sideline, cutting the angle to the disc. As she reaches the sideline, she stops running and claws both cleats into the ground, dragging her toes just inside the line as she extends, laying it out, full horizontal, straining her arm to the limit of its reach, palm up, thumb extended, her knuckles brushing blades of grass as the inverted disc spins into her hand. Her thumb clamps down on the rim, freezing the moment in a roaring sea of adrenaline.

Okay, so now you're psyched to check out this Ultimate thang, but how far do you have to go to find it? Well, that depends on where you live. I don't know of many players on Antartica, but there are games in almost every area in America and most countries in Europe. To find a game in your area...

• Start with George Ferguson's Ultimap Locator. He has clickable maps of several countries around the world. It's sexy and fun to browse places you haven't even thought of playing.

• If that doesn't work, The Ultimate Players Association maintains a list of team contacts in all the American regions: Teams list

• Okay, now we're getting desperate. Try posting to the Ultimate net news group: rec.sport.disc with the subject "Where's the disc hiding in Mytown?"

• As a last resort, you could call the UPA directly at
  1-800-UPA-GOHOrizontal
  . (sorry, no URL link for that one. wait a few years!)

Once you find a game, here are a few pointers of note.

• Respect the Spirit of the Game
  The Spirit of the Game (often SOTG on the net) represents a fundamental agreement between players to play honestly and fairly. This principle has had a profound effect on the evolution of ultimate and its rules. Further, the inherent respect and consideration players maintain for one another has led to a unique community in which bonds usually transcend rosters.
  When you start playing with an Ultimate crowd, they will expect you to respect the SOTG. And there's no sense in getting off on the wrong foot with a naturally mellow crowd.

• Be patient with yourself!!
  Ultimate involves skills most people won't bring to their first game. In particular, developing accurate and stable throws can take a long time. I spent two years punching divets before my forehand felt remotely comfortable. Now it's subconscious.

For official info, visit the The Ultimate Players Association home page.

(and save the following URL as a bookmark: http://www.upa.org/~upa because it's an alias to the real page).

Some UPA links:

• Ultimate in Ten Simple Rules
• UPA Rules of Ultimate, 9th Edition
• WFDF Official Rules of Flying Disc Sports
• UPA contact information
• Names and descriptions of various throws
• Frequently Asked Questions

• Upcoming Tournaments
• Disc Sports USENET group (rec.sport.disc)
• UPA photo archive

• Eric Simon's Ultimate Page
• Joey Gray's Co-ed Ultimate Page
• George Ferguson's Ultimate Page
• Mike Juster's Ultimate listing of Ultimate Pages
• Chris Lehmanns' Ultimate Page

Special thanks to the UPA where I got the spiffy graphics!

Here's some more from the archives: