Below you find the standard rules for college-level Ultimate Frisbee though keep in mind some rules such as the number of points to win, time limit, and number of timeouts can different depending on the tournament.
Standard Rules
- Each team can only have a maximum of 7 members on the field at once
- To start the point, both teams stand in their endzone until the disc is thrown downfield by the defending team
- If a player has the frisbee in their hands, they cannot move but can use a pivot foot
- When catching a disc, the player may take a few steps to stabilize themselves before they cannot move
- The defender on the person with the frisbee cannot hit the frisbee out of the offensive player’s hands and should be about arms length from them
- The defender on the person with the frisbee can aloud start counting stall when they are close to the handler, such as “Stall 1, Stall 2…” up to Stall 10, in which case the offensive team will have to give up the frisbee to the defending team as they took too long to throw it
- If the frisbee hits the ground at any point other than the initial downfield throw from the defending team at the beginning of the point, then the offensive loses the frisbee and switches to defense
- When a player catches the disc in the defending team’s endzone, they score a point
- The number of points required to win a match is 13, but is sometimes 15 depending on the tournament
- The time limit for a typical 13 point match is 75-90 minutes, where if both teams are tied, they play a final point to determine the winner
- A halftime is called once a team reaches the half score required to win, for example in a 13 point match, halftime would occur once a team reaches 7 points
- The number of timeouts is the most varied rule depending on the tournament but teams typically get one timeout per half, with an extra floating timeout to use at any point in game
- Some tournaments provide another timeout to teams if they game goes into overtime or universe
Frisbee Terminology
- Handler: The person who normally throws the disc to cutters
- Cutter: A player who normally catches the disc
- Stack Setter: The player who sets the stack in a stack offensive
- Mark: The defending player who is currently guarding the player with the frisbee
- Upline: The space in front of the frisbee going towards the target endzone
- Force Side: The side of the field the defending team wants the frisbee to be thrown too
- Break Side: The side of the field the defending team does not want the frisbee to be thrown too
- “Home”: Is a callout for the defending team to force where the frisbee is thrown and it is the sideline where a team’s equipment and bags are
- “Away”: Is a callout for the defending team to force where the frisbee is thrown and it is the sideline where a team’s equipment and bags are not
- Stall Count: The count said out loud by the defender guarding the offensive player with the frisbee
- Dump: When a handler throws the frisbee to their other handler typically to reset the stall count
- Swing: When a dump pass or break side throw is made to the other handler, the stack setter will make a follow up cut to that handler for another throw