Cool Ways to Play Ultimate Frisbee

According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, Frisbee is one of only four team sports that gained significant increase in core participation since 2009. The survey goes on to say that 19.2 percent of Ultimate Frisbee players played the game more than 13 times, which shows a steady increase in the recent years. Ultimate Frisbee has certainly evolved from the standard game of passing a plastic disc around into a variety of Ultimate Frisbee games that can be played by beginners, intermediate and advanced players alike, most taking place inside a 40-by-120-yard field.

  1. Sports-Inspired

    • Many games combine Frisbee throwing with rules from other existing sports, attracting many kinds of players. For example, "Disc Golf" combines a Frisbee with basketball and golf, involving shooting the Frisbee into a net within the fewest strokes. A game for intermediate players, the misnamed "Frisbee Tennis," works more like volleyball and involves passing the Frisbee between team members for a maximum of three passes before volleying it to the opposing team.

    For Beginners

    • For Frisbee players who are just discovering the exciting world Frisbees offer, there are many games that not only serve as a form of hobby or recreation, but also prepare the players to the much stricter, rule-bound game of Ultimate Frisbee. One example is the "Throwing Race" wherein the scores are based on the number of successful passes done after a time limit. Another game, "Bottle Guts," involves knocking over a given target, usually a bottle.

    For Intermediate Players

    • There are also games ideal for players that already have basic aim, stamina and agility. A "Discathon" is a Frisbee throwing or relay game played on an obstacle course. A good practice for jumping and reading the Frisbee's trajectory is the "Five Hundred" game, where a player throws a high disc or "floaty" throw and awards 100 points to the player who catches it. The player who reaches 500 points first is the winner. A team of Ultimate Frisbee players wins the "Keepings Off" game by retaining the Frisbee for the longest time without any player running or exceeding a 10-second stall count.

    For Advanced Players

    • For players who have lots of experience and need more of a challenge, there are several options. "Goaltimate" aims at shooting the Frisbee into a goal instead of passing it to another person. "Double Box" and "Hot Box" are miniature variations of traditional Ultimate Frisbee. "Double Disc Court" -- or "DDC" -- is a variation of Ultimate wherein two discs, instead of just one, travel the court simultaneously for fast-paced game play.