Do you know that frisbee was developed by a group of students of Columbia High School in 1968? Since then, the game has been very popular among athletes and kids. Generally, the game is played outdoors. But you can also play this game indoors on your basketball ground. In this article, I will try to explain what are the rules of ultimate indoor frisbee. Before doing that, if you don’t know what an ultimate is and what is the meaning of an ultimate in frisbee, let’s talk about it at first.
Contents
What is an Ultimate?
Basically, in athletics, ultimate means the highest level of competition in any type of game. This requires the highest level of protocols, officials, and some ground rules. But in frisbee ultimate, the term is different. Rather than being officials dependent, ultimate frisbee encourages players self-officiating playing. This means instead of having any officials; the players are going to play the part of an official as well.
Rules for Indoor Ultimate Frisbee
- Court Size: The court is divided into three sections. There is a playfield where the actual play takes place. At the end of each side of the playfield, there are two end zones. The playfield should be 64m in length and 37m in width. Each end zone should be 23m in length and 37m in width. So, the actual court size should be 110m tall and 37m in width. The end zone can be shortened due to the low space on your basketball court. Also, there are no brick marks in an indoor ultimate because there’s no pull in indoors.
- Teams: Ultimate frisbee is played by two teams. The team scoring more goals are the winners. Generally, it is played as a 7v7 game, but in some cases, you can play as a 5v5 or even 3v3. Also, teams can be made with a co-ed combination where a gender ratio should be maintained. Generally, indoors, 5v5 is most popular because 7v7 is too crowded for indoors.
- Pull: This is the kick-off of the game. Both teams usually stand at the end of the court and throw the frisbee, which is called the pull. This is fundamental in outdoor ultimate. But in the indoors, there’s no pull. The game will begin by tapping one of the opponents or tapping the disc on the ground. This is the kick-off of the game is indoors. Also, there’s no pull when a team scores.
- Scoring: The gameplay is different indoors than outdoors. There’s no pause timing during the game, what you’ll usually see in the outdoors, especially when a team scores. One of the teams will be on offense when the other team tries to defend them from scoring; whenever the defenders catch the disc or block the disc, the role of each team switches immediately. This time, the defenders are on the offensive role, and the other team will defend them from scoring this time. Remember, you will have to tap the disc always after scoring. This is the rule. Otherwise, the score will not be counted.
- Stall: If you have played ultimate frisbee earlier, you should know that you must stop immediately after you catch a frisbee. After catching a frisbee, you get 10 seconds to release the disc. This rule is applicable outdoors. But indoors, the rule is changed. Now, you will get only seven seconds instead of 10 seconds. You can only take one step forward to release the disc during the time. Otherwise, you’ll get stalled, and the disc will be handed over to the opponent. If you are a beginner and know a little about soccer, think of it as a foul.
- Stall Count: Well, this is a general rule for both indoors and outdoors. As you know, in indoor ultimate, you have 7 seconds (10 seconds in outdoor ultimate) to have possession of the disc. The nearest opponent can count the seconds for you from 1 to 7. But sometimes opponent team member intentionally counts those seconds fast. If that happens, you will get another 7 seconds rewarded to have possession of the disc.
- Fouls: Frisbee is a non-contact game. This means no one in the team is allowed to have any contact with the opponent during the match. But sometimes, contacts can occur. In worst cases, the opponent can intentionally charge at you. This is considered foul. When a foul occurs, the disc is handed to the opponent. It is called turnover, and the game resumes.
- Infractions: Infractions happen when one of the team members breaks any of the game rules. For example: if a player runs with the disc in hand or double teaming. Both will result in giving away the disc to the opponent.
- Timeouts: A team can call for timeouts at any time of the game. This is a strategic break, and a team can use maximum call timeouts two times each half. This rule comes from the outdoors but indoors should also have this rule. However, this rule is organized dependent because indoor ultimate is fast-paced. So, there can an only one timeout at each half, or there will be none.
- Picks: There’s no pick in an indoor ultimate. The reason behind it is the space is very compact indoors, and picks can happen very frequently. This will only increase the game duration. That’s why picks are out of consideration during an indoor ultimate.
- Substitution: Each team can have five players at the bench and can be substituted. The substitution rule is similar to soccer. You can only substitute a player during the stoppage of the game.
- Obstacles: In the outdoors, there are no obstacles that can interrupt gameplay. Indoor ultimate is different. There are walls, bars, ceiling, ropes, etc., which are considered obstacles. The rule is whenever the disc touches any of these obstacles; it will result in a turnover. The game will continue from the closest position to the obstacle.
Read More: The Cheap Frisbees
Strategies for Indoor Ultimate Frisbee
- If it is a 5v5 game, you’ll have enough place to roam. This gives an advantage to a fast team. They can easily move forward without facing many issues. If you are on defense against a fast team, you should try to shut their cuts and don’t let them move too fast. But the court is comparatively shorter in length, so as a defender team, you should force the offense team to make bad hucks.
- Each player on the defending side should be assigned to a specific offense player. In this way, you will be able to manage the person’s defense. But if you are constantly being beaten by a person defense, try something different otherwise, the score will increase on the opponent’s side.
- If you are an outdoor player and come to indoor for the first time, you will have to face stall several times due to low stall counts in indoor ultimate. You have to keep the thing in your mind when you are on offense.
Conclusion
Always take precautions before any game. Indoor frisbee is riskier than outdoors because there’s no soil or grass in the ground. Most of the time, you’ll play the game on your basketball ground which is made of wood. Jumping on these surfaces is too much risk, so you have to keep this in mind. There’s no match official usually in an ultimate. So individual players should play fairly. As a non-contact game, the fouls should be kept minimum.