What is ultimate frisbee?

Unlike disc golf, ultimate is a team sport, and you therefore typically start playing with your friends in a garden or park, or at a training session with one of the local ultimate clubs. Many also try ultimate for the first time in PE class in either elementary school or high school. 

What is ultimate?

Ultimate frisbee is usually just called ultimate and it is a team sport where the goal is to catch the disc in the opponent's end zone. You play 7 against 7, and when you have the disc you can't run with it. Therefore, you must pass the disc to your teammates without the disc hitting the ground or being blocked by an opponent. If you drop the disc or the opponent to grab it, it is the other team that is on offence. Since you are not allowed to run with the disc when you have it, ultimate is of course not a contact sport. 

An ultimate field at tournament is 100 meters long and 36 meters wide. Each end zone is 18 meters deep. If you are new and play with your friends in the park, the official course is quite large, and you can make it a little smaller if you want. In the picture below you can see how the course is set up. 

You can also play ultimate indoors or on the beach. Indoors you play 5 against 5 and set up a court on a handball court. On the beach you also play 5 against 5 and the court here is also a little smaller than on grass. 

How do I start playing ultimate?

If ultimate has already caught your interest, or if you just want to try something new then you can join an ultimate practice in your local club. The ultimate clubs typically train 1-3 times a week and play matches against the other clubs in the national league. So it's like any other team sport such as football or handball.

Get started

Ultimate is for everyone and it is easy to get started playing ultimate. The clubs are usually very open and there is always room for new players. If you play outdoors, it is an advantage to wear football boots, but it is not a requirement if you just want to try a practice or two. Try a practice, put on sportswear and remember a water bottle as you will probably get thirsty along the way.

Philip's ultimate story

Philip is one of the founders of Disc Tree and has been playing ultimate since high school. Below he tells how he got started playing ultimate.

"I started playing ultimate in 2009 while I was in high school after trying it out in a PE class. There was a local club close to the school and I showed up for their training with a couple of friends. We were all pretty hooked by the sport and the club welcomed us really well. Since then I have played ultimate a couple of times a week and after moving to Copenhagen I started playing in Copenhagen club until 2015 where I co-founded the ultimate club at DTU where I am still affiliated. 

I would recommend anyone who likes sports to try ultimate. It's a really good opportunity to meet new friends, and the majority of my friends today come from there. In ultimate, there are many opportunities to play at both recreational and elite level. Many clubs go to weekend tournaments abroad and although it may sound like you have to play for a very long time to get going, this is not the case. Over the last 10 years I have played tournaments all over Europe and it has been both elite ultimate in Netherlands and Switzerland but also fun tournaments on the beaches in Portugal or Spain. "