Real Sporty Fitness

Modern man Joe was drying his newly washed windows (what else are newspapers good for?) when he spotted the following:

Fashion & Style >>>Fitness: Ultimate Frisbee Takes Off
[NYT 04.29.09]
Ultimate Frisbee has gone from a pastime for ultimate hippies to a real sport for modern women.

WHEN first played Ultimate Frisbee, 11 years ago, it was with the ultimate hippies...realized that Ultimate, as players today call it, could be a real sport.

Most players she knows don’t subscribe to the old-school “Burning Man” aesthetic anymore — skirts, colorful costumes, funky clothes. Instead, they’re Patagonia(1a/b)-sponsored athletes, wearing sweat-wicking uniforms, who do plyometrics and strength training. And they’re well equipped with a repertory of throws that include flicks, hammers, scoobers and high-release backhands.

In the last 10 years, Ultimate Frisbee has become one of the world’s fastest-growing(2) sports. It is played in more than 42 countries.

Though the game was invented in Maplewood, N.J.(3), in 1968, modern Ultimate has its epicenters in California and the Pacific Northwest. Its continued expansion is
helped by the fact that all you need is a plastic disc & a field.

“I love to run with purpose, meaning I hate the track, but I like to chase things,” Ms. Batchelder said. “I love the fact that when you’re playing, you make hundreds and thousands of little decisions — where the disc is, where your body is — but they happen without thinking.”

It may be a non-contact sport according to its rules, but Ultimate is hardly free of injuries. The quick cutting and sprinting have made anterior cruciate ligament tears among women players especially common.(4)

SLOG source-citing: (1a/1b) -- (2) -- (3) -- (4)