Orange Cone Pumpkin

Transform your orange ultimate cones into a low-budget Halloween decoration.

1. Grab orange cone(s) from your car trunk, ultimate bag, &/or front hallway.

2. Use a scissors or something sharp to cut out facial features (e.g. eyes, nose, mouth) from black paper. 

3. Paste the facial cutouts onto the cone(s).

4. [Optional] Under the cone, put a flameless tea light or small flashlight. Actual candles not recommended.

These pumpkin cones complement the candy corn cone.

Summertime and the mowin's easy

Happy Summer (Solstice)!

Actually, contrary to popular belief...

Field Size for Beach Ultimate Does Not Add Up

What is the exact size for a beach ultimate field? I'm not shore because, well, it depends on whether you have adopted the metric system.

Beach Ultimate Lovers Association (BULA) publishes a diagram with beach ultimate field specifications in both meters AND yardage. However, the true yard dimensions based on BULA's specification (in meters) don't exactly measure up:

BULA's field dimensions vs SLUDGE's meters with actual yardage 

If following BULA's specs (meters), the beach ultimate in yards would be slightly skinnier, and slightly smaller playing field with end zones that are short by more than 1 yard.

15 meters = 16.4 yards
45 meters = 49.2 yards
25 meters = 27.3 yards

In general, an extra 0.3 yard (or 10.8 inches) is not quite one foot, but it could be enough of a player's foot. Any extra space on the beach ulti field would be significant when playing beach ultimate as that additional field space could be the difference between in and out.

Here's a real-life example of possible confusion: Lei-Out announced their beach field size matched regulation field size (25 x 45 + 15 end zones), which is correct only IF those figures are in meters; not yards. Lei-Out was played in Santa Monica, California.


[Originally addressed in June 2015]

Candy Corn Cone

Well, my million-dollar idea was all sketched out ready to be crowdfunded by the masses, until...

one last search on the google machine resulted in...

photo via

proving my idea was not original.

May all Halloween-themed ultimate tournaments be graced by candy corn cones!

Fun facts about Candy Corn.

Wham-O Instructions for Frisbee Ultimate

Frisbees sold by Wham-O include instructions for playing a game called "Frisbee® Ultimate." Wham-O brands the game of ultimate with a similar naming sequence for Disc Golf, or the comedic [Seinfeld; The Office] nomenclature "Frisbee Golf". Wham-O has owned the patent since 1957 for the Pluto Platter, which was renamed Frisbee in 1958.

Wham-O's 2-page instructions cover:
Field Size
Cutting
Game Basics
Scoring
Throwing
Catching

Lessons learned:
1. "Ultimate is a flexable [sic] game." (So is spelling, apparently.)

2. There's room for improvement in the analogy department. "A disc is like a pair of scissors. You're not supposed to run with either!"

3. Field dimensions are outdated; 25-yard EZ's instead of 20 yards. (Hey, any flying plastic disc company can make that mistake.)

What is Beach Ultimate?

From the WFDF Rules of 5-on-5 Beach Ultimate (2013):

Beach Ultimate is a five-a-side team sport played with a flying disc. It is played on a rectangular field, about half the width of a football field, with an end zone at each end. The object of each team is to score a goal by having a player catch a pass in the end zone that they are attacking. A thrower may not run with the disc, but may pass the disc in any direction to any team-mate. Any time a pass is incomplete, a turnover occurs, and the other team may take the disc to score in the opposite end zone. Games are typically played to 13 goals and last around 45 minutes. Ultimate is self-refereed and non-contact. The Spirit of the Game guides how players referee the game and conduct themselves on the field.

From Paganello Tournament:
Beach Ultimate is really easy: 5 players, a field of 75 meters long and 25 width with two opposite end zones. As in rugby, you score when a player get the Frisbee in the end zone. The difference is that you cannot walk with the Frisbee in your hand, you have only 10 seconds to throw it and the physical contact is almost absent. Have you ever seen it? Till now, have you been thinking that the Frisbee was only played with your dog? This is not true. Come to Paganello and take a look! You will be surprised of the atmosphere, the colors and matches played without referee. Yes, without referee. The players, they referee by themselves in a fair played game and respect of the rules, unlike the most famous and popular sports.

Via USAU:
Beach Ultimate is a popular and fast-growing spin-off of the grass-based game. Well-established Beach Ultimate events date back to the early 1990's, with some events hosting as many as 100 teams, making them some of the largest tournaments in Ultimate. Beach Ultimate leagues and casual pickup games are sprinkled across the country, even on lakeside beaches.

Beach Ultimate is played as 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 and is played by Mixed, Women, Open, Masters, College, and Junior level players and teams. Windy beach conditions and a smaller field demand a more precision-oriented set of throwing skills, while the sandy field requires even greater endurance.

Per BULA President Patrick van der Valk in BULA's documentary:
The feeling you get when you start to play beach ultimate is...you get to the beach and you take off your shoes. Instead of when you get to the field, and you put on your cleats. And I think that sorta changes people's thinking and feeling when you're on the beach.

It's...slightly more free. Therefore, the way people are playing is a very happy way of playing because you have no footwear. You just have your shorts and tshirt. You run and you smell the sea. There's the wind and the sun. And, it already makes you already happy playing the game. [15:30]

Cleanup Ultimate Field, Or Get Fined

An Ultimate tournament threatened to fine Ultimate teams $150 if they did not have clean sidelines.

DiscNY hosted the 2014  Metro New York Sectionals tournament for seven mixed teams, 13 men's teams, and 6 women's teams on September 6-7 in Middletown, NY. In addition to the team registration fee ($350, $375), a $150 deposit for field cleanliness was also required. The mandatory deposit was meant to "encourage all (Ultimate) players to be good field citizens."

Screenrab [via]

Here are the specifics from the Sectionals info: **FIELD DEPOSIT?! - Yes, field deposit. It is not optional. Because some teams do a really crap job of cleaning up after themselves. Here's how this is going to work: Whatever field your team ends up on at the end of each day has to be spic and span. Bottle caps, fruit peels, abandoned smelly socks, wads of used athletic tape, etc... must all be picked up and thrown out. That includes the far sideline if there is no other team using it. If another team left a mess, you can report them, but you still have to clean up the sideline. If teams are sharing the sideline they are both responsible for the whole sideline. If you are worried about whether you did a good enough job and want to make sure you get your $150 deposit back, get the TD or other designated tourney staff to do a 'checkout' at the end of each day. Tourney staff will have noted which teams are using which fields and sidlelines [sic] at the end of both Saturday and Sunday. If a team leaves a mess on either day and they did not get checked out, then we keep the money and it goes toward DiscNY's youth development programs. Field deposits will be refunded by end of day the Monday after Sectionals. If another team reports that your team left a mess, your field deposit is subject to forfeit. We hope this will encourage all players to be good field citizens.

Preview: MLU 2014 Championship

On Saturday, July 19th at 6:30pm ET, Major League Ultimate will host its second annual championship game, featuring a match up between Western Conference Champion Vancouver Nighthawks and Eastern Conference Champion Washington DC Current. This game will be played at PPL Park with a capacity of 18,500 in Chester, Pennsylvania (~18 miles away from Philly).

:Travel:
DC is 2.5 hours (138 miles) away from Philly by road. Vancouver is 5+ hours (2406 direct miles) away by air.

:Players:
Both ream rosters draw heavily from their city's elite club ultimate team; DC Current/Truck Stop, Vancouver Nighthawks/Furious George.

:Teams:
OFFENSE: These two teams were tops in the league in goals; DC 216, VAN 212.
DEFENSE: They rank #3, #4 respectively; DC 174 goals; VAN 182 goals.
Both teams increased their win totals compared to last year. DC (9-1) clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference while Vancouver (6-4) came in 2nd place in the Western Conference.
Both teams won the conference finals by 1 point.
Both teams have a similar dark PUMA jersey.

:Weather:
Saturday, July 19's forecast has a slight wind and a low chance of rain during the day and into the evening.

:Viewing:
Watch the game on MLU live-stream (free), or buy a ticket to attend in-person. Be sure to appreciate the "first custom field painting in league history" and the extra cameras capturing the game.

:Tickets:
Ticket prices range from $18 up to $65.

Ultimate Field

After watching USA Ultimate's College Championships, I noticed their field setup was nestled inside the football field. Extra space around the entire field was used as extra sideline space on the lined high school football field. If you decide not to use the existing sideline for your Ultimate field's sideline AND can add your own lines, then consider the same field layout as USAU:

1. Pace 5 yards from the back of the end zone onto the field to mark the back of the endzone.

2. Sidelines are outside the painted numbers on the field.

3. The 15-yard line is the front goal line of the endzone.

Improving the Ultimate Field

The growth of Ultimate is also expanding the opportunities to watch Ultimate games online. From a camera's perspective, playing Ultimate on a football/soccer field does not translate well. I'm not a fan of the endzones extending into the field, as mentioned before for the AUDL and MLU. There's just too many markings on the field where Ultimate is being played.

Ultimate games look like a temporary guest of the hosting playing field, for example:
USA Ultimate

AUDL

MLU

Ultimate is an uncomplicated game deserving of a more simplified field to showcase player athleticism and the disc. Here's an Ultimate field redesign to benefit viewers (who are new or experienced to the sport) plus players. 

ENDZONES are a different color from the field to visually demonstrate differentiation from the field proper. The two dashed MIDLINES are positioned at the midpoint of each field half, signifying the red zone¹ (an area where scoring most likely takes place). And, the solid HALFWAY LINE is in the middle of the entire field. One number (i.e. 35, 40) could be placed here to give a measurement of yardage.

What would your ultimate Ultimate field look like?

An Ultimate Problem

If this is THE Ultimate problem, then having a flat, grassy field closed on a sunny day is runner-up.

Field Closed (Alexandria, VA)

Ultimate Field Comparison: Beach vs Land (Updated)

Updated this past comparison to account for the reduced end zones...

Beach dimensions are 27W x 81L (16 + 49 + 16) are 50% smaller than land dimensions of 40W x 110L (20 + 70 + 20).

How an Ultimate field compares to a beach Ultimate field (yards):

• Total Length: 110 vs 81 [-26%]
• Width: 40 vs 27 [-33%]
• End Zones: 20 vs 16 [-20%]
• Total Area: 4400 vs 2187 [-50%]

How To: Run Track on an Ultimate Field

Track practice ("Tractice") seems a popular activity among Ultimate teams. But at what length?  How many miles do you run while playing Ultimate?? Knowing this mileage would help with building your running endurance.

1 yard = 0.000568182 mile, 1 mile = 1760 yards, 1760 yards = 16 Ultimate field lengths.
Averaging 150 yards running per point, you would run the first mile during your 12th point.

Utilize the Ultimate field as a running track...

1-mile Conversion [Yardage x Lengths]
A: 20-yard (end zones) x 88
B: 40-yard (field width) x 44
C: 70-yard (field) x 25.1
D: 90-yard (field + end zone) x 19.5
E: 110-yard (field + end zones) x 16
F: 300 yards (lap around the field) x 5.8

Of course, track running is much different than the jog-shuffle-run-cut-sprint nature necessary in Ultimate.

Discraft Tutorial

A player recently bought a Discraft Ultra-Star which had this wonderfully brief tutorial on how to play Ultimate with their product.

Diagrammed instructions of Ultimate from DISCRAFT packaging

• Player in possession cannot move.
• Receivers may run in any direction.
• Scored one point!

(Played 7 vs 7 on  a 40-yard wide field with 70-yard field + 25-yard** endzones)

[s/o Bucci]

Improving the Orange Cone

This frequently happens at weekend pickup. Another field is setup, but the cones & end zones are misaligned field creating confusion on where scoring begins and ends.

Good News: Enough space to fit more than one Ultimate field!

Bad News: The fields don't line up.

"Fieldigo" when Ultimate fields make you feel spatially disoriented caused by two side-by-side incongruous fields.

Misaligned side-by-side fields

SOLUTION:
Sure, the disc on the opposite field's cone can work.
Another idea...the two-toned field cone; one half orange, the other half black. The orange side faces your field while the darkened side is turned away from your field.

"Two-Toned Cone" [Protype]

Reduced Endzones

Causes for Ultimate fields being short may be: 1) the person who setup the field paced it off incorrectly, or 2) endzones are meant to be 20 yards.

Per USA Ultimate rule changes for the 2012 College Series and 2012 Club Championship Series:
Endzone Size - Endzone length will be shortened to 20 yards. This change allows for consistency with WFDF rules in international competition and increases the number of field sites that an be used for ultimate.

What the truncated Ultimate field looks like [40 yards x 110 yards (20 + 70 + 20)]:

Two Ultimate Fields on One Field

Good news: Your Ultimate game is scheduled on a turf field. Bad news: There's another Ulti game scheduled at the same time. 

If you must share the area on a football turf field, you definitely lose some field width since 2 fields that are supposed to 40 yards wide can't fit in the 53-1/3 yard space. If you reduce all dimensions one-third, then you will end up with a beach Ultimate field. Length-wise dimensions are just like the AUDL field.

Here's suggested sizing for 2 Ultimate fields on 1 turf field:

One Ulti field's dimensions when sharing space

Width = 26.65 yards [-33% of regulation size]
Endzone = 20 yards [-20% of reg size]
Field = 80 yards [+14% of reg size]
There is a shared sideline.

Ultimate Yards

Setting up an Ultimate field is so much easier when on a lined football field.  On a grass field, the task is harder & the field usually ends up short + narrow. Why? How? Find your inner pace & setup a right-sized field by avoiding this common calculation misstep.

Field Dimensions:
70-yard field + (2) 25-yard end zones x 40-yard wide

Problem:
On average, every 6th measured pace loses 1 yard.
Your first stride [from one heel to the other foot's toe] = 1 yard (3 feet)
Your next strides [from toe to the other foot's toe] measures less than 1 yard (2.5 feet)
So, you have one stride of 3 feet (1 yard) + sixty-nine strides of 2.5 feet (57 yards) = 58 total yards
See visual below of 1st and 2nd measured steps.

1st step = 1 yard; 2nd step is < 1 yard

Advice when pacing off yards for an Ultimate field:

• Learn the exact length of your stride
• If fairly tall, learn to pace an exact yard, heel to heel
• One yard = 3 feet
• On average, compensate for lost yardage / missteps.  Pace out*:
• 80 total strides for the main playing field
• 29 total strides for the end zones
• 46 total strides for the width
• *Used a 2.5 foot average stride for computations

New Practical Field Dimensions:
80-stride field + (2) 29-stide end zones x 46-stride width

AUDL Game Seating

A few more weeks until the opening pull of the American Ultimate Disc League! The AUDL field will be as wide as a football field at 53 1/3 yards with an 80 yard field + 20 yard endzones.

AUDL field example

Following football seating advice, the best place to sit is at least 15 rows up from field level within 10 yards of the middle of the field [40 yard line for AUDL field]. These between-the-30-yard-lines seats will give the ticket buyer both a feeling of intimacy & perspective. You will be nearer to the action if you are closer to field-level, but your view may be obscured by crowds along the sidelines. You may also have a difficult time seeing the spacing between offensive and defensive players, the formations and seeing the play develop. Being a little higher up gives the viewer a better angle to watch the play unfold.

--> Buy AUDL tickets. ($5 - $12)

Comparison: Beach vs Land Ultimate Fields

Beyond the surface, the most striking difference between "Land" Ultimate & Beach Ultimate is the field size.

Beach dimensions are 27W x 81L (16 + 49 + 16). Land dimensions are 40W x 120L (25 + 70 + 25). Overall, the Beach field is 50+% smaller & its width (27 yards) is similar to the depth of a Land's end zone (25 yards).

How a Beach field compares to a regular Ultimate field (yards):

Total Length: 81 vs 120 [-33%]

Width: 27 vs 40 [-33%]

End Zones: 16 vs 25 [-36%]

Total Area: 2187 vs 4800 [-54%]

**UPDATED here.**