What a Time to be Alive

And, what a time to be sleeping!

Discraft Ultra-Star Duvet Cover....$97.87 [Twin] - $143.86 [King]

Plus, plenty of options to wear, drink out of, and go mobile with other merch - shirts for men and women, pencil skirt, travel mug, iPhone case - can be had with the Discraft Ultra-Star hot stamp.

Check out the novelty throw pillow. It's a disc! It's a pillow! It's a throw pillow with a disc stamp!

Yes, it's the "vintage" hyphenated logo.

Happy Spirit of the Game Day

Today (December 3rd) is International Spirit of the Game Day!

Spirit of the Game (SOTG) is a deliberate and consistent behavior displayed by ultimate Frisbee players worldwide. It includes skills such as spatial awareness; fair-mindedness; clear and respectful communication; a positive attitude towards opponents and teammates; as well as proper use and knowledge of the rules.

However, even more importantly, players value and demonstrate SOTG off-the-field as well in their daily lives.

Celebrate SOTG today and every day! Play ultimate!

Ultigift Hat Tournament in DC

The Ultigift Hat Tourney - organized by Savage - returns to Washington, D.C., for an off-season, cold weather ultimate get-together for a good cause.

 

Date: Saturday, December 5

Location: Polo Fields

Registration: $15 + a new toy

Time: Check in will be as early as 9 AM. Team formations at 9:30 AM. Games at 10 AM.

Register online.

Mickle Signs with Dallas Roughnecks

The Dallas Roughnecks have signed another superstar to their 2016 roster. Jimmy Mickle - who played for San Diego last year - joins Beau Kittredge in Dallas. The Roughnecks are schedule to complete in the AUDL South in their first year in the league.

Mickle's contract is most likely a 1-year deal as an expansion team in Denver - his hometown - is expected for the American Ultimate Disc League 2017 season.

Air travel from Denver to Dallas is ~1 hour:45 minute trip. From Lepler's Tuesday Toss: "Dallas is really the perfect storm of everything I want from this [upcoming] season. It's the easiest travel. I'll be able to play with some of the best players in the world and be part of an extremely competitive team, and I'll be able to continue working with E.R.I.C to grow ultimate and educate kids about cancer symptoms."

Do Over: November 2015

Catch up on last month's noteworthy posts you may have missed...

No big deal with Starbucks Red Cup

Beau to play in Big D

Team America All-Stars vs Philippines, vs Japan 

An ultimate coach became the Canadian Prime Minister

Some great ultimate U.S. players from great club teams were invited to tryout for 2016 Worlds teams.

Published Research on Physical Demands during Ultimate Game

As we wait for player tracking data to be released by a pro ultimate league, here's research that was recently published.

In the December 2015 issue of Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (the official research journal for National Strength & Conditioning Association), an article titled "Physical Demands in Competitive Ultimate Frisbee" was written by Peter Krustrup and Magni Mohr. The research studied an ultimate game between 2 teams of male "athletes" from University of Exeter Ultimate Club documenting heart rate, traveled distance, and "high-intensity running" (which is different than sprinting).

Abstract: The objective was to study game demands in competitive ultimate Frisbee by performing match analysis during a game. Thirteen moderately trained (Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test levels 1 and 2 [Yo-Yo IR1 and IR2] performance: 1790 ± 382 m and 657 ± 225 m, respectively) competitive male ultimate Frisbee athletes played a game in which activity profile using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and heart rate (HR) were recorded. Game HRmean and HRpeak were 82 ± 2% and 99 ± 1% of maximum heart rate, respectively. Total game distance was 4.70 ± 0.47 km, of which 0.63 ± 0.14 km was high-intensity running and 0.21 ± 0.11 km was sprinting. In the second half, 10% less (p ≤ 0.05) ground was covered with high-intensity running compared with the first half (0.28 ± 0.08 km vs. 0.31 ± 0.07 km). Less (43–47%; p ≤ 0.05) high-intensity running was performed in the third 9-minute period of each half compared with the first two 9-minute periods of the same half. Players performed 17.4 ± 5.7 sprints during the match. Yo-Yo IR2 performance correlated to the amount of high-intensity running in the last 9 minutes of both halves (r = 0.69, p ≤ 0.05), whereas Yo-Yo IR1 performance correlated with total sprint distance (r = 0.74, p ≤ 0.05). Ultimate Frisbee is an intense intermittent team sport with high cardiovascular loading and clear indications of fatigue toward the end of each half. Yo-Yo IR test performances correlate with physical match performance.

• The study claims to be the first to examine the activity profile and cardiovascular loading during a competitive ultimate game. 
• The study began with 15 participants, but data drew from 13 - due to injuries. 
• Of the 54 minutes of game time, 26.6 +/- 5 minutes was spent above 90% maximum heart rate.
• Conclusion: High-intensity intermittent training regimes, such as an aerobic high-intensity training and speed endurance training, should therefore be given high priority in the physical preparation of ultimate athletes.

[Thanks to Sam for lending a copy of the article.]