Ultimate Frisbee

Playing frisbee

Playing frisbee

Recently, we’ve started playing ultimate frisbee. Just before camping we decided to give this game a whirl, and ended up playing until it was too dark to play. While we were camping we played a little frisbee every day we were there.

While camping though, Bryan decided to pull a Jet Lee on the frisbee and he broke it. Quite possibly the best frisbee ever made, was broken and smashed into tiny pieces.

So, we wanted to play on Sunday and we were left with needing to buy a new one. After hitting a few stores we went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and they had official size and weight Ultimate Frisbees. Score.

On a side note, for those looking to get into ultimate frisbee there is a difference between frisbees that I wasn’t necessarily aware of prior to Sunday. The normal household frisbee is much lighter than one used for ultimate frisbee. Also, a freestyle frisbee should not be used for ultimate frisbee. Here is a comparison shot for the two of them.

Freestyle and ultimate frisbees

Left: Freestyle, Right: Ultimate

At first glance, they probably look about the same size. However, the ultimate frisbee is slightly larger and heavier than the freestyle frisbee. Both of which are probably heavier than your household frisbee. The freestyle frisbee weighs in at 160 ounces grams while the ultimate frisbee tips the scales at 175 ounces grams. The added surface area, and weight, make the ultimate frisbee extremely stable in the air and make accurate long-range passes much more possible.

One of the most attractive things about ultimate frisbee is that anyone can play. Young or old, man or woman, anyone can play this game and have a good time with it. It is a lot of running, which is what attracted me to this sport to begin with. As you know, I don’t like running unless there is an objective.

So, go get yourself a frisbee and a few friends, and have fun. Oh, and the official name is simply "Ultimate", since Frisbee is a copyrighted trademark of WHAM-O, Inc. Official rules are not too hard to come by, so get out there and start throwing.

Update – In my haste, I accidentally wrote down what the frisbees weighed in the wrong unit of measure. Instead of ounces, it should have been grams. Thanks to Ben for noticing.