Category archives: Rules

In the last two weeks in Blantyre we’ve had some interesting discussions about the rules on physical contact. These arose from a situation where two players clearly collided but no foul was called last week; and this week where players agreed that contact occurred but did not agree on whether it was a foul.

A non-contact sport?

For those of us coming from sports like basketball or football where you can’t deliberately hit or trip a player, but most unintentional contact is allowed, it’s difficult to get into the mindset of calling fouls for contact that may be unintentional, but does affect the play.

However, in ultimate we should. Ultimate calls itself a “non-contact sport” (it’s in rule 1.1.), and this is defined further in rule 12.6:

All players must attempt to avoid contact with other players, and there is no situation where a player may justify initiating contact. This includes avoiding initiating contact with a stationary opponent, or an opponent’s expected position based on their established speed and direction.  “Making a play for the disc” is not a valid excuse for initiating contact with other players.

https://rules.wfdf.sport/rules/2021/85-12-receivers-and-positioning

Which seems pretty clear, but…

There is a recognition that in a sport with 14 players running around, some contact will occur and the rules try to allow for ‘minor contact’. We see this in rule 17.2, about receiving fouls:

17.2.1. A Receiving Foul occurs when a player initiates non-minor contact with an opponent before, while, or directly after, either player makes a play on the disc.
17.2.1.1. Contact with an opponent’s arms or hands, that occurs after the disc has been caught, or after the opponent can no longer make a play on the disc, is not a sufficient basis for a foul, but should be avoided

https://rules.wfdf.sport/rules/2021/90-17-fouls

What is minor contact?

The rules define ‘minor contact’ as:

Contact that involves minimal physical force and does not alter the movements or position of another player. Contact with an opponent’s extended arms or hands that are about to, or already are, contacting the disc, or contact to the throwers hand during the throwing motion, is not considered to be minor contact.

https://rules.wfdf.sport/definitions/100-minor-contact

Some examples

A contested call

In the case of what happened this week:

1. Player O(ffense) and Player D(efence) where both jumping for the disk.
2. The disc was dropped.
3. They agree that contact occurred.
4. The contact was not strong enough that either were knocked out of position.
5. Player O felt the contact put them off catching the disc; so called a Foul.
6. Player D felt that the contact had occurred after the disc was lost, and therefore didn’t affect the play (minor contact); so Contested the Foul call.
7. The disc was returned to the person who threw it – offence retain the disc.

This is the correct resolution for the situation, which was a genuine and honest difference of opinion on when the contact occurred and how it affected play.

Player knocked to the ground

In the situation last week no foul was called – so this is just my perception of what should have happened:

1. Player O(ffence) jumped straight up for the disc.
2. Player D(efence) also jumped for the disc, but jumped diagonally, across Player O.
3. The disc was dropped (or maybe caught by Player D).
4. Player O was knocked to the ground.
5. Player O should have called a foul, which could have been either a Receiving Foul or Dangerous Play.
6. If Player D accepted the call, the disc would go to Player O; if not it would be returned to the thrower – offence retain the disc.

Offsetting fouls

Another way of viewing the example above is that if both Player O and Player D were jumping diagonally, into the same space, and the contact was ‘non-minor’, then this could be an ‘offsetting foul’. In which case the disc would go back to the thrower.

17.9. Offsetting Fouls:
17.9.1. If accepted fouls are called by offensive and defensive players on the same play, these are offsetting fouls, and the disc must be returned to the last non-disputed thrower.
17.9.2. If there is non-minor contact that is caused by two or more opposing players moving towards a single point simultaneously, this must be treated as offsetting fouls.

https://rules.wfdf.sport/rules/2021/90-17-fouls

This seeems like it should be an easy question, but as with all things in a sport where we are all referees, we need a clear, definitive, answer. The question comes from a situation we had in Blantyre a couple of weeks ago:

Ian caught the disk, while his foot was in the endzone, but his momentum was carrying him out of the field and he immediately threw the disc back into the endzone, where no one else caught it.

There was some discussion about whether this was actually a ‘catch’ and therefore a goal. We all agreed that if Ian had held on to the disc it would have been a goal as his initial point of contact with the ground was in the endzone. However, as he only held the disc momentarily, and then threw it – ultimately to the ground – was this not a drop? At the time we agreed to give it as a goal and I said I’d look it up.

Of course, to know if we made the right call on the field, we have to consult the WFDF rules. The key section is the definitions at the end:

Catch: A non-spinning disc trapped between at least two body parts.
If a player initially catches a pass and then, prior to establishing possession, they do not maintain the catch (‘maintain the catch’ means to continue to have a non-spinning disc trapped between at least two body parts), that initial catch is deemed to have ended

WFDF Rules of Ultimate 2021-2024, Definitions, p. 15.

But this requires a further definition! Had Ian ‘established possesion’?

Possession of the disc: A player establishes possession of a pass when:

– they catch a pass and then they maintain that catch for more than one noticeable instant, and

– they maintain the catch throughout all ground contact related to the catch, or until they throw the disc

WFDF Rules of Ultimate 2021-2024, Definitions, p. 16.

We can see from the last words quoted that we made the right decision, and Ian did the right thing in making a throw to establish clear possession.

Establishing possession with your foot

In looking this up I also found out the answer to a question Michael asked yesterday:

If someone kicks or traps a rolling disc from the pull (or at any other point in play), have they established possession? Do they have to pick up the disc?

The answer is ‘no’ the definition is clear that “picking up the disc” establishes possession, so kicking or standing on it does not count.

At our game on Sunday we had a number of questions about picks. It’s always a somewhat confusing and even controversial rule. I wasn’t 100% sure about how to answer some of the questions, so I found this:

Really simple explanation

The rules as written

18.3. “Pick” Violations:

18.3.1. If a defensive player is guarding one offensive player and they are prevented from moving towards/with that player by another player, that defensive player may call “Pick”. However it is not a pick if both the player being guarded and the obstructing player are making a play on the disc.

18.3.1.1. Prior to making the “Pick” call, the defender may delay the call up to two (2) seconds to determine if the obstruction will affect the play.

18.3.2. If play has stopped, the obstructed player may move to the agreed position they would have otherwise occupied if the obstruction had not occurred, unless specified otherwise.

18.3.3. All players should take reasonable efforts to avoid the occurrence of picks.

18.3.3.1. During any stoppage opposing players may agree to slightly adjust their locations to avoid potential picks.

A detailed explanation from WFDF

In Blantyre, we’ve had a few discussion recently about what happens when the disc goes out on the pull (the first throw used to start and restart the game) and/or lands in the end zone.

I think the rules for this have been updated over the years, and may be/have been different in the USA and the rest of the world. We’re using the most recent WFDF rules (2021).

The rules about the pull in detail are here: https://rules.wfdf.org/rules/2017/13-7-the-pull

But essentially:

• If it stops or is caught in the field of play (including the end zone) play it from there.
• If it lands in play but rolls out, play it from where it rolled out (or the closest point not in the end zone).
• If it goes straight out, either play from where it crossed the line, or the brick mark (centre of the field about 18m from the goal line). If you want to play from the brick mark you should raise your arm overhead and say, “brick” (the rule changed from clapping about 10 years ago).

For a great pictorial explanation, grab this PDF or have a look at the slideshow below (‘OB’= ‘out of bounds’):

Two related rules issues came up last Sunday, both about how quickly play needs to restart; so I had a look at the rule book to give some definitive answers.

How quickly do you have to pick the disc up after a turnover or pull?

Essentially the answer is: as quickly as possible.

The aim being to keep the game moving at pace.

Attacking players need to (at least) walk to the disc and when there pick it up and play. If they don’t the defending team can call ‘Delay of play’ and if the attackers don’t stop delaying the defenders can start the stall count.

• 8.5. After a turnover, and after the pull, the team that has gained possession of the disc must continue play without delay.
  • 8.5.1. An offensive player must move at walking pace or faster to directly retrieve the disc and establish a pivot.
  • 8.5.2. In addition to 8.5.1, after a turnover the offence must put the disc into play within the following time limits, if the disc did not become out-of-bounds, and the discs location is:
    • 8.5.2.1. in the central zone – within ten (10) seconds of the disc coming to rest.
    • 8.5.2.2. in an end zone – within twenty (20) seconds of the disc coming to rest.
  • 8.5.3. If the offence breaches 8.5 the defence may give a verbal warning (“Delay of Game”) or may call a “Violation”.
  • 8.5.4. If an offensive player is within three (3) metres of the pivot point and, after the verbal warning, the offence continues to breach 8.5 the marker may commence the stall count.

Taken from: WFDF – Rules of Ultimate

USA Ultimate’s current rule is essentially the same – see XIX.B.

What happens if the pull is delayed after a ready signal?

The rules we use (WFDF) do not really specify, but, again, the idea here is to get play restarted as quickly as possible:

7.1.1. Teams must prepare for the pull without unreasonable delay.

WFDF – Rules of Ultimate

The USA Ultimate Rules go into some detail about how much time can be taken and penalties for going beyond this, but as we use the WFDF rules, I won’t go into those – if you want to, look at VIII.C.

One thing that we might note is the order suggested by the WFDF rules:

1. Receiving team signals that they are ready.
2. Receiving team stays still, each player with a foot on the goal line – so pulling (defending) team can pick who to mark.
3. Pulling team signals readiness – pulling team all need to be in their endzone.
4. Once the pull is thrown all players may leave their endzones.