Ultimate Terms

Terms in Ultimate Frisbee

Term	Definition	Reference
Aggro	abbr. aggressive. Referring to poor spirited, overly aggressive play by an individual or team.
Alligator Catch	A catch made with both hands coming together in a clapping motion on the top and bottom of the disc simultaneously.
Bear-Ninja-Cowboy	To determine who begins the game, instead of a flipping two discs, a team may opt to do. Bear beats ninja; ninja beats cowboy; and cowboy beats bear. To do this, representatives from each team stand back to back, walk three paces, turn around and act out their chosen character.
Bid	An attempt to catch or block the disc, usually a layout or sky.
Break	A break-point is when the team starting on defense causes a turnover and scores. To break your marker means to throw the disc past them to the side of the field they were trying to deny as part of a force defense. A break-force throw is one that breaks your marker. A call of "no break!" is an instruction to the defensive player currently marking the disc not to get broken, and is usually called when an offensive player gets free on the closed side of the field (and would therefore be easy to throw a break-force throw to).
Brick	The equivalent of a touchback in American Football where a possession begins partway down-field after a pull landing out-of-bounds.
Callahan	When an opposing team's pass is intercepted in the end zone they are defending, scoring a point for the intercepting team.
Chill/be Chilly	Used to urge a player with the disc to have patience and not throw the disc too quickly. Phrases like "take your time" are avoided, since they could be mistaken for the act of calling a time-out. Being chilly also implies making safer, shorter throws rather than riskier, fancier throws.
Claw Catch	A catch using both hands stopping the disc between thumb and fingers.
D	Refers to a defensive play resulting in a turnover (Either a deflection or an interception): "He D'd the disc in the endzone."
D-Line	Players assigned to be on the field whenever play begins by that team pulling.
Dumping/Dump	A throw to a person in the dump position (usually an offensive player close beside or behind), used for resetting the stall count to prevent a Turnover or to strategically move the disc laterally across the field.
Force	The direction in which a person who is marking tries to force the handler to throw. Alternatively, the marker can try to force the handler into a specific type of throw, e.g. 'force flick.'
The Greatest	When a player jumps from inbound territory then catches and throws or redirects the disc in an attempt to keep the disc from touching the ground out-of-bounds, hence keeping the disc in the field of play. Sometimes called a "world's greatest," especially when caught by a teammate for a score.
Handler	Either the person currently with the disc or players designated to "usually" have the disc (especially used when playing against a Zone defense).
Hell Point	A point that takes an inordinate amount of time to complete, usually due to excessive turnovers. Because substitutions are only allowed between points, the players on the field become tired and 'in hell'.
Hospital Throw	A throw that stays in the air for a considerable amount of time, allowing multiple players to get under and vie for the disc, therefore leading to a greater chance of injury.
Huck	A long throw, GeneRally at least half the length of the field and to a downfield receiver. Contrast with 'Punt', which implies the voluntary decision to lose possession to move the disc down the field.
Layout	A dive to catch the disc.
Mark	To try to hinder the throw of a person with the disc by blocking possible avenues of release using the body or arms (no physical contact is allowed). Also refers to the person in the act of marking the person with the disc.
Minge	When the receiver drops a sure catch by clamping his or her hands down unevenly on opposite sides of the disk, causing it to flip over and fall to the ground.
Ninja	A foot block on a huck with a flying kick.
O-Line	Players assigned to be on the field whenever play begins by that team receiving the pull.
Poaching	In man-to-man defense, the act of defending an area of the field instead of one's assigned man. This will inevitably leave someone open, who is said to be Poached.
Point Block	Blocking a disc that has just been released, resulting in a turnover. Also known as a Hand Block. Known as a Foot Block when the block is made with either foot.
Pull	A long throw that initiates the start of play, similar to a kickoff in Football.
Punt	A throw that is launched downfield to force the opponent to begin play further downfield, often thrown at a high stall count when no other choices are available. Taken from American Football and Rugby, where a 'punt' is a kick downfield.
Put	A throw to a player. Usually used as a compliment such as "Nice put", for more skillfully placed throws, such that the receiver is able to easily get it.
Rickel	When a player makes a difficult catch which is immediately followed by a very poor throw. Also known as the Law of Conservation, Conservation of Greatness, or the Rule of 11
Savage, playing savage	When a team plays with the minimum number of players.
Sky	Leaping and catching the disc at maximum height over an opponent - a tactic that leads to immense gratification for the skyer and great embarrassment for the one who is skyed. Also referred to as a "Tea Bag" or "Box Lunch" depending upon the gender of the skyer.
Snake	When a defender craftily intercepts a pass by reaching over a shorter offensive player or breaking to the disc at the last instant. Also called 'Baiting'.
Spike	A 'spike' is when a player slams the disc down in celebration after scoring, usually a very important point. This behavior is typically Frowned Upon by purists as it is in bad spirit and can WarP the shape of the disc making it wobble in the air.
Strike	A call made by a teammate (who is usually on the sideline) telling the mark to switch the force momentarily, thus [...] off a possible force-side throw.
Swill	A throw that can only be completed with an amazing effort by the intended receiver. Often used to describe hospital throws or throws that lack sufficient spin, causing the disc to fly without stability through the air.
Swing	A throw from one side of the field to the other. This type of throw does not in itself have the purpose of getting closer to the endzone line, but of shifting the focus of play to the other side of the field or of resetting the stall count.
Taco	A disc that has become warped due to a foot block, a player stepping On It, or a throw that nosedives into the ground. Generally a tacoed disc is either straightened by the next handler or is removed from play and repaired on the sideline.
Turf	To throw the disc so that it hits the ground shortly after being released, usually a result of poor execution by the thrower.
Turn	Short for turnover. Said aloud so all players on the field can recognize the change of possession.
Universe Point	When each team only needs one more point to win the game, this point is called 'universe point'or 'ultimate point.'
Up	Yelled by the defense when the disc is thrown by the offense to alert the other defensive players.