Ultimate Frisbee Slang

Ultimate frisbee is an exciting sport to watch. It helps in understanding the game, however, if you understand what the players are shouting out there on the field. So here are some terms and definitions from the game as used by the Stanford Ultimate B-Team ("Beast") note: some random magazine that appeared in my mailbox this week had a similar list of terms, but you can ignore that one because the terms defined on this page are more accurate and more useful to players and spectators of Stanford Ultimate.

bid, n.

an impressive (but failing) diving attempt to catch the frisbee. Often used in a positive way, ex. "Nice bid"

backhand

the throw everyone knows how to do

blade

a throw in which the disk is vertical or at a steep angle. If someone shouts this, cover your head.

"chilly"

slow it down, be patient, wait a moment for the game to get reorganized again.

corkscrew

(see "hammer") like a hammer throw but the frisbee is held in a backhand grip rather than a forehand grip, so the frisbee flattens out and curves the opposite way from the hammer.

D

defense

"disk in"

signals that the disk is in play.

force

guarding on only on one side of the thrower to make them throw to the other side. The direction you want them to throw is the direction of the force.

forehand

opposite of the backhand

hammer

an overhead throw in which the frisbee is relesed at an angle so that it flattens out and flies upside down. These are very hard to catch.

handler

a player whose main job is to control the movement of the disc on offense, similar to the point guard in basketball.

huck

a long throw

layout, n., or lay out, v.

dive. ex "If you didn't catch it, you should have laid out"

O

offense

pick

an intentional or unintentional block (like basketball) where a player gets between you and the plyer you are covering

pull

like a kickoff in football, the throw that begins the possesion.

"run through"

what you shout to tell another player to run past the disc without picking it up

sky, v.

jumping to catch the disc, esp. when jumping higher than another player to catch the disc

stack

offensive strategy in which all the players line up down the middle of the field and alternately make cuts to the side.

stall count

the amount of time the thrower can hold on to the disk before throwing it. This time must be counted out loud by the player covering the thrower.

swill

a cleaner sort of descriptive expletive used to describe bad or chaotic playing

"turn"

what you shout to alert players that a turnover has occurred and the direction of play has changed

"up!"

what you shout to alert players that the disk is in the air