Hot 100 Best Ultimate Tips

by Jean Gaetan

Playing Ultimate is a learning process. The good news (and bad news) is that there is no shortage of folks ready to impart all of their infinite wisdom to you (usually in one unending rant). Wanna get some advice? Just try playing wing in the zone. It’s enough to make you want to punch a tree.

But then there are the sweet little nuggets of advice you get that turn out to be truly useful. Like this one... Buy a Sharpie, keep it with your Ultimate stuff, and write your name on everything. Especially, write your name on any new discs you obtain. A brand new disc without a name is like the air- it belongs to whoever gets a whiff of it first.

Listed below is a collection of the 100 best Ultimate tips ever! (No, there are not actually 100, but it sure has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?)

Disc and Equipment Tips

• Your Frisbee can be used as a food plate or drinking cup in a pinch
• Baking soda is a great cleaner for brightening up your old Frisbees (so you can safely eat and drink from them)
• Write your name on your new disc with a Sharpie as soon as you get it (Yes, it needed to be repeated)
• If you buy cones, write your name on each one of them with that same new Sharpie you bought
• Keep your cleats in a separate bag from your other Ultimate gear
• Use Lysol spray on your cleats (the one that says it’s “anti-fungal”) and air them out at home

Practice Tips

• Practice throwing while standing on one foot. This will improve your balance.
• Practice catching with only one hand. Learn to catch better with one hand during practice and you’ll be twice as good at catching with two hands in the games.
• Practice catching the trailing edge of the disc. It will sharpen your overall reflexes.
• Find a dog that likes to chase discs and practice faking him out.

Workout Tips

• Lunges and squats provide the biggest bang for your buck in bettering your Ultimate play
• Running quick intervals (track workouts) is better for Ultimate than jogging farther distances at a fixed pace
• Swimming workouts remain the best overall exercise in the known universe

Conceptual Tips

• Pick one thing to improve on at a time and focus on that
• Be aware of the reputation you will develop as a player and make sure it’s what you want
• Warming up at least 6 full minutes before playing is key to preventing shin-splints and many other ailments
• Dynamic stretching beats the old-school static stretching for injury prevention
• Half-gallon water jugs are not enough during the summer months (get a one gallon jug)
• Don’t run a marathon without training for it (like Banjo did)

Playing Tips

• When marking, try moving your hands up and down just a few inches; for the thrower, it's like trying to hit your ball through windmill at putt-putt golf. Also, try sticking out your foot as well as your hand and double the area being blocked
• Don’t “call for” the disc. (It’s very tacky)
• Make your in-and-out cuts in the shape of a narrow V, not a U
• Wear sweatbands on your wrists to keep your hands more dry
• If you wear glasses while playing, wearing a cap also will keep the glasses secured to your head
• Play the Acapulco Tournament in January at least once in your life