WFDF 2008 World Ultimate & Guts Championships

Presented by Russell Brewing

Hi Alex. If you go to the “Introduction” tab to the left of the opening page here, you will get a dropdown with a link to info on Ultimate or Guts. When you follow the Guts link, you can see a description of the game and a link to the WFDF rules, by line and verse.

I can give you a thumbnail description of the rules here that will let you know what the sport is like.

Two teams stand facing each other 14 meters (45 feet, 11 inches) apart. Team members stand toeing a line on the ground in front of them, standing finger-tip to finger-tip apart when their arms are held out to the side.

It is the object of the throwing team to throw a “legal” throw at the facing team. A “legal” throw must cross the line of the opposing team topside up, which means the disc can’t be upside down or vertical when it crosses the opposing team’s line. The disc can start out upside-down and flip over as it travels to the opposing team, as long as it gets over (and just barely over is ok) before it crosses the opposing team’s line.

A legal throw must travel as far as the line the opposing team is standing behind. The disc cannot hit the ground before it gets to the opposing team. The throw must also be within the reach of the end players on the opposing team and within the reach overhead of the player it’s thrown over. The end players receiving the disc do not have to jump out to reach a disc. The throw has to be within their reach with their hands extended out to the side. Similarly, high throws must be within the reach of the receiving player it’s thrown over, without that player having to jump. Basically, you have a rectangle to throw the disc through with the vertical legs being at the extended reach of the outside players and the horizontal legs being the line on the ground where the opposing team is standing and the extended reach of the team’s players above their heads.

The receiving team must catch the disc with one hand before the disc hits the ground. At no time can any one person touch the thrown disc with two hands at the same time or with two parts of the body at the same time. So if the disc hits both legs of a player, or gets wedged between the chest and the arm, or hits the leg and hand at the same time, or any other conceivable two parts of a player’s body at the same time, that constitutes a “trap” and would be an illegal catch. (Two or more different people on the receiving team may at the same time catch the disc, contributing one hand each. That is legal.)

The throw can be “bobbled” (knocked up into the air repeatedly in an effort to make a catch) as long as the rule of not hitting the disc with two parts of the body is followed. Efficient “bobbling” is one of the hallmarks of a good team.

The disc can be thrown any way you want as long as it is legal when it hits the opposing team. This lends itself to some pretty amazing types of throws with speed and movement adding to the difficulty of the catch.

Finally, the team receiving the throw must be in position on the line as described above (toeing the line, finger-tip to finger-tip apart) when the throw is released to them, but once the disc is thrown, the receiving team members may move to aid in the catch. The better teams develop effective team movement where some players move back and some move forward, all in an effort to keep a disc from hitting the ground before a legal catch can be made. The location, speed, height, spin, and movement of a throw are all factors in determining how the team will move to make a catch. Occasionally, a throw is caught by a player (with one hand of course) cleanly, at first contact. That is called a “bag”. No thrower wants to be “bagged”.

The throwing team scores points when a legal throw is not caught legally. The receiving team scores points when a throw is not thrown legally (high, wide, short, or vertical/upside-down). No points are given for a catch. Games are usually first to 21, (win by 2 or more).

Finally, when the receiving team, no matter how many people touch the disc, does not catch a legal throw, the first person to touch the disc has to throw it back. If the receiving team catches the throw, whoever catches the throw throws back. It doesn’t matter who touches the disc first or how many players touch the disc during the catch. The catcher throws.

A throwing team may throw to avoid a particular opponent or to see a certain shot coming back. A team may also bobble a disc to get it to a certain thrower, though that carries the risk of dropping the disc in the process, especially with the application of wind into the equation. These are just a couple of the strategies that go into playing Guts.

In a game you may face wicked shots of 80+ miles per hour with sharp movement. It’s a lot of fun!

I will be on the USA Guts Team, and we would welcome you, or anyone else interested, to stand in and experience the sport of Guts. I’m sure any of the other teams attending will make the same offer.

You can go to gutsfrisbee.com to get more information about the sport. There is also a pretty good video on Youtube. Just type in Guts Frisbee.

I hope this is what you were looking for. See you in Vancouver!

Mark Banghart – USA Guts

This game is really fun. if you plan on attending the WUGC, go up to any of the Americans and they'll blab their heads off about Guts. We'll take care of anyone that wants to learn it.

The basic rules:
The throwing team tries to throw a 110 gram disc (a guts-pro) past the other team standing 14m away.

The disc cannot be upside down or vertical to the ground when the frisbee reaches the opponets line. The disc must be within reach of the other team.

The Defense has to attept the catch with only one hand. The defense will try to keep the disc alive by bobbling it around if there is no clean catch. One bady part at a time (hand, feet, head- whatever!)

Youtube "Guts Frisbee" and you can watch it being played with some of the rules in mind.

It's not as hard as it looks.