Summary
Ultimate is a non-contact sport played with a frisbee (disc) by two seven-player teams. The object of the game is to score goals. The disc may only be moved by passing – the thrower is not allowed to run with the disc. Whenever a pass is incomplete, intercepted, knocked down or contacts an out-of-bounds area, a turn-over occurs, resulting in an immediate change of possession of the disc. A goal is scored when a player successfully passes the disc to a teammate in the endzone which that team is attacking.
See the UPA Ten Simple Rules for more details.
Spirit of the Game
Ultimate has traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship which places the responsibility for fair play on the individual player. Highly competitive play is encouraged but never at the expense of mutual respect between players, adherence to the agreed-upon rules of the game, or the basic joy of play.
The rules of Ultimate provide a guideline which describes the way the game is played. It is assumed that no Ultimate player will intentionally violate the rules, so there are no harsh penalties for inadvertent infractions. Rather, a method for resuming play in a manner which simulates what would most likely have occurred had there been no infraction.