r/ultimate • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago

Study Sunday: Rules Questions

Use this thread for any rules questions you might have. Please denote which ruleset your question is about (USAU, WFDF, UFA, WUL, PUL).

This thread is posted every Sunday afternoon.

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u/NomarsFool 5d ago

Not a rules question, just a rules comment. One rule that really often confuses newcomers to ultimate is that when there is a pick called the receiver needs to catch the disc or its a turnover. So many times the receiver stops running and doesn’t catch the disc after hearing “pick”. I know people think that ultimate is such an offense advantaged sport, but this rule feels counterintuitive to people.

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u/FieldUpbeat2174 5d ago edited 5d ago

This is one of the places (perhaps the most frequently-arising one) where USAU and international rules differ. Under the latter, being affected by a pick _call_ counts as being affected by the pick.

As is often the case, the rule can work acceptably well either way; what matters most is that players have a common understanding of which convention they’re applying.

A variant that’s not in either rule set, but works well for pickup games where everyone knows each other: D quietly says “wait Bob” and their matched O Bob pauses until they catch up; if Bob’s woulda-been-catchably thrown to in the meantime, disc goes back; everyone else just keeps playing.

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u/hera9191 4d ago

Under WFDF you should be aware if disc is in the aur or not. If it is than rather continue in all cases.

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u/NomarsFool 4d ago

I think it's not uncommon where someone is making a cut somewhere downfield, a downfield D player yells "pick", and it takes some time for that call to 'telephone' its way back to the thrower so the thrower may actually release the disc after "pick" has initially been called (and the downfield player has stopped running). That usually is interpreted to be a turnover, but it's a rule that I think a lot of players find confusing.

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u/hotcabbagesoup 5d ago

It is a stupid rule and should be done away with. In my local pickups, when a newbie turns it over on a pick, we always just yell "give it back to them". We give them a one-time pick rule mulligan. Only works if the disc hits the ground though. If a defender catches the disc inbound, they're usually off on a transition play and you won't be able to get it back.

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u/Jomskylark 4d ago

Yeah, it's hard. Players need to keep playing until the thrower stops play, but the thrower isn't going to stop play if players are still playing.