Which Ultimate Rules should be Changed in 2025 

Early years picks were allowed. It led dangerous situations. That’s the history.

I think the Pick analysis doesn't take into account "What if offensive players were incentivized to get in the way of defenders" regarding the collisions issue.

definitely agree about stall time decrease, i think 8 seconds would be ideal! personally i think the rules about contesting stall outs also need to change, so often they end up getting contested after the fact because the stall in total just 'felt' a little fast. i think if you are going to call a fast count it should have to be during the stall, and if you do get stalled out you should only be able to challenge that last second if they rush getting to the last number not the entire stall. also, i think some reworking is needed for offensive/defensive fouls on the mark, as the mark is almost never truly 'stationary' and it's always a real grey area!

Legalize running with the frisbee.

USAU says a pick is when the movement of an offensive player causes a defender to be obstructed by any player from the person they're guarding. At 4:30, this is a game played under USAU rules and should not have been called a pick as the obstruction was created by the independent movement of a defensive player. I'd like a clarifying annotation on that, and for the WFDF to change their pick rule to be more like USAU.

I disagree with your take on picks, though I appreciate your point about the inherent unfairness of defenders basically blocking each other on purpose. The JPN CAN play you cite for pick is an example of how the pick rule helps balance the game toward defense. The defender poached the lane, taking a risk in leaving his player. Offense needed to cut off his route, knowing he's going to cause a pick by sprinting past the poacher. I have a bit of a soft spot for picks because I once sent an opponent to the hospital following a collision from a pick.

well thought out and articulated, agree with all of your suggestions

lmao I've never even heard of the Hat style rule, that's so ridiculous

9:22 is an incredibly dangerous play and, imo, should not be permitted in the game

Injury calls should be a continuation (i.e. did it affect the play?). I've seen too many teams benefit from an injury because it occurred as they were throwing a disc away somewhere else on the field.

I say we mandate matching hats for everyone!!! You MUST wear a hat - let's be sunsmart! /s

I want A LOT more clarification on “dangerous play”. I’ve never seen it called in a situation where there wasn’t contact, and multiple people on the field agreed it was a correct call. I’ve seen dangerous plays that resulted in contact, and those were called, and generally agreed upon. But the point of the rule is to improve safety by preventing that contact, and I don’t feel like that’s what is happening.

i feel like some of your suggestions sound good as coming from the player you want to balance the offense and defensive opportunities (not going to pick on the minutia of a concurrent catch and many other plays that lean towards the offence....) but if you step back and think.. if this game wants to move towards a spectator sport.. like other sports ie basketball/ american football and many others.. offense will always have the advantage.. the game at its highest level is.. whom on defense can make those few plays to stop offense.. its never been the defense having an equal opportunity to offense...

I agree with the removal of picks if it was caused by a defender on a fellow defender. Finding a way to force the offense to comply with 18.3.3 is the challenge here.

i feel the vagueness of "did it affect play" for picks needs to be clarified. i've seen offensive players actively decide not to go for a disc that is in the air and claim that they stopped play because they heard a pick call when in reality they may not have been able to reach the disc or it would have been highly contested. to me, a pick call already advantaged the offense and getting the disc back to the thrower by just deciding to stop play further advantages the offense. ive even seen players have throws hit them square in the chest but not attempt to catch the disc, because if they attempted and dropped it then it would be a turnover, whereas if they claimed they stopped playing then the disc would go back to the thrower (it would go back even if they caught it anyway because their defender was picked)

Make the delay of game rules harsher (maybe 3 sec once a defender is within 3m and any offensive player is within 10m?); and minimize time between points. Both of which leads to more ultimate vs standing around.

There should be some rules set in place when a thrower literally throws into a defender and calls foul gets abused sometimes like im more than a disk away and you leaned into me just to call a contact so you can lower stall

i disagree with the stall count rule. as we saw at d1 nationals people count fast

I think your pick suggestion is a good one in spirit, but the wording is a little narrow and clunky. The USAU rule pretty succinctly covers the stuff you're worried about: "A pick occurs whenever an offensive player moves in a manner that causes a defensive player guarding an offensive player to be obstructed by another player." If you are poaching off someone to try and get a block and then obstruct a teammate, the obstruction was not caused by the offensive player, and isn't a pick.

thoughts on removing the double team rule? i wonder where that would take wfdf ultimate..

what did aj merriman have to say about the strip call? and how he def didn't get it first? like after the fact? cuz in the moment I'm sure he felt he got it first

I completely agree with the redittor that suggested clarifications around dangerous play in the upline space. I recently played a game in which an opposing player hospitalised themselves. The opposing player made an upline cut that was overthrown and floated, she curved her cut 90 degrees and dived headfirst - directly into my teammates hip. The opposing team called foul because my teammate was 'running on her blind side'. The whole thing got captured by the event photographer. The opposing player took ten steps, turned 90 degrees and dived without looking into that space once. My team mate took 4 step, looking directly where he was going and slowed to minimise the danger. But the rules aren't clear that this is a foul by the offense. I'd love the rules to clariify that all players must ensure that a change in direction or speed will not result in contact with another layer. This would rebalance the game a lot more in favour of the defense.

Hard disagree on "what actions in the game define the game logic", blocks and defensive actions being game defining is great for the spectator. I also think people look at all time great games and then use that to make rules. look at an average game of (pro) ultimate, there is usually more offensive turnovers than goals, just because the defense doesnt convert doesnt mean there arent opportunities. I also think it just makes the sport suck for new comers. Im not a great player and am on the older side (played my first nationals in 09) so i might just be out of touch but I love defence defining games and watching NYE defence in past seasons was amazing

Reminder to vote on my rule suggestions (and see how others voted) here forms.gle/B6qz4iUuVAzsvYbh6

Wow, what a cool, safe, and unsuccessful bit at 5:07

How about this, once the offense looses possession of the disk in the case it lands on the ground, the member of the defence closest to the disk pick up the disk. This can reduce the gap in play and give us a more fluid game. Else we have to wait for the handler to come and we have set up the field and its boring to watch happen.

I would not alter the "dangerous play" rule, there's just too many times an Offensive player is making a cut that leaves them vulnerable to a blind side incursion from the Defender. I'm a D Line guy and I know I often have the better perspective as I'm making a move to get the block, especially if I poach off my guy because I can see the play unfolding downfield in front of me and I'm jumping the route of a different O player. We should error on the side of safety - I'd keep this rule as is.. The other reason not to alter this rule is as two players sprint to catch a disc, the O player almost always is running at a controlled speed, while the D player, knowing that all they need to do is get a hand or finger on the disc and smack it/alter it's direction, is almost always accelerating to the disc, and this difference in attack acceleration can make a play imbalanced and much more dangerous. I agree that in limited circumstances, an O player might be initiating the dangerous play, for example, on a floating "hospital pass." That's not uncommon. I would agree that O players have a shared responsibility to watch the field and know where they are going, but the downfield handler cut example kind of proves my point, because at some point that cutter has to look back for the pass or has to turn their gaze downfield a bit late on a leading pass downfield. Either way they are in a vulnerable position. I just think the probabilities & related responsibilities tend to weigh towards the attacking D player This is also one of those moments where a dangerous bid can destroy a player's knees due to a low flying collision. We really must guard against that. Great defenders know how to get the block and avoid the collision. Regarding your disc space comments, I'm intrigued with collapsing the rule, but playing at the Masters - Great Grand Masters levels, our team has encountered a lot of bad marking, wrapping, etc. It happens a lot more than you said. Otherwise, as always, I like your take on rule reforms and love your videos. GO HIVE!

i feel like this game needs refs (like the UFA) because as your saying 2 people cant just decided what happened especially when you start playing for money

Lowering the stall would make watching ultimate more exciting, agreed. Maybe at the highest levels it should even be five...

Beach ultimate should be 6v6