Ultimate Frisbee Research Articles

‘This is men’s ultimate’: (Re)creating multiple masculinities in elite open Ultimate Frisbee

Over the past 10 years, there has been an increasing focus on the complexity and diversity of masculinities produced in sporting contexts. In this article, I draw on Foucauldian notions of power and discourse to examine the performances of elite male Ultimate players. Based on a year-long ethnographic study with an elite male Ultimate team, I contribute to this growing body of literature by analyzing the performance of multiple masculinities by players within this team.

Team leadership, roles and player engagement: An ethnographic study of Ultimate Frisbee

Studying the dynamics of a sports team can give psychologists a level of understanding of how individuals work together within a competitive environment to achieve a common goal. By gaining a better understanding of various dynamics, such as the strength of the team’s leadership or the development of members’ expertise levels, psychologists should then be able to assist the team in performing together in order to achieve their goal. For this ethnographic study, an Ultimate Frisbee team was observed during their regular training sessions over a two-month period to determine what, if any, common themes emerged from the data gathered about the group. A variety of data collection methods were used including participant observation, in-depth interviews and field notes. A constant comparative analysis approach was adopted in interpreting data. This led to three distinct themes related to the group’s dynamics: Team leadership; roles within the team; and player engagement. The findings of this study were then considered in relation to research on leadership, expertise and player engagement within the area of sport psychology.

Adaptive attunement to the sex of individuals at a competition: the ratio of opposite- to same-sex individuals correlates with changes in competitors' testosterone levels

Evolutionary theories (e.g., the challenge hypothesis) suggest that testosterone plays an important role in intrasexual competition. In addition, those theories suggest that testosterone responses during competition should depend upon the presence of potential, immediate mating opportunities associated with the competition. The current research tested the hypothesis that the sex composition of individuals at a competition (ratio of opposite-sex, potential mates to same-sex individuals) would influence changes in competitors' testosterone levels. Consistent with our hypotheses, higher ratios of opposite- to same-sex individuals at an ultimate frisbee tournament were associated with greater increases in salivary testosterone among competitors. The relationship between sex ratio and increased salivary testosterone was observed for both male and female competitors and occurred regardless of whether competitors won or lost. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone responses during competition are influenced by cues of potential, immediate mating opportunities.

Ethnographic Study of Alternative Sports by Alternative Means: List Mining as a Method of Data Collection

Increased usage and accessibility of the Internet has led to the rapid growth of cyber communities; typical of groups that have embraced this idea are those who participate in what have been termed alternative or lifestyle sports. Thus far, this online world has received little attention from ethnographers, but the potential for obtaining rich data in this area is huge, most notably through the practice of researching messages sent to Internet-based forums, known as list mining. The inclusion of list mining as a research method, however, is not without its problems and raises new ethical issues when conducting qualitative research. This paper examines in detail the ethical considerations concerning the use of list mining as a method of data collection within the alternative sporting subculture of Ultimate Frisbee.

‘This must be the only sport in the world where most of the players don't know the rules’: operationalizing self-refereeing and the spirit of the game in UK Ultimate Frisbee

A recurring theme throughout the literature pertaining to the development of sports and games is the construction of rules or laws. However, it is well known that, in reality, there is much more to ‘playing by the rules’ and in practice sport participants are generally considered to be both playing according to and in the spirit of the rules. This distinction is termed ‘formal and informal fair play’. Using an ethnographic approach data were gathered in the Ultimate Frisbee community in the UK from 2004–7, through participant observation, the conducting of interviews and the examination of documentary evidence. This paper reports upon the ‘inner workings’ of the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, specifically within the UK, and provides an insight into how, in this sport, the constitutive rules work in practice, which is of particular interest given that it is self-refereed. Of further interest, too, is the application of constitutive rules within a pervasive ‘ethos’, which is referred to in Ultimate Frisbee as the ‘spirit of the game’.

Impact of different types of knowledge on two preservice teachers' ability to learn and deliver the Sport Education model

Background: Teachers' and pupils' responses to the Sport Education (SE) model have been very positive. Pupils clearly enjoy SE and the model created lasting changes in teachers' beliefs and perspectives on teaching. While much research has been done on the impact of SE on teachers and students, there has been relatively little research on how both inservice and preservice teachers (PTs) learn to use the model. Purpose: To discover the relative importance of different knowledge types in PTs' teaching of SE and the ways in which they acquired and developed this knowledge. Participants and setting: Participants were two PTs who each taught SE seasons to middle school pupils (grades six to eight) during their culminating student teaching internship. The SE seasons were ultimate Frisbee, tennis, flag football, and basketball. Research design: This is a qualitative study that uses Shulman's set of seven knowledge types as its theoretical framework. Data collection: During the seven-week internship, 14 non-participant observations were completed; each PT was videotaped twice; three formal, numerous informal, and two stimulated interviews were conducted with each PT; weekly significant incident and journal reports were submitted via email; and the teaching portfolio was reviewed. Data analysis: All data were entered into the computer program QSR. Data which indicated how PTs interpreted and delivered SE or were concerned with any type of teacher knowledge were identified. Knowledge data were then categorized by each of Shulman's knowledge types both within and across PTs. Finally, each category of knowledge was broken down into subcategories and themes by using the techniques of analytic induction and constant comparison. Findings: Both PTs implemented the full version of SE, interpreting the model in congruence with the spirit of its original authors and including all of its features. A hierarchy existed in terms of the importance and contribution of each of Shulman's knowledge types to the PTs' teaching of SE. Of prime importance was curricular knowledge. General pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and knowledge of learners also made a significant contribution to the PTs' success. Knowledge of educational contexts and knowledge of educational ends, purposes, and values appeared to have a lesser impact on the PTs' teaching. Moreover, the study indicated that physical education teacher education (PETE) was the major medium through which PTs acquired and developed their knowledge. Conclusions: The study suggested that it was not necessary for PTs to have high levels of content and pedagogical content knowledge in order to use SE effectively, providing they had a good understanding of the model, general pedagogical knowledge, and their pupils. The study also reveals that giving PTs early exposure to SE and having them teach within the model often during a series of early field experiences enables them to gain a solid understanding of its workings.

The Ultimate Frisbee Injury Study: The 2007 Ultimate Players Association College Championships

To quantify and characterize the injuries incurred by ultimate players during the 2007 Ultimate Players Association College Championships. Cross-sectional study. The Ultimate Players Association College Championships in Columbus, Ohio, in May 2007. Athletes who left the field of play due to injury time-outs (ITOs). There were 107 recorded ITOs. During the 3 days of the 2007 College Championships, 86 games were observed by the research staff. Athletes calling an ITO were interviewed. Sex, activity at time of injury, type of injury, and associated contact, if any, were recorded. Return to play, injury type, and injured body part. One injury prevented return to play in each of the 2 sex divisions, equivalent to 1.66 per 1000 athlete-exposures in championships bracket games. The majority of ITOs were related to contact, 53% in the men's division and 68% in the women's division. The lower extremities were injured in 53% and 51% of cases in the men's and women's divisions, respectively. Laying out was one of the most common activities at time of ITO (29% and 22% in men's and women's divisions, respectively) and accounted for all of the men's closed head injuries and 2 of the 3 women's closed head injuries. There was a low rate of play-ending injuries. There were no statistically significant associations. Physical contact and laying out were frequently linked with ITO.

‘When a ball dreams, it dreams it's a Frisbee’: the emergence of aesthetic appreciation within Ultimate Frisbee

The focus of this study examines the repeated references and celebration of more aesthetic elements in Ultimate Frisbee by both performers and spectators. This aspect was an emergent theme from a broader study and first became apparent when first considering how the landscape provided an aesthetic backdrop manifest in aspects such as location as well as music. An ethnographic approach was used and data was gathered through participant observation, the conducting of interviews and the examination of documentary evidence. An analytical outline proposed by Carlisle (1974) provided a clear structure within which expressive and evocative elements, intellectual beauty and dramatic aspects were identified and examined. It is posited that the raising of this ‘aesthetic attention’ within Ultimate allows people to reconnect with aesthetic aspects during a purposive sporting activity.

Minimal Solutions to the Box Problem

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJer-Chin (Luke) ChuangJer-Chin (Luke) Chuang (chuang.jerchin@gmail.com) received his doctorate in mathematics from Rice University in 2007. After serving as a Lecturing Fellow at Duke University for two years, he is currently on the faculty of Georgia College and State University. When not thinking about combinatorial topology and differential geometry, he enjoys classical music, poetry, and ultimate frisbee.

‘Just a sport made up in a car park?’: the ‘soft’ landscape of Ultimate Frisbee

Consideration of the sporting landscape within which an activity takes place is an aspect that is often taken for granted but close inspection can reveal a wealth of information that is easily found, waiting to be decoded (Cosgrove 1989). Such information is important because it allows the values ascribed to the landscape to become more clearly visible (Lewis 1979). This study examines the sport of Ultimate Frisbee and uses a modified framework devised by Meinig (1979) to analyse different ‘views of the sports landscape’. An ethnographic approach was used and data were gathered through participant observation, the conducting of interviews and the examination of documentary evidence. Findings indicate that since the formation of a new governing body in the UK, greater standardisation of the sporting landscape has become apparent, however, spatial, temporal and constitutional boundaries within Ultimate Frisbee remain ‘soft’ and continue to be indicative of the sport's origins and ‘the alternative sports movement’ of the 1960s (Bale 1994).

Measurement of Transformational Leadership and its Relationship with Team Cohesion and Performance Level

The present study explored the construct validity of a Differentiated Transformational Leadership Inventory and its relationship with team cohesion and performance level. Three hundred and nine club standard ultimate Frisbee players in the United Kingdom (mean age = 24.30 years, SD = 3.90) completed an adapted version of Hardy, Arthur, Jones, Shariff, Munnoch, Isaacs, and Allsopp et al.'s (in press) Differentiated Transformational Leadership Inventory and the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed evidence for the factorial and discriminant validity of the leadership inventory. Furthermore, results demonstrated that the leadership behaviors of fostering acceptance of group goals and promoting team work, high performance expectations, and individual consideration significantly predicted task cohesion; and fostering acceptance of group goals and promoting teamwork significantly predicted social cohesion. Performance level moderated these relationships. These results are discussed with reference to the conceptualization and measurement of transformational leadership, and how coaches’ leadership behaviors may influence cohesion depending on the level of athletes’ performance.

Influence of order effects and mode of judgement on assessments of ability in sport

We examined the influence of order effects on assessments of sporting ability. Club-standard ultimate frisbee players (n = 240) viewed footage of a target player performing a series of ultimate frisbee skills. Participants viewed either a declining (successful to unsuccessful) pattern of performance or an ascending (unsuccessful to successful) pattern. Ratings were made on three descriptors of ultimate frisbee ability. One group of participants made ratings at the end of the sequence of clips, one group updated their ratings after each clip in a step-by-step manner, and one group used an extended step-by-step processing strategy. Finally, a fourth group made end-of-sequence ratings, but a delay condition was used to control for the time taken to make step-by-step ratings. Analyses of covariance (order vs. judgement condition) were conducted on the ratings. Results revealed primacy effects for the ratings of the target player in the end-of-sequence and delay conditions, and in the first step-by-step condition, but no order effects in the second step-by-step condition. Findings indicate order effects can be reduced by using a more thorough step-by-step processing strategy.

Physical Activity Levels of Overweight and Nonoverweight High School Students During Physical Education Classes

This study examined physical activity (PA) levels of overweight and nonoverweight African American and Caucasian students (n = 198) during game play in physical education classes. Body fat percentages (%BFs) were determined using the skinfold technique and Slaughter et al prediction equations. Girls were classified as overweight if their %BF was > or =32; boys were classified as overweight if their %BF was > or =25. PA was monitored using pedometers during flag football, ultimate Frisbee, and soccer game play. Three 2 (weight classification) x 2 (gender) x 2 (race) factorial analyses of variance were conducted. Results indicated no significant difference in steps per minute between overweight and nonoverweight students regardless of game. Males were more active than females, and Caucasians were more active than African Americans. The most important implication of the current study is that the overweight and nonoverweight students accumulated similar amounts of PA during physical education. This emphasizes the importance physical education plays in providing both overweight and nonoverweight students with opportunities for PA. For many students, it may be their only source of regular PA.

Do Dogs Know Bifurcations?

(2007). Do Dogs Know Bifurcations? The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 356-361.

Physical Activity Levels in Coed and Single Gender High School Physical Education Settings

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of coed (coed) and single-gender game-play settings on the activity levels of Caucasian and African American high school physical education students. Students participated in flag football, ultimate Frisbee, and soccer units. Classes were as follows: there were two coed classes, two coed classes were split into male and female teams for game play, one class was exclusively female, and one class was exclusively male. Digi-walker pedometers were worn by students to monitor activity levels calculated as steps per minute. High school males, on average, had higher step counts than females in all settings, and Caucasian students were more active, on average, than African American students. There were no differences in activity levels for females between coed and single-gender game-play settings. There was some evidence, however, that in ultimate Frisbee and soccer units, male students in males-only classes were less physically active than were males in coed and split coed classes. Teacher interaction rates and team-sport preferences rather than the gender composition might have contributed to differences in activity levels of the classes.

“That’s Cheap.” the Rational Invocation of Norms, Practices, and an Ethos in Ultimate Frisbee

This field observation compares the behavior and welfare of ultimate Frisbee players in three settings. The first setting, Corning College, was an informal group at a private university. The second setting, Stuart University, was a seasonal, open collegiate team at a public university. The third setting, the Mallards, was a seasonal, elite, open club team. The players’ interactions and behaviors in the three settings were influenced by a number of norms, practices, and an ethos known as the spirit of the game. Through the presentation of field notes, video recordings, and informal conversations, the author argues via rational choice theory and game theory that players selectively create, negotiate, and manipulate norms and practices to maximize game interaction, quality, and/or fluidity depending on the particular conditions such as level of competition between players, history between teams and players, and the rewards at stake.

Do Dogs Know Calculus?

(2003). Do Dogs Know Calculus? The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 178-182.

Sequences of Chords and of Parabolic Segments Enclosing Proportional Areas

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsTimothy G. FeemanTim Feeman (timothy.feeman@villanova.edu) received his Ph.D. in 1984 at the University of Michigan under Allen Shields and has been at Villanova University since 1986. His research is mainly in operator theory with a recent interest in cartography. He enjoys running and ultimate frisbee and spending time with his wife, Tracy, and their sons, Max and Simon.Osvaldo MarreroOsvaldo Marrero (osvaldo.marrero@villanova.edu) studied mathematics at the University of Miami, and biometry and statistics at Yale University. He has held various positions in academia and in industry, and is now a Professor at Villanova University. His two main areas of interest are combinatorics and statistics. Outside mathematics he also has many interests, but he is especially interested in languages. He has fluent command of English, French, and Spanish, and is trying to improve his knowledge of Dutch and German.

Tiling with Squares and Anti-Squares

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsChris FreilingCHRIS FREILING got his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1981. He is a professor of mathematics at California State University in San Bernardino. He also does consulting work at the Center for Communications Research in San Diego. He loves God, family, friends, surfing (in water), and ultimate frisbee, and hates writing biographies.Robert HunterROBERT HUNTER graduated from Texas State Technical Institute in 1982 with an A.A.S. in Laser Electro-Optics. While working as a building contractor for the next twelve years, he attended various schools, eventually attaining a B.A. in Mathematics from CSUSB in 1994. This article started as an independent study project with Dr. Freiling during Robert's senior year at CSUSB. After graduation, Robert attended Redlands University, where he pursued a single subject teaching credential in mathematics. While there, he took a position at Southern Pacific Railroad as a locomotive engineer. When he's not taking trains to Yuma, AZ, Robert lives in Redlands, CA, with his wife Libby and their three small children, and enjoys logic problems and being a dad.Cynthia TurnerCYNTHIA TURNER participated in an advanced analysis course taught by Dr. Freiling. The course, conducted in a seminar-type atmosphere, allowed students the freedom to solve problems with original ideas. This was an extraordinary experience for Cynthia since it resulted in her original work for this article and for her master's thesis. Cynthia plans to continue to do mathematical research into the next millennium by pursuing her Ph.D. in mathematics.Russell WheelerRUSSELL C. WHEELER is a professor of mathematics at San Bernardino Valley College. He received an M.A. degree in mathematics from California State University at San Bernardino in March 1998. He received an undergraduate degree with a major in mathematics from California State College at San Bernardino in 1968.

The Bus Driver's Sanity Problem

Todd Will (towill@davidson.edu) joined the department of mathematics at Davidson College in 1993 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of lllinois and his B.A. from Carleton College. As a contributing author of the text Matrices, Geometry & Mathematica he is currently seeking interesting applications of the singular value decomposition. He enjoys playing squash and ultimate Frisbee and serving on the Davidson volunteer fire department.