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Ma Yuehan Cup (马约翰杯) Ultimate Frisbee Rules Overview

Pull (Defense)​

  • After a score, both teams swap sides; the scoring team pulls
  • Feet: Defenders must be completely behind the vertical plane of the end zone line; offense must have one foot on their defensive end zone line (no specification of front/back?), and must not change their relative positions. After the disc is released, all players may move freely.
  • The pulling team may not touch the disc.
  • Signaling: The puller must raise their hand to signal readiness; at least one offensive player must raise their hand.
  • Rolling: Any player may stop the disc from rolling or sliding after it touches the ground. If the disc does not go out of bounds, the thrower must establish a pivot at the point where the disc stopped (or where they began stopping it), even in the end zone.
  • Disc slides out of bounds after landing: at the point where it first crossed the sideline
  • Disc goes directly out of bounds: at the brick mark nearest to the team's defensive end zone, or at the nearest point in the central zone to where the disc went out (i.e., the area between the two end zones — throwing too far is worse than landing just inside the end zone)

Check​

  • Before the check, all players must remain stationary.
  • When there is a defender near the thrower, the defender must touch the disc.
  • When there is no defender near the thrower, the thrower must tap the disc on the ground and call "Disc in."
  • If the disc is on the ground, the nearest defender calls "Disc in."

Out of Bounds​

  • If the thrower catches the disc in bounds and then contacts out of bounds, they are considered in bounds.
  • If the thrower goes out of bounds, they must return to the sideline position to continue.
  • If the thrower contacts out of bounds before releasing the disc, they are still considered in bounds (can throw from out of bounds, but one foot remains in bounds/on the line since one foot cannot move).
  • If any part of an offensive player's body is out of bounds when catching, the catch fails.
  • If an offensive player catches in the air but the first point of contact upon landing is out of bounds, the catch fails. (Jumping to catch is fine, but the first landing point must be in bounds; stumbling out after landing still counts as in bounds.)

Defense​

  • The marker (stall counter) must be within 3 meters of the thrower to start the stall count
  • Only one defender may guard and stall count at a time
  • If both an offensive and defensive player simultaneously catch the disc, the offensive player gains possession.
  • All players should try to avoid physical contact with other players, including non-throwers (try not to grab or hold non-throwing offensive players)

Fouls​

  • Cannot initiate contact with the thrower before release; contact initiated by the thrower is acceptable; intentional body contact when competing for an aerial disc.
  • Defender stands in a position the thrower cannot avoid even through legal movement (?!!)
  • Must maintain at least one disc-diameter of distance
  • Defender deliberately uses any body part to block the thrower's vision (?!!)
  • Offensive player deliberately hands the disc to another player while both are simultaneously touching the disc (no handoffs)
  • Thrower deliberately throws the disc at another player to bounce it back to themselves
  • Thrower throws and catches the disc again before any other player touches it (no self-catch after throwing without anyone else touching it)

Scorekeeper​

Both teams must designate a scorekeeper to monitor the score recording.

Ending the Game​

Win +3 points; Loss +0 points​

  • Reaching 11 points
  • After 50 minutes (hard time cap), once the current point finishes, the leading team's score plus one becomes the game-ending target (the trailing team can keep chasing; if they tie, it becomes a sudden-death point)
  • At 60 minutes, the team with the higher score wins (seemingly does not finish the current point)

Draw +1 point​

At 60 minutes, if scores are tied (seemingly does not finish the current point)

Field Dimensions​

Halftime​

When one team reaches 6 points, there is a 1.5-minute halftime break, after which teams swap sides and offensive/defensive roles.

Timeouts and Spirit Timeouts​

Each team has two timeouts per game — one at the start and one after halftime — each lasting one minute.

Player Substitutions​

Players may be substituted before each point begins. After a point starts, substitutions are only allowed for special circumstances such as injuries. There is no limit on the number of substitutions between points.