College ultimate

Since ultimate isn’t a major sport in most high schools, we find that many incoming freshmen don’t fully understand what playing ultimate at the college level means. Hopefully this post will help explain things and excite you for this year’s season.

Ultimate in college is a real sport. It’s played at big and small schools across the country. Some of the best teams right now are Carleton, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Stanford, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and of course Michigan. We tied for 5th at last year’s national championships. There are inter-school rivalries, like Michigan/Ohio State and Cal/Stanford, and competition within conferences like the Big 10. We travel all around the country (to Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, etc.) to play at tournaments.

As with any competitive sport, strategy plays a major role. For example, possession of the disc is extremely important. A good team should score most of their offensive possessions. Turning over the disc is a costly mistake, and it’s a big deal when a defensive player makes a play and steals the disc or knocks it down. It’s called a break (like in tennis) when a team scores on a defensive point, and some games are decided by as little as one break. Different players have different strengths – some are fast and can’t be guarded, some are tall and big in the air. There are tenacious and aggressive defensive specialists, and there are smart and highly skilled throwers that play offensive points. Good players have a mix of all these traits. Ultimate is a non-contact sport by definition, but there is a certain amount of physicality involved when competing for the disc, making a diving play, or setting a hard mark.

MagnUM does a lot of strength, agility, speed, and endurance conditioning. We do strength training with assigned lifting partners in the Winter and hit the track weekly all year round. Plyo sets are a staple, both during and outside of practice; outside and in the gym when it’s too snowy. In the spring we form smaller groups (pods) to work out with. We run stairs, suicides, and sprints.

Something like 95% of college ultimate players had never played before coming to college. Some had never even heard of the sport. What brought us all to ultimate is the desire to compete at a high level with other athletes who want to do the same. We urge you to watch some videos, check out some photos, and click around to other ultimate sites. Fill out this form, email us, or leave a comment here if you’re interested in learning more about ultimate at Michigan.