Ultimate Frisbee The players, their injuries and the role of the chiropractor A Dr. Trevor Mintz practises at his clinic, Douglas Square Chiro- practic, in southeast Calgary. He is a certifi ed ART provider and uses Graston Technique as well. He has been playing “ultimate” for six years. ll chiropractors see patients that are active in sports or recreational activity of some kind. If you ever encounter a patient who has sustained an injury while playing the sport “Ultimate Frisbee” the following article will give you some in- sight into how their injury may have occurred. “ULTIMATE”RULES Ultimate frisbee – known simply as “ultimate” is an exciting sport that combines the elements of football, soccer and basketball into one. It is a growing sport, with leagues in every major city in Canada. The Calgary Ultimate League, alone, has over 100 teams registered in their summer league. “Ultimate” is played between two teams of seven players on a large rectangular field that has two “endzones” like in American football. These are the goal-scoring areas. A goal is scored when a team completes a pass to a teammate in the endzone they are at- tacking. Players cannot run with the frisbee – referred to as the “disc” in “ultimate.” When you catch the disc you must come to a stop within a few steps and try to throw it to another player. Once you catch the disc, a person on the opposing team will begin counting to ten – you must pass the disc before they reach ten, or there is loss of possession or “turnover” of the disc. By passing from player to player, the offence attempts to work the disc up the fi eld towards the endzone they are attacking. If the disc hits the ground, or is intercepted or knocked down by the other team, then the opposing team takes pos- session. The defending team attempts to stop the team with the disc from making progress up-fi eld by marking them as in soccer or basketball. The theory is that the offence won’t want to pass to a player who is being marked closely, as this is likely to result in an in- terception. So it boils down to the offensive players trying to break free of their markers to receive a pass, while the defence makes every effort to stay with them in the hope of forcing a turnover. 44 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR |FEBRUARY 2008 A game of “ultimate” is typically played until one team scores 15 points – some leagues www.canadianchiropractor.ca Trevor Mintz, DC feature
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