Book Description
Gain valuable knowledge of ultimate frisbee that would take years to learn on the field by reading this publication.From beginners to advanced players, this book will aid your enjoyment and understanding of ultimate.Bring your game to levels never thought imaginable by learning the tips and secrets that will make you and your team more successful.Individual and team strategies from elementary to advanced as well as drills are covered in this complete publication. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Just Scratches the Surface
This book does an OK job of laying out some of the "fundamentals of Ultimate," but as others have said it's not as polished as it could be either visually (it looks like someone just printed it straight out of MS Word) or content-wise.The sections are often too brief, leaving out some of the subtle (and even some not-so-subtle) facets of the game.

If you're going to buy a book on Ultimate, either to teach yourself or to get ideas for coaching a team, a much better investment is Parinella and Zaslow's book, which is about same price and has a LOT more material (even though it, too, isn't perfect).

When this book first came out, it was basically the only one of its kind widely available.Nowadays, the only thing that this book has that Parinella's doesn't is a brief player/team profile section, which is nice but doesn't really add to one's understanding on the field.Back in 2003 I might have given this book 4 stars but now it scratches out a 3 for me.

great resource!
I played ultimate in college and was looking to get a team together here in san diego.This book helped refresh my memory on basic rules/strategies and also offered lots of new insight into the finer points of the game.Very easy to understand, lots of helpful photos and diagrams throughout.This guy definitely knows his stuff!

for absolute beginners only
i wouldn't recommend this book to any frisbee player,who's playing in a team,the lack of lessons and drills was disappointing,
if you browse the web for informations about ultimate,you get ten times more input then this book is able to give,so if you choose this book,be aware that it's just giving an oversight,but no interesting infos for more advanced players.

Superb Starter Book!
I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to learn more about ultimate frisbee.Twenty years ago I was playing this game in a midwestern college, only to return to West Virginia and receive blank stares when I mentioned the term.Now the sport has grown, with West Virginians as well as people from all over the globe playing!This title is evidence of the sport's growing popularity.

Studarus starts with the basics of ultimate, including the rules of the game, the spirit of the game, and numerous descriptions of how to throw a disc.He then covers a number of offenses, defenses, and drills to sharpen skills.The book concludes with some historical information regarding prominent ultimate teams and well-known ultimate players.

If you're new to ultimate frisbee and want to learn more, this title is the one to get.If you're a seasoned ultimate player and don't have this book in your library, it would be a wise investment as a basic primer.

Good Stuff
I would highly recommend this book. I was a novice and looking for a good book to help familiarize myself with Ultimate, and this book helped me out. I learned individual skills, basic throwing and team skills, plus read some interesting interviews with experienced players. ... Read more

Book Description
Ultimate is one of the fastest-growing sports in schools, intramurals, rec centers, and clubs throughout the United States and the world. It is also a sport that has been sorely lacking in current resources for teachers, coaches, and players--until now. Essential Ultimate: Teaching, Coaching, Playing contains all you need to know about teaching and coaching players to learn and achieve in the sport.Teachers, coaches, and players from all levels will benefit from this comprehensive guide, which includes over 200 illustrations and photographs and provides in-depth information on these elements:

• Throwing and catching techniques
• Individual offensive and defensive skills
• Team tactics
• Preparing mentally as well as physically for competition
• Starting and administering Ultimate programs

In part II the authors guide you in developing team unity and strength. They detail how to start an Ultimate program in schools, recreation centers, clubs, and intramural programs. They offer expert advice on developing championship teams, including the psychological preparation necessary for competing at your best. They also provide information on developing a fitness and conditioning program.As a fun, cost-effective recreational sport, one of Ultimate's appeals is in being self-officiated. This requires players to participate in fair play, teamwork, and good sportsmanship, helping them develop responsibility and character. With its thorough coverage of the sport, Essential Ultimate will also help players improve their skills--and aid coaches and teachers in applying the information in a variety of settings, thus making it an important resource for anyone interested in the world of Ultimate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Essential Reading
"Wow" was my first reaction when Essential Ultimate arrived in the mail. With the rapid growth of juniors, high school, college, and club ultimate, finally, there is a textbook to teach skills correctly. For those who learn through pictures, this book rocks.

--Erik Sebesta
The Ultimate Showcase Series (USS)

The new standard in resources for coaching ultimate
Essential Ultimate is written by 2 of the best coaches in the Junior scene. It is targeted at beginner and intermediate coaches of high school and college/university clubs, yet is very applicable to most senior clubs.

I compared Essential Ultimate to Parinella and Zazslow's "Ultimate Techniques and Tactics" as they have a similar audience, and you may know that text.

Essential Ultimate:
- has a better format as a teaching resource (examples of drills with diagrams, trouble shooting tips, as opposed to large chunks of prose, though it could improve even more)
- includes a better introduction for those new to ultimate: 10 simple rules, the field dimensions, and notes on self-refereeing
- has more on non-ultimate coaching elements such as warm ups, cool downs, the mental game and starting a team.

The difference between the 2 texts is encapsulated by the section on throwing. Baccarini and Booth talk about the key mechanics and how to coach them: correct grip (photos shown), wrist snap and follow through, troubleshooting tips for backhand, forehand and the hammer, how to throw in the wind, and a simple drill for teaching beginners to throw. In comparison, Parinella and Zazslow start with 4 principles of throwing that assume decent throwing skills, then discuss handling tactics, how to break the mark and more.

Essential Ultimate is aimed at coaches, while Ultimate Techniques and Tactics is aimed at experienced players (who probably lead and are player-coaches on their team).

My only significant gripe with Essential Ultimate is that it still has a bit of the flaw that Ultimate Techniques and Tactics had: parts of the book are large slabs of text. It is mostly a reference book, but at times tries to be more of an essay.

The text can explain some good general philosophies that may open you to new ideas, such as "Rather than just react, defenders should pre-act... so that an offensive player's explosive movement is preempted by an equally explosive anticipatory action on the part of the defender."

Unfortunately there are a number of self-evident observations that are unlikely to impact on how a coach coaches, if they have played more than a little ultimate, e.g. on man-on-man defense "What you hope will result is that covered receivers are scattered and clogging the passing lanes and thrower's choices are limited throwing into coverage, punting a Hail Mary pass downfield, or being stalled... And no-one ever wants to be stalled". Or the details on how a disc doesn't fly like a ball in the first paragraph. Truisms like these are clear once you have played even a little ultimate, where they are better learnt, and they feel superfluous to the book.

In comparison, pretty much all the diagrams, drill explanations, breakout boxes with tips, and troubleshooting lists are gold. They are very clear and very applicable. If a coach has a need for a certain type or drill, or issues with teaching a specific skill, they can easily refer to these tools. I've played at numerous World Championships, and coached for 8 years, and found quite a few concepts and drills I am now keen to use.

My wishes for the second edition are:
- communicate some ideas and tools through tables, case studies or acronyms as well, with more concise text.
- examples of session plans and season plans
- an index of the drills for quick reference

Lastly the sections on fitness, psychology and starting a program are brilliant. Any quality coach should consider these aspects and they give a good basic coverage of how they apply to an ultimate team. An experienced ultimate player who is a coach, will learn the most from these 3 chapters. A coach or teacher coming in from another sport will likely learn more from the rich chapters on ultimate specific skills.

Essential Ultimate has set the bar for all coaching resources in Ultimate.

A+++ Material
Whether you are an experienced coach or an aspiring ultimate player this book will help you improve every facet of you game.I had the pleasure of meeting Michael at a coaching clinic and I must say he is the cream of the crop in terms of coaching.This book covers everything from core fitness, learning ultimate and some tips to even help the advanced players.As a fairly new coach myself I really enjoyed the way different drills and skills are explained this book.It has become my Ultimate Bible very quickly. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Entrepreneur, published by Entrepreneur Media, Inc. on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 460 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Contact sport: now that's how you play the networking game. (Smarts).(entrepreneurs among Ultimate Frisbee participants)
Author: Joshua Kurlantzick
Publication: Entrepreneur (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
Volume: 31Issue: 6Page: 28(2)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on April 19, 2004. The length of the article is 449 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Ducks pursue ultimate in Ultimate Frisbee.(Sports)(Eugene players of the popular campus sport advance to regional playoffs after besting the competition in weekend tournaments)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: April 19, 2004
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: b1

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on May 31, 2005. The length of the article is 731 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Churchill chases ultimate honor in unique sport.(Sports)(Lancers pocket state championship and do well in Western regional ultimate Frisbee competitions)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: May 31, 2005
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: E2

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Product Description
The first Ultimate frisbee history book (released in Dec. 2005) chronicling the complete history of the sport of Ultimate, from 1968 to the present - containing over 200 pages, tons of photos, lists of national and world champions, national champion team rosters and a 90 min. DVD with interviews with the founders of the sport and never before seen Ultimate footage. Also included are chapters on Ultimate Leagues in North America and how Ultimate started in countries around the world. "ULTIMATE--The First Four Decades" documents the interesting characters who shaped the history of the sport, from Hollywood movie producer Joel Silver, who helped invent the game at Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J., to Bill Nye, The Science Guy, who played during his days at Cornell. The stories of the gifted and dedicated athletes and teams who have led the sport, both in the U.S. and abroad, are highlighted in the book along with its Spirit of the Game philosophy. It was written and edited by respected authors and longtime Ultimate players Pasquale Anthony Leonardo and Adam Zagoria. This large format "coffee table" book will give you the history and traditions of the sport that make it so important to so many people. And if your child plays, this book would make a great gift. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The definitive history of Ultimate in text, photos, and video
This coffee table book (yes, the pictures and artistic layout are that good) of the first four decades (OK, maybe it was the first 35 years) of Ultimate is sure to please both the Ultimate aficionado as well as the casual observer of the sport.What's amazing is that virtually all of the research for the book is original, based on first person interviews with those who had a crucial role in developing the game and serving as its first stars.Another decade or two and much of this would have likely been lost to foggy recollections or to the passing of the generation.A lot of misconceptions of the early days have been corrected and several new revelations of what really happened presented.Although this is a history book, the text reads smoothly and the story line unfolds as a coherent narrative of how individuals and teams shaped the game and its organization over time to make Ultimate what it is today.The vignettes of the teams, players, and tournaments that defined the game over the years bring it all together.Throw in an amazing collection of pictures and an even more amazing collection of various video clips collected on the enclosed DVD and you have a very singular product worth not only buying but actually reading and viewing.

colorful and complete history book of ultimate
This is a full color in depth look at the sport of ultimate.The authors did a tremendous job capturing the fascinating elements of the sport from its grass roots genesis to its spread world wide.If you are interested in learning about ultimate, this is the book to check out. Definitely an impressive piece of work that won't disappoint. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on May 31, 2003. The length of the article is 1114 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT.(Recreation)(Two UO Frisbee players are recognized nationally in a growing sport)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: May 31, 2003
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: A1

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on February 24, 2005. The length of the article is 527 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: WHAM-O'S NEW FRISBEE DVD SPORTS PHOTO OF UO PLAYER.(Business)(The Ultimate competitor's mother took the photo, which will be seen at scores of stores around the world)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: February 24, 2005
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: D1

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by Thomson Gale on May 26, 2006. The length of the article is 563 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Ultimate REWARD.(Higher Education)(A UO team works to reach the pinnacle of the college Frisbee sport)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: May 26, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: d1

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