Rules of Ultimate

17. Fouls

Section 12 is surprisingly relevant when discussing who fouled whom (or if there's even a foul). The definition of what a foul is is in 15.1. Section 16 discusses the process of how to stop play properly on a foul call. The definition of minor contact is also relevant.

Annotation: Minor Contact involving hands/arms

Contact with an opponent’s extended arms or hands that are about to, or already are, contacting the disc is not considered to be minor contact.

Contact to the throwers hand during the throwing motion is not considered to be minor contact.

Steinar's comment (unofficial!): Minor Contact involving hands/arms

Once the disc has been caught or is no longer catchable, the situation above actually reverses completely; even non-minor contact is no longer grounds for a foul. See 17.2.1.1.

17.1. Dangerous Play:
1. 17.1.1. Actions demonstrating reckless disregard for the safety of fellow players, or posing significant risk of injury to fellow players, or other dangerously aggressive behaviours, are considered dangerous play and must be treated as a foul, regardless of whether or when contact occurs. This rule is not superseded by any other foul rule. If the dangerous play call is accepted, this must be treated as the most relevant foul from Section 17.
  Annotation: Dangerous Play
  
  Dangerous Play fouls can be called before an event to avoid a potential collision e.g. a defender runs/layouts in a way that an accident would occur if the offence were to continue. When this occurs it is correct to not make a play on the disc & to call a ‘dangerous play’ foul.
  
  Players calling a Dangerous Play foul before a potential incident need to have reasonable grounds for doing so. They should actually be able to see the oncoming player and have some reason to believe that player will not avoid contact – this could include a previous history of that player to not avoid contact.
  
  Extra: You cannot call dangerous play if you feel you could have made a play on the disc, but that would have resulted in you initiating contact. In that instance, you should just refrain from making the play.
  
  Extra: The following are non-exhaustive examples of dangerous play:
  - significantly colliding with a mostly stationary opponent,
  - jumping into a group of mostly stationary players,
  - diving around or through a player that results in contact with a player's back or legs,
  - running without looking when there is a likelihood of other players occupying the space into which the player is traveling,
  - jumping or otherwise leaving the ground where it is likely that a significant collision will result,
  - wild or uncontrolled throwing motions,
  - initiating contact with a player's head,
  - initiating contact with an airborne player's lower body that prevents them from landing on their feet, and
  - jumping right in front of a sprinting player in a manner where contact is unavoidable
  Steinar's comment (unofficial!): Dangerous play without contact
  
  Basically the only way you can call dangerous play without contact is if there's near contact (e.g., my foot was close to your head, and only really luck prevented an accident), or if you have to actively move out of a legal play to avoid contact (e.g., you are standing still and I am running towards you at full speed without looking where I am going). Otherwise, as the annotation says, you just play on without a call.
  
  The difference can be confusing. One way to understand it is:
  - If continuing would mean they would foul me (they would be initiating contact): Back out and call a dangerous play.
  - If continuing would mean that I would foul them (I would be initiating contact): Back out, without a call.
17.2. Receiving Fouls:

Annotation: Teammate causes a foul

If Player A initiates contact with an opponent (Player B) that is the cause for Player B contacting Player A’s teammate (Player C), then Player C cannot call a foul on Player B as they did not initiate the contact.

Annotation: Receiving fouls when it is unclear the disc was catchable

What: A player on offence is chasing after a long throw and is tripped over, while running, by the defence. It is unclear if the offence player would have been able to get to the disc had there been no foul.

Result: If the offence player believes the defence initiated the non-minor contact they can call a foul.

If the defence player accepts that they fouled the offence player, but they do not believe the offence player had a reasonable chance at catching the disc, they may invoke rule 16.3 and try to seek agreement that the result of the play should stand. If the players cannot agree what would most likely have occurred in the play, the disc must be returned to the thrower and the players return to where they were when the disc was released (rule 1.12 and 10.2.2).

Extra: If it is clear to other players that the offence player did not have any chance at making the catch had there been no foul, they should encourage the offence player to let the turnover stand.

If the foul is accepted and it is agreed that it did affect the play, the offence player gains possession where the foul occurred, not where they would have caught the pass.

Annotation: Receiving fouls

A receiving foul can be deemed to have occurred if any player involved in the foul is attempting to make contact with the disc in anyway i.e. to catch it or block it.

Non minor contact that occurs directly after the attempt at the disc (i.e. a defender catches the disc and then collides with an offence player) is considered to be a receiving foul. However contact with the opponent’s arms after the block occurs is not a sufficient basis for a foul as per rule 17.2.1.1.

If the disc is in the air but the players involved in the foul were running to receive or defend the next pass after possession has been established, this should be treated as an Indirect foul (rule 17.8).

An accepted offensive receiving foul is a turnover (rule 17.2.2); however an accepted indirect foul by the offence is not (rule 17.8.2).

Decision diagram: Foul called by a receiver
1. 17.2.1. A Receiving Foul occurs when a player initiates non-minor contact with an opponent before, while, or directly after, either player makes a play on the disc.
  1. 17.2.1.1. Contact with an opponent’s arms or hands, that occurs after the disc has been caught, or after the opponent can no longer make a play on the disc, is not a sufficient basis for a foul, but should be avoided (excluding contact related to Section 17.1 and 17.3).
2. 17.2.2. After an accepted receiving foul the fouled player gains possession at the location of the breach, even if that location is in an end zone, and play restarts with a check. If, after the check, 14.3 applies, the stall count can not be started until a pivot point is established at the nearest location on the goal line. If the foul is contested, the disc is returned to the thrower.
  
  Annotation: End zone possession after an accepted defensive receiving foul
  
  After an accepted defensive receiving foul in the offense’s attacking end zone, the receiver gets possession of the disc in the end zone. The disc is checked in there, and they must then walk to the nearest spot on the goal line, as per 14.2. All players may move once the disc is checked in, and the marker may only start the stall count once the pivot is established at the goal line.
  
  Extra: If the receiver drops the disc to the ground as they walk to the goal line, this is a turnover as the play is live.
17.3. Strip Fouls:

Annotation: Strip Fouls

A player may not call a strip if they had only momentary contact with or lacked control of the disc prior to an opponent contacting the disc.

Extra: If a defender hits the disc in flight before it is caught by the receiver, and that contact with the disc causes the receiver to drop the pass, that is not a strip. The defender is allowed to hit a disc in flight, when they hit a disc that has been caught by a receiver, that is when it can be treated as a strip foul.
1. 17.3.1. A Strip Foul occurs when an opponent fouls a player and that causes the player to drop a disc they caught or to lose possession of the disc.
  
  Steinar's comment (unofficial!): Non-spinning disc
  
  Note that the definition of catch (12.1) includes that the disc has stopped spinning, so if it has not, you cannot call a strip.
2. 17.3.2. If the reception would have otherwise been a goal, and the foul is accepted, a goal is awarded.
  
  Annotation: Strip foul on Callahan attempt
  
  If an accepted strip foul occurs where the offence causes the defence to drop a pass they have intercepted in the defences attacking end zone, this should be treated as a goal for the defence.
17.4. Blocking Fouls:

Annotation: Blocking Fouls

Every player has space reserved in the direction of their movement. The size of this space depends on a lot of things (speed, direction of view, playing surface, etc) and is as large as the answer to the question “if a tree suddenly materialized in this space, could the player avoid contact (without a manoeuvre risking the health of their joints)?”

Moving in a way that this space becomes unreasonably large (running full speed with your eyes closed without checking frequently where you are going would be an extreme example) is considered reckless.

If two players have the same space reserved at the same time and contact occurs, whoever initiated the contact is guilty of the foul.

Players are free to move any way they like as long as this does not cause an unavoidable collision.

A collision is avoidable for a player if the player could have reacted in time and avoided it, given the circumstances involving their speed and line of sight.

Steinar's comment (unofficial!): The tree test, and “holding your line”

To me, the “tree test” in the previous annotation is just weird and possibly worded inverted compared to what was actually meant. I do not generally find it that useful, and I've never heard anyone actually argue from it.

However, you will often hear people arguing from “I was just holding my line”. This is a poor argument (it does not refer to any rule), and never an excuse for initiating contact. You do not have an automatic right to keep moving in any direction just because you have been moving in that direction for a while; blocking fouls are about the physical reality of inertia (i.e., it is impossible to stop instantly) and the biological reality of human vision (i.e., you cannot see 360 degrees around you at any time). If someone happens to be in front of you, and you have a reasonable chance to know they would be there (e.g. because you see them!) and avoid them, you simply need to do so (12.6).
1. 17.4.1. A Blocking Foul occurs when a player takes a position that an opponent moving in a legal manner will be unable to avoid, taking into account the opponents expected position based on their established speed and direction, and non-minor contact results. This is to be treated as either a receiving foul or an indirect foul, whichever is applicable.
  Steinar's comment (unofficial!): Poaching and upline cuts
  
  The interaction between blocking fouls, other fouls and dangerous play is very challenging to get right, and will often be subjective. A typical example occurs when we look at a common situation: The thrower is on the sideline, a teammate (player A) runs past their defender and up the line, the disc is thrown… and crashes violently into another defender (player B) who has gone in for the poach. Who fouled whom?
  
  There are basically several possible arguments here:
  1. Defense (player B) was there first (12.7.1), so A has initiated contact and thus A has fouled B with a receiving foul (17.2.1).
  2. Player B took a positition A was unable to avoid, given their direction and line of sight (12.7.2, 17.4.1), so so B has initiated contact with A with a blocking foul.
  3. Player B did take such a position, but A was playing recklessly by only looking at the disc; they should have looked better before going, so this is dangerous play on A (17.1.1) and thus A has committed a receiving foul on B.
  4. Player B should have known that A will often not have time to look everywhere, and thus it is dangerous play on B.
  5. Various forms of “both A and B were at fault”, so offsetting fouls (17.9).
  It is frustrating that the rules and WFDF do not give more guidance on this matter, because it is important. My personal take on this:
  - If you are doing unexpected things on the field, you need to be aware that people won't expect them (pretty much by definition) and your responsibility increases. At different levels of play, precisely what kind of maneuvers to be expected can change a fair amount (e.g., newer players will often do things that make tactically no sense, and others may need to be aware of that).
  - If you are poaching (and not in a zone defense), it is usually precisely because opponents will not expect it, and you need to be aware that they may not see you even when you are quite close.
  - It is impossible to look everywhere all the time; as an offense player, you do need to check where you are going before you go there (annotation on 17 mentions specifically “running without looking when there is a likelihood of other players occupying the space into which the player is traveling”), but you cannot realistically keep checking over and over again on a short pass. However, the longer the pass is, the more times you need to check; you have more time to do so, and it is much likelier that some defender will be able to get into the space you are attacking.
  USAU is not authoritative for interpretation of WFDF rules, but WFDF and USAU have nearly identical wordings in terms of dangerous play. Thus, it is interesting to see a concrete example where USAU gave official guidance on such a cut, precisely with the argument that the offense player checked the space first and the defender made a cut that they could not reasonably see, making it a dangerous play: USAU Response to Dangerous Play in D3 Mens Semis- Oklahoma Christian vs. Middlebury (do note that USAU has somewhat different foul rules, which affects the on-field discussion in the video, but it is not relevant for whether this is a dangerous play or not)
  Steinar's comment (unofficial!): Sudden stops
  
  There is a long list of scenarios in the annotation on 12.6 which are relevant to understanding blocking fouls. However, it does not include an important in-between case: Player A is chasing after the disc, Player B follows, and Player A makes a sudden stop without going backwards (but they may be going to the side). Who has fouled whom?
  
  The answer depends on two things:
  - Is Player A's movement something that should be expected on a normal ultimate pitch? If A is braking hard to make a cut, that usually makes sense, and Player B should expect it. But if Player A is just stopping for no good reason (e.g. going hard downfield and then braking with maximum power all of a sudden, without intending to cut backwards), they are essentially initiating contact by making it impossible for Player B to not run into them (12.7.2). What is “expected” depends a bit on how sudden the stop is, and what makes tactical sense in a regular game of ultimate.
  - Is Player B running too close to player A? “Too close” will usually be somewhat subjective, but the important part is: They must be running far enough away (either behind, or on the side) that they will not collide into Player A if Player A does some natural movement, like slowing down or making a (semi-logical) cut. Otherwise, they are playing recklessly, which is a dangerous play (17.1) and the foul is on Player B.
  Note that Player A also cannot stop to purposefully draw a foul; that would be purposefully initiating contact (12.6).
17.5. Force-out Fouls:

Annotation: Force-out fouls

Force-out fouls do not only apply to an airborne player. If, for example, a receiver catches a pass in the end zone, but before they are able to establish possession they are fouled, and the foul means they lose control, but they are able to establish possession in the central zone, that is a force-out foul and would result in a goal.
1. 17.5.1. A Force-out Foul occurs when a receiver is in the process of establishing possession of the disc, and is fouled by a defensive player before establishing possession, and the contact caused the receiver:
  1. 17.5.1.1. to become out-of-bounds instead of in-bounds; or
  2. 17.5.1.2. to catch the disc in the central zone instead of their attacking end zone.
2. 17.5.2. If the receiver would have caught the disc in their attacking end zone, it is a goal;
3. 17.5.3. If the force-out foul is contested, the disc is returned to the thrower if the receiver became out-of-bounds, otherwise the disc stays with the receiver.
17.6. Defensive Throwing (Marking) Fouls:

Annotation: Contact on releasing the disc (Defensive or Offensive foul)

If the thrower moves into a non-moving marker who is legally positioned, this a foul by the thrower. i.e. if the thrower moves into a space the marker has already occupied when the thrower started the throwing motion, and the marker is not in breach of; straddle, disc space, wrapping.

Extra: If a thrower intentionally makes contact with a legally positioned marker this is an offensive foul and also a breach of the most important rule – Spirit of the Game. If the marker is legally positioned and is moving their arm directly away from the thrower, and the thrower initiates contact with the markers arm, this is a foul by the offence.

Decision diagram: Foul by marker, no pass attempted

Decision diagram: Foul by marker, pass attempted
1. 17.6.1. A Defensive Throwing Foul occurs when:
  1. 17.6.1.1. A defensive player is illegally positioned (Section 18.1), and there is non-minor contact between the illegally positioned defensive player and the thrower; or
    
    Annotation: Marking foul and double team
    
    If a defender is legally marking the thrower and then a second defender commits a double team, the second defender is deemed to be the illegally positioned defensive player. Therefore it would only be non-minor contact between the thrower and the second defender that would automatically result in a defensive throwing foul.
  2. 17.6.1.2. A defensive player initiates non-minor contact with the thrower, or there is non-minor contact resulting from the thrower and the defender both vying for the same unoccupied position, prior to the release.
  3. 17.6.1.3. If a Defensive Throwing Foul occurs prior to the thrower releasing the disc and not during the throwing motion, the thrower may choose to call a contact infraction, by calling “Contact”. After a contact infraction that is not contested, play does not stop and the marker must resume the stall count at one (1).
    
    Annotation: Making a ‘contact’ call
    
    What: A defensive player initiates non-minor contact with the thrower prior to the act of throwing, but the thrower does not wish to stop play.
    
    Result: The thrower can call a contact infraction as per rule 17.6.1.3. If accepted, play does not stop, but the stall count must be resumed at 1.
    
    The thrower may also choose to call a foul (rule 17.6) on this contact, in which case play stops.
    
    If the thrower accidentally calls “Contact” when the contact occurred during the throwing motion this should be treated as foul as per rule 17.6.
    
    Contact should only be called when the contact is non minor – e.g. it affects the ability of the thrower to freely pivot, fake, or prepare to throw.
    
    For minor contact, the thrower may choose to call a disc space infraction.
17.7. Offensive Throwing (Thrower) Fouls:

Decision diagram: Foul by thrower
1. 17.7.1. An Offensive Throwing Foul occurs when the thrower is solely responsible for initiating non-minor contact with a defensive player who is in a legal position.
  
  Steinar's comment (unofficial!): Can offensive throwing foul ever happen?
  
  The throwing foul rules as written largely focus on protecting the thrower, and end up being very much in their favor. (It is not clear that this is a bad thing; if they were more balanced, it is possible we'd see a lot more calls.) If you're marking someone and there is (non-minor) contact on the throw, you can be 95% sure that it is going to be resolved into a foul on you. What would it take for it to be a foul on the thrower?
  
  For starters, if you are illegally positioned, it's a foul on you (17.6.1.1) (excluding, of course, dangerous play from the thrower). And you're very likely to be illegally positioned; in the words of Rueben Berg, “I can practically guarantee you're too close”. Even more so if there's contact in the first place; since e.g. the wrapping rule now requires one disc diameter between the midpoint of your hands and the thrower's torso (18.1.1.4), you're supposed to be quite far away. Note that even if they haven't called your marking infraction, it is unlikely that you can claim the foul is uncallable after 15.8.
  
  Also, the throwing foul rule is pretty much the only rule where one player is favored when it comes to neutral space! 17.6.1.2 is written so that if you both move towards the same spot, it's a foul on you, not offsetting fouls (17.9). This is by far the most common way thrower fouls are called; remember that the disc is considered to be part of the thrower as long as it's in their position (see the definition of possession), so if you touch the disc before it's released, it's almost certainly non-minor contact and a foul. The same with their hands before the throw (annotation on 17).
  
  However, all is not lost. If you are properly positioned and you have the space occupied (annotation on 17.6) when the throw begins, you're in the clear. However, this means you need to be there really early! USAU rules requires you to be completely still, but WFDF is a bit more lenient: You can either be still, or move away from the thrower (same annotation), or you could have had the space occupied by means of another body part. For instance, if you have stretched out your hand to the right when the throw begins, then move it further right and the handler hits your elbow, you had that space already even though you were not still. This is obscure, though. Just accept that it's nearly always a foul on you; the best way to get a handblock is definitely after the release.
2. 17.7.2. Contact occurring during the thrower's follow through is not a sufficient basis for a foul, but should be avoided.
17.8. Indirect Fouls:

Annotation: Indirect Fouls

What: An offensive player accidentally runs into a defensive player and knocks them over. The thrower has not released the disc. The defensive player calls a foul.

Result: Play stops. The defensive player makes up any positional disadvantage caused by the foul (Rule 17.8).

Why: The foul did not occur before, during, or directly after, an attempt to catch the disc and is therefore not a receiving foul.

Extra: If the disc had been in the air when the foul occurred, but the foul did not occur before, during, or directly after, an attempt by those players to catch the disc, then play would continue until possession was established. If the offensive team retained possession, the defensive player should then make up any positional disadvantage caused by the foul and play would restart with a check (16.3.2).

If the offense commits a foul after establishing possession in the air, but the foul was caused by actions not related to the process of making the catch (eg while attempting to intentionally land in the end zone), this should be treated as an indirect foul.
1. 17.8.1. An Indirect Foul occurs when there is non-minor contact between a receiver and a defensive player that does not directly affect an attempt to make a play on the disc.
2. 17.8.2. If the foul is accepted the fouled player may make up any positional disadvantage caused by the foul.
17.9. Offsetting Fouls:
1. 17.9.1. If accepted fouls are called by offensive and defensive players on the same play, these are offsetting fouls, and the disc must be returned to the last non-disputed thrower.
2. 17.9.2. If there is non-minor contact that is caused by two or more opposing players moving towards a single point simultaneously, this must be treated as offsetting fouls.
  
  Annotation: Offsetting receiving fouls
  
  There are times when both players have a right to a space and neither player can be deemed to have initiated contact. In these circumstances, if body contact occurs that affects the outcome of the play, this is to be treated as an Offsetting Foul (17.9.2). The disc shall be returned to the thrower (unless 17.9.2.1 applies).
  
  Extra: Minor contact may occur as two or more players move towards a single point simultaneously but this should not be considered a foul.
  
  Players involved in these incidents should be mindful that they often do not have the best perspective on who initiated the contact and should ask nearby players for their perspective.
  
  If two opposing players both cause non-dangerous contact by jumping to the same point simultaneously to catch a pass, but one player catches the pass before the contact occurs, the result of the play will stand. However if an offsetting foul is called, any players that had fallen over as a result of the contact will be able to stand up before play resumes.
  1. 17.9.2.1. However if this occurs after the disc has been caught, or after the relevant player/s involved can no longer make a play on the disc, this must be treated as an Indirect Foul (excluding contact related to Section 17.1).