Fun and Popular Sport: Ultimate Frisbee in National Chung Hsing University

Fun and Popular Sport: Ultimate Frisbee in National Chung Hsing University                                                                                                                             

National Chung Hsing University started its first ultimate frisbee course last semester. Lee Lin-Yi（李林鎰）, a national ultimate frisbee player in Taiwan, was invited to coach the students. The course is extremely popular and due to overwhelming response, the total enrollment cap was reached within seconds of the registration announcement. In total, 106 students signed up for the course consisting of two classes per week. 

Most people who experienced ultimate frisbee had played in traditional ways. There are only a handful who are familiar with the rules, objective of the game, and equipment. Ultimate frisbee competition is gradually becoming popular in Taiwan in recent years. Many of the Taiwanese players made remarkable achievements in international competitions, among which the ultimate frisbee national women’s team received a gold medal in the 2015 Asian Championships. By creating its first ultimate frisbee course, National Chung Hsing University intends to give further boost to increasing the presence of the flying disc sport in Taiwan. 

Lee Lin-Yi（李林鎰）said that the course covers both individual and team competition. Ultimate frisbee is a competitive team sport that parallels American football. On top of running, there is also the passing of the frisbee. Hence, the Chung Hsin course focuses mainly on introducing students to the game, while allowing them to pick up skills in throwing dics. The concept includes fore-hand, back-hand, upside down and etc. Students not only benefit from mastering the frisbee game skills, but also maintaining level of fitness with the fast-paced running. 

During the lessons, students are required to do stretching exercises, after which, lesson on rules, objective of the game, and equipment are given. Lee Lin-Yi（李林鎰） said that frisbee catching and throwing are divided into “sandwich style” and “rice ball style.” The former uses both hands and reaches out up and down for the frisbee, while the latter rests both hands steadily to grab the frisbee. Lee Lin-Yi（李林鎰）added there are three simple and crucial techniques on how to deliver different throws that should help the player in the game: 1) keeping the frisbee level when winding up and throwing; 2) curling wrists to be follow through with arms relaxed and free movement; 3) extending the throw directly towards the direction of the target. At the end of the course, final exams will be given to test how many times the player could pass the frisbee within a minute and from a distance of 7.32m, which is about six running track lanes apart. Higher scores are gained when one could pass the frisbee without dropping in as many times as possible. 

According to the students who attended the course, the ultimate frisbee course is rather uncommon. It is only until that they have joined the class do they realize that many skills and competition categories are involved in the game. At the end of each lesson, they are also surprised that the exercise intensity is much more vigorous than expected.

The students unanimously agree that the Chung Hsing University’s ultimate frisbee sport course is so much fun!