I wonder if a 2011 updated version of the rules is due? I think I remember that an announcement had gone out in the last few months of last year that suggestions for the 2011 changes to the rules should be made (to the rules forum) by a certain date. Obviously, updating the rules is a big job, which is important to get right; but hopefully, if there will be any big changes, the update will be released soon.
I had made some suggestions, on this blog and on the rules forum already mentioned. Looking at the rest of that forum, the pick thread is the only one to get to 2 pages long. It seems the pick rule is one that quite a few people would like to see changed! Although, the pick rule is the rule that I see most frequently misinterpreted, so perhaps there'd be less trouble with the rule were it played as it is written. The fact that it's different to the USA ultimate rule probably doesn't help it get played correctly either.
Where are the main weaknesses left in the rules? What causes the biggest avoidable disputes? I was recently talking this over with my brother and I've come to the opinion that quite a few weaknesses of the sport come down to the fact that the rules are written for a game of ultimate, but, virtually all important games are played as part of tournaments. The rules of the sport are pretty good. The rules specific to each competition can vary.
Because of this, we get the over-complicated way games tend to end. (see the piece I already pointed out above on this blog).
We get confusion over who is entitled to play in game. If a tournament director just says "yeah, sure, play for whoever you want", other teams can get annoyed at what they see as their opposition unfairly picking up players from other teams.
And at big tournaments we get sidelines lined with about 10-20 subs from each team, with whom a player could inadvertently blend in with, and be accused of unfairly sneaking past the defence to get open. Not against the rules of the sport, but it's the duty of the competition organisers to define limits for how many subs a team can have, and how close they can stand to the pitch.
The rules of the sport don't actually say anything about not taking performance enhancing drugs either. (Do they?) I think we can take that as a given, but perhaps championship tournament rules should actually state it.
In conclusion, if you're organising a competition, be sure that any associated rules you need to add, separate to the usual rules of ultimate for isolated games, are well thought through. For instance, if your competition includes a rule that says "no time outs can be called in the last 5 minutes of the game" be sure to say what should happen if someone forgets and calls one. Since that isn't a general rule of the sport, what happens next is not defined in the rules.
And maybe state whether or not players can only play for one team in your competition.
PDF; The Flowers From My Mother's Garden
3 years ago
