Kingston Community School

Stage 2 Physical Education

Assessment Type 1: Diagnostics

Ultimate Frisbee, one of the fastest growing sports in the world was introduced in
1968 by Joel Silver in New Jersey, USA.1 After many unofficial matches, the first
tournament was organised in 1975.2 Current day sees Ultimate Frisbee being played
in over 30 countries, popularised by universities and high schools. 3

This non-contact, self-refereed sport combines elements of various team sports that
require various components of fitness and teamwork in order to score at either of the
two end zones in a decided score or time cap.

The key fitness components involved in a game of Ultimate Frisbee include;

 Cardiovascular Endurance
 Agility
 Speed
 Muscular Power

Cardiovascular and aerobic fitness is key to Ultimate’s intermittent nature of play.

Ultimate involves efforts lasting longer than 3 minutes, thus requiring oxygen to
prevent the build-up of lactic acid and in turn prevent fatigue. Therefore, a greater
cardiovascular fitness level will enable an Ultimate player to work at higher
intensities, for a longer duration without facing fatigue. This therefore gives potential
for better decision making in the finer, more crucial moments of the game.

The fitness component of agility enables dominance over a component. For

example, the unpredictable nature of the Frisbee under various weather conditions
requires efficient decision making and change of direction. Therefore, a player with a
high level of agility will have the ability to react to the unpredictable direction of the
frisbee and therefore have the potential to defensively or offensively intercept the
frisbee at flight.

Similarly, to agility, speed enables the Ultimate player to attack and defend the
frisbee. When attacking the frisbee at flight, speed is essential for high intensity
running (14 - 22km/h) and sprints (22km/h +). These sprints are often used when
gaining ground and scoring at the end zone whilst predominantly working in the ATP-
CP energy system. The anaerobic capacity, e.g. the ability of working at high
intensity for a period of time, is essential in the recovery of Ultimate.

Another key fitness component in Ultimate is muscular power. Muscular power

assists in the players speed as well as their vertical elevation when competing for or
stopping the frisbee in its line of flight.

1
http://www.wfdf.org/history-stats/history-of-ultimate
2
http://www.wfdf.org/history-stats/history-of-ultimate
3
https://afda.com/ultimate/what-is-ultimate

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Table 1: Fitness Battery – Performance Standards

Beep Test Illinois 20 Metre Vertical Jump Yo-Yo Test

(Cardio- Agility Run Sprint (Muscular (High-Intensity
Vascular (Agility) (Speed) Power) Training)
Endurance) seconds seconds cm
Personal
Results 7.2 19.6 3.87 40 14.2
Good-
Excellent (10.2-12.7) – (17.5-8.6) – (3.59) - (3.44) (47-58) – (58 (15.6-16.5) –
Results (>11.10) (<17.4) +) (16.6 -17.5)

The results above show that my fitness performance in Ultimate Frisbee will not be
up to the scratch of an elite player.

The lack of performance in the beep test suggests that my cardio vascular
endurance in the game of Ultimate will also be lacking and therefore, I will be more
susceptible to fatiguing earlier due to being unable to clear lactic acid and replenish
fuel stores.

A lack of agility according to the Illinois Agility Run will result in a lesser ability to
attack and defend the frisbee off of my opponent.

Speed insufficiency will also result in a lesser ability to apply defensive pressure, but
will predominantly affect the offensive nature of play, catching and throwing the
frisbee.

An inadequate amount of muscular power in the game of Ultimate will again result in
a lesser ability to receive the frisbee in its line of flight whilst playing either offense or
defence.

Lastly, a lack of performance in the Yo-Yo test indicates that my Ultimate

performance will see less, short, high intensity efforts through attacking, recovery
and attacking again.

Graph 1 shows efforts in 1-minute intervals

throughout the duration of the game. It can be
seen that the initial efforts are quite minimal,
however the efforts that follow from 5 minutes
are relatively consistent. The blue areas on
the graph indicate time spent walking, the
yellow areas indicate time spent jogging and
the orange areas indicate time spent running.
It can be seen that majority of the time was
Graph 1: Minute Interval Efforts
spent jogging. Thus,

whilst the ATP-CP and Lactic Acid energy systems are interplaying, the most
predominant energy system for the majority of the game is aerobic. However, the
orange indicates higher intensity efforts and therefore indicates when I was
beginning to work predominately in the Anaerobic energy systems of Lactic Acid and
ATP-CP. When working in the Lactic Acid system, the intensity efforts would be at

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85-95% for a duration of 2-3 minutes. ATP-CP energy system will see maximal
efforts for a shorter duration of 8-10 seconds. The lactic acid system would be
utilised in a situation where the frisbee has a large advance from one end of the field
to another. The ATP-CP system may be utilised in a sprinting intercept from the
opponent.

Table 2: Speed Key

Table 2 represents the speeds of which the colours on Graph 1 represent. As an

amateur of either gender, the majority efforts (as indicated in yellow) consist of
speeds 4 - 13.9km/h. The lesser walking efforts consist of speeds 4km/h and the
higher running efforts consist of speeds 13.9 – 21.6km/h. This speed key is a limiting
factor to performance analysis as it generalises the ability of both genders which is
usually not the case. The performance ability of a male and female typically differs
due to anatomical differences.

Image 1: Heat Map

Image 1 shows the distance covered and signifies that the entire field area was
covered throughout the duration of the game.

MAX Heart Rate| 220−17=203 bpm

Figure 1 & 2 describe my average

heart rate to be 162bpm throughout a
game of Ultimate. This can indicate
that for the average of the game my
heart rate was working at
approximately 79.8% of my max heart
rate. This then suggests that I was
working predominantly in aerobic
energy system for the majority of the
game. Therefore, it is evident that
aerobic fitness and the ability to
recover is key in a game of Ultimate.
Figure 1: Heart Rate

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 Figure 2: Heart Rate Recovery

It can be seen in Figure 2 that when working efforts have come to a halt, my heart
rate begins to decrease, however as EPOC is occurring it is not optimally efficient
when returning to resting rate. This could be a result of a lack of aerobic fitness.

EPOC: Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption

EPOC is the process of which recovers an athlete from working in an oxygen deficit
at high intensities. At high intensities, oxygen is used in anaerobic metabolic
pathways to produce ATP from ADP + Pi. Therefore, EPOC is essential to recover
and replenish fuel stores such as ATP.

Comparing to elite performance

Graph 2: Percentage of time spent in each HR zone by gender. Graph 3: Percentage of time spent by gender in each velocity band.

4
Graph 2 shows the percentage of time spent in various heart rate zones of elite
performers, both genders. For males, the dominant heart rate for the duration of the
match is at 90-95% of maximum. However, for female athletes, the dominant heart
rate throughout a game of Ultimate is 80-90% of max heart rate. This suggests that
elite males work at a slightly higher intensity than females throughout a game of
Ultimate.

Graph 35 indicates the percentage of time spent by each gender in various velocity
bands. It can be seen that for majority of the time, an elite Ultimate player would be
standing or walking. Reasons why will be discussed below.

Table 3: Elite Heart Rate Average

The table above6 shows the time spent

in each heart rate bracket in an elite Ultimate player and indicates that the average
heart rate of an elite in Ultimate would be <90% of maximal heart rate.

4
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1547/a762d7a8ac829779cc77987b9ea6acb47c2a.pdf
5
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1547/a762d7a8ac829779cc77987b9ea6acb47c2a.pdf
6
https://journals.lww.com/nsca-
jscr/fulltext/2015/12000/Physical_Demands_in_Competitive_Ultimate_Frisbee.16.aspx

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 ELITE ATHLETE AMATEUR ATHLETE
AVERAGE HEART RATE (% >90% 79.8%
OF MAX)
AVERAGE SPEED EFFORTS Standing/Walking Jogging
Table 4: Elite/Amateur Comparison

As shown above in Table 4, it can be seen that the heart rate and speed effort
averages between personal and elite performance vary. When comparing the
average heart rate, it can be seen in this case that an elite performer will be working
approximately 10% more intense than an amateur. This suggests that the elite had
harder efforts throughout the game of Ultimate. However, the average efforts made
by an elite are standing or walking when compared to an amateur average effort of
jogging. The reasoning behind this: as an elite player, you will be utilised in different
positions throughout the field, some more demanding positions than others. Elite
players also have the ability to sub on and off of the field with team mates.

Really good work Halle, you are demonstrating that you can apply your knowledge.
Things to consider adding into your final assignment:

-when discussing energy systems consider explaining the concept of interplay to

demonstrate understanding. That key sentance

-Think about the layout of how your essay so it will best flow, you have all the right
info, a good flowing essay that is easy to read is important for moderators.

-Have you got a strong introduction giving the reader a clear understanding of the
purpose of the task (compare, analyse and evaluate)

-Have you got a strong conclusion summarising key information discussed

-If you are finding you are getting close to being over the word limit always check
your work against the rubric to ensure your information is relevant and demonstrates
understanding of PE concepts. If you have to cull sentences out always think does
this piece of information align with task requirements and demonstrates application
and communication or analysis and evaluation (performance standards)

-Don’t forget to proofread to avoid run-on sentences and check grammar

Remember to always check back on the rubric and task sheet, if you have any more
questions don’t hesitate to ask me in class or email me. Can read again if you need

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Miss Millard 

SACE# 468340R School# 624 Word Count: 1434