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by Dave "OD" Samuels
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May 31, 2006
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Q: Hi OD, at a tournament a few weeks ago, a player on my opponent's team laid out for a
disc, and caught it, but clearly after it skipped off the ground. I saw it, my teammates
saw it, it was really obvious. But this guy swore up, down, and sideways that he caught
it clean. I don't think he was cheating, he just had no idea what really happened.
When we argued, one of his teammates said that it was 'his call.' What's the rule here?
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A: Good question. One of the concepts in Ultimate that isn't very well-understood
is 'best perspective'. It's defined in the 10th editions rules in II.A
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Best perspective: Best perspective is the most complete viewpoint available
by a player that includes the relative positions of the disc, ground, players
and line markers involved in the play. Best perspective on an unlined field may
require sighting from one field marker to another.
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where a player is any of the 14 people on the field at the moment. Note that,
in this situation, this player probably had the worst view of anyone on the field.
While he was running full-speed, laying out, right on top of the disc, it was
impossible for him to know where the disc was relative to the ground, while someone
who was 20 feet away could easily see what happened. So the rule is that, as one
of the players who had a better view of the action, you had the right to say what
you felt to have happened. Maybe ask the person you were guarding what they saw?
Your opponent is more likely to listen to the argument of one of his teammates.
It definitely is not his call, if he did not have the Best Perspective.
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Bonus A: One of the reasons this is a common misconception goes back to the 9th
edition. In the section on the Receiver, rule XV.7 read
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If a pass arrives in such a manner that it is unclear whether a catch was made before
the disc contacted the ground (grass is considered part of the ground), the player(s)
with the best perspective makes the call (usually the receiver).
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The innocent-seeming phrase "usually the receiver" has been responsible for more
than its share of harsh words on the Ultimate field. The fact is, in many situations,
the receiver has the worst perspective of what happened, as in the Question. In
addition, many players took the wording of this rule, which specifically applied
to disc up-or-down questions, and incorrectly applied it to questions of in-or-out
of bounds, end zones, etc. In the 10th Edition, this phrase was removed from the
rule (it's now XV.G), and Best Perspective was specifically defined.
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Next question?
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The "OD" in Dave "OD" Samuels stands for "Observer Dave", a moniker granted
in recognition of OD's longtime love affair with the rules of ultimate.
He has observed high-profile contests at a variety of tournaments, including
College and Club Nationals. Send your questions to askod@gru.org.
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