Chapter 3

The 13 Commandments

The fast track to leveling up

Jonathon Lunardi

"Once you've reached 95% of what you're ever gonna accomplish with your dominant side, I think it makes a lot of sense to put serious work into your non dominant side. For fun, if nothing else."

Jim Lovell, co founder of Ultimate at Yale University

Here is something worth knowing before you start: you are not going to be great at Ultimate right away. And that is perfectly okay. In fact, it is kind of the best part.

This is a long game, and the players who fall in love with it are not the most talented ones. They are the ones who keep showing up, enjoy the people they play with, and let the skills come in their own time.

Think of it like learning an instrument. Nobody picks up a guitar and plays a solo on day one. You learn a few chords, then a simple song, and one day, years later, your fingers just know where to go. Ultimate is the same. The backhand that wobbles today will spin flat in six months. The flick that barely travels ten feet will sail forty yards in a year. The catches you drop now will start sticking like magnets after enough reps.

It all comes with time, on sunny afternoons at the park, with friends, one throw after another.

The thirteen commandments below are the things that helped me and many of the players I have interviewed grow the fastest. They are not strict rules so much as friendly guideposts. And here is the honest truth underneath all of them: there is no shortcut, just patience, reps, and showing up. The wonderful people you meet along the way are what make the grit worth it. I hope you find real joy in moving the disc around in flow with each other. Follow these, and you will become a stronger, more thoughtful teammate. That much I can promise.

Commandment 1: Spin Is King

Everything starts with spin. Everything.

A disc without spin is a brick. It tumbles, wobbles, and gets eaten alive by the wind. A disc with real spin cuts through wind like a laser, flies farther than you thought possible, and settles into your teammate's hands flat and catchable.

Think of the rifling inside a gun barrel. A bullet without spin tumbles end over end and goes nowhere. A bullet with spin flies straight and true. The disc works the very same way. That gyroscopic stability is what keeps it flat and on course.

And the secret to spin is not strength, it is touch. It is the snap of your finger across the rim right at release, with your arm pulling closed, and the whip of your wrist as you uncork all that energy stored up in your body. That is the snap. That is where spin comes alive.

The players who fall for spin early are the ones who progress fastest. So make it your happy little obsession. Learn to love that beautiful sound as the disc rips through the air.

Commandment 2: Build Your Disc Arsenal

Most players own one disc. Maybe two. And they are missing out on a lot of easy fun and progress.

I would keep at least two regulation UltraStars for normal play, plus a couple of Soft UltraStars so you can practice fearlessly. If you have kids around, or you are teaching beginners, add a Dodgebee or a similar super soft disc that cannot hurt anyone. And a disc golf disc or two is a blast to have, and it opens the door to actually playing disc golf whenever the mood strikes. Book 1 explains the full reasoning, but the short version is that different discs teach you different things.

Here is what having a few discs around does for you:

Commandment 3: Master Both Hands

Only about one percent of us are naturally ambidextrous. But here is the lovely secret most players never discover: you can train it. It takes time and patience and a little daily practice, but it is absolutely possible, and it is genuinely fun to watch your weaker hand slowly wake up.

Jim Lovell understands this better than almost anyone. He co founded Ultimate at Yale in the early 1970s, and he was born in the 1950s, back when kids were pushed to be right handed. He later learned through testing that he was naturally meant to be left handed. His body had always known it. Society had just trained it out of him.

When Jim started building his off hand, he found the thing that changes everything. Most people, he realized, only think about what the hand is doing. But the hand is just the tip of the iceberg. The real work is the whole body, the hips, the core, the shoulder, the opposite arm, none of which have learned the motion yet.

So here is his trick. Watch what the left side of your body does when you throw right handed. Then, learning to throw lefty, make your right side mirror what your left side used to do. You copy the whole body, not just the hand.

He got so good he would quietly play whole pickup games left handed. Then, fifteen or twenty minutes in, he would switch to his right, and teammates would blurt out, "Wait, I did not know you had that!"

And it pays off strategically, too. When you can throw with both hands, a defender sets up to stop your right handed backhand, but your lefty flick releases from a point more than two feet from where they planted their feet. The disc comes from an angle they never saw coming. That is the quiet magic of ambidexterity.

◆ Core Principle: Four release points. Endless deception. Nearly unguardable. That is the gift both hands give you, and it is a joy to develop.

→ Action Step: Each time you play, spend five minutes throwing with your weak hand. Start today, and enjoy the wobbly early throws. They are part of it.

Commandment 4: Unlock the Flick

The backhand is your foundation, the first throw most people learn, reliable and intuitive. But the flick forehand is the throw that opens up the whole game once you have it.

Picture a boxer's hands. The backhand is your jab, safe and steady, setting everything up. The flick is your cross, the punch that finishes the point. Together, they make you dangerous.

The flick is the trickiest throw to learn, because it is harder to spin than the backhand you can naturally coil up. But once it clicks, so much opens up. Half the field that a backhand struggles to reach becomes yours. Defenders have to respect both sides. And the same grip unlocks the hammer and the scoober for free.

A few reasons it is worth the patience:

The road is long, but every week rewards you a little more. Book 1 has the full mechanics. This commandment is just about deciding to enjoy the journey.

◆ Core Principle: The flick is the key that unlocks the door. Give it time, and it will give you the whole field.

Commandment 5: Find Your Throwing Friends

You can only get so far on your own. The real fun, and the real growth, comes from people to throw with.

Build a little text list of three to six folks nearby who will come toss on a regular basis. It does not have to be long. A simple "Hey, want to toss for thirty or forty five minutes?" is plenty to get good work done and enjoy the afternoon.

Book 2 lays out the whole system, from finding your tossing tribe to what a great session looks like, and why that easy time in the park does more for your game than any solo drill. If you have not read it, save it for after this chapter.

Here is what throwing partners give you that a wall never can:

Commandment 6: Play Pickup Games Often

Pickup is where you learn to actually play the sport, not just drill pieces of it. And honestly, it is where the joy lives, the sun, the running, the people, the shared high after a great point.

Think of it like the difference between practicing scales in your bedroom and playing with a band on stage. Both matter. But the stage is where it all comes together, and pickup is your stage. Every throw and catch and fake you drill alone only counts when you can pull it off with defenders on you, wind in your face, and a stall count climbing in your ear.

That is where you learn to read spacing, time your cuts, handle a little pressure, shake off mistakes, and click with players you just met.

So make pickup a regular thing. Block the time, protect it, and show up, even on the days you are tired or feeling like the worst player on the field. Some of the best afternoons start out that way. Over the months and years, that steady showing up is what quietly turns you into a confident player.

Commandment 7: Train Your Whole Body

Ultimate rewards well rounded athletes. The fitter you are, the better you play, especially late in a game when everyone else is gassed and you still have a little left.

Think of your body as a car. Your throws are the steering wheel, but your legs are the engine, your core is the transmission, and your conditioning is the fuel tank. A gorgeous steering wheel means nothing if the engine sputters and the tank runs dry in the fourth quarter.

So look after the whole machine. Strengthen your legs for speed and hops. Build your core, where all your twisting power comes from. Work your grip for catching in traffic, and, just as importantly, the muscles that open your hand, which almost nobody trains. Add a little hip mobility for sharper cuts, shoulder flexibility for fuller throws, and ankle stability for layouts and quick pivots. Book 1 has the full program if you want it.

The player with more gas in the tank at the end usually wins. Build the engine, not just the steering wheel, and the good news is that a lot of this happens naturally the more you get out there and play.

Commandment 8: Master the Art of Deception

Faking is the most underrated skill in Ultimate, and one of the most fun.

Think of a magic trick. The magician's one hand waves dramatically to grab your eyes while the other quietly does the real work. Your fake is the wave, your throw is the trick, and if you sell it well, the defender never sees it coming.

With the disc, faking means getting your mark to lean one way so you can go the other, beating them with cleverness instead of force. Without the disc, it means selling a cut one direction so your defender commits, then darting back the other way to spring open. A good fake widens your throwing windows, freezes defenders into hesitation, and, paired with two good hands, becomes almost impossible to guard.

It works on defense too. Fake a bid at the disc to make the thrower flinch. Fake one way and shuffle the other. Keep them guessing where you really are.

◆ Core Principle: Faking is the friendly art of making your opponent wrong. The better you fake, the easier everything else becomes.

Commandment 9: Read the Disc in All Conditions

A good share of your games will be windy, and learning to read the disc in wind turns a frustrating day into a fun challenge. Instead of fighting it, you start to dance with it.

A few things that help when the wind takes over:

★ Pro Tip: On a windy day, throw blades straight up and catch them as they knife back down. The wind keeps changing the angle, so you have to read and react. Do thirty with your right hand and thirty with your left. It is oddly fun, and it builds disc reading you cannot get any other way.

Commandment 10: Play the Chess Game

Ultimate is a chess match played at a sprint, and the player who spends their energy wisely usually comes out ahead.

Managing energy means knowing when to coast and when to explode, making your opponent burn more fuel than you for the same result, staying calm during the stall count instead of forcing a bad throw, and honestly asking how much this particular point matters, then setting your intensity to match.

Here is a subtle one most players never pick up: listen to your opponent. When you defend someone, you can hear their breathing. Gasping and winded, or calm and controlled? Their lungs quietly tell you who is winning the stamina battle and when a tired, desperate cut is coming. You can even hear footsteps closing behind you and read where people are without turning your head. Sound becomes a gentle little superpower once you tune into it.

◆ Core Principle: Ultimate is a marathon wrapped inside a sprint wrapped inside a chess match. Manage your energy, read the fatigue around you, and stay patient.

→ Action Step: Next game, try just listening. Do not only watch your defender, hear them. Notice the breathing. It is a fun new layer to the game.

Commandment 11: Possession Wins Games

Here is a truth that will shift how you see the game: keeping possession is most of the battle.

You can only score when you have the disc, and every turnover hands the other team a chance. The team that gives it away less almost always wins.

Think of possession like oxygen. You never notice it until you lose it, and then everything falls apart. The best teams treat every throw like a breath. Short, safe, reliable. Dump, swing, reset. It does not make highlight reels, but it wins games, because while you calmly hold the disc, the defense is running, tiring, and losing focus. Then you strike.

To be clear, I am not saying never throw it long. If the defense gives you a wide open deep look, absolutely take it. But to find your team's flow, lean on short, confident passes and patient, deliberate cuts, and be extra careful with the disc when the game really matters.

Commandment 12: Study Like a Scholar

A little curiosity speeds up your game more than almost anything.

The players who improve fastest are students of the game. They watch a bit of film, get to know the rules, and treat each game as a chance to learn rather than just a competition. Watch elite players on YouTube and notice their footwork and throw choices. Watch Ultiworld highlights to see great throws in context, and a full game now and then to feel the flow and spacing at the team level. Best of all, film yourself once in a while, because nothing shows you a habit faster than seeing it from the outside.

Get comfortable with the rules, too. Learn the stall count and when it resets, the difference between a contested and uncontested foul, and the pick, travel, and simultaneous catch rules. Calling things clearly and fairly builds real trust with the people you play against. And wrap all of it in Spirit of the Game: play hard but fair, call fouls on yourself when they are yours, settle disagreements quickly, and respect your opponents even when you are competing your hardest.

Commandment 13: Teach to Learn

If you can teach someone else to throw a flick, you understand the flick deeply yourself. Teaching quietly forces that depth, because you cannot explain what you do not truly grasp.

Think of teaching as a mirror. The moment you try to fill a beginner's gaps, your own gaps show up too. That is why teaching is one of the fastest ways to master anything. It is also just a kind thing to do. It welcomes newcomers who need a hand, it builds friendships and grows your circle of throwing partners, and it gives back to a community that gave so much to you.

★ Pro Tip: Let your right hand teach your left. When your strong side becomes the patient mentor for your weak side, you tap into one of the most powerful, and most fun, ways to train.

Assess Yourself and Make a Plan

Here is a simple, low pressure way to grow. Rate yourself from 1 to 10 on each skill:

Then jot down a little plan. Pick your two or three weakest spots, choose a drill for each, and find a regular time to play. Track it now and then. Players who write their goals down really do improve faster, and it is satisfying to look back and see how far you have come. It is not magic. It is just your love for the game, made visible.

Wrap Up

◆ The long game rewards patience, and the patience is the fun part. Skills come over months and years. Enjoy the ride.

◆ Spin is king. Fall in love with the snap and the sound of the disc.

◆ Build a little disc arsenal. Variety removes fear and builds feel.

◆ Grow both hands. Train the whole body, not just the hand.

◆ Unlock the flick. It opens half the field, plus hammers and scoobers.

◆ Find throwing friends and play pickup often. The people are the point.

◆ Train your whole body. Build the engine, not just the steering wheel.

◆ Master deception. A good fake makes everything else easier.

◆ Read the disc in all conditions. Dance with the wind instead of fighting it.

◆ Play the chess game. Spend your energy wisely and stay patient.

◆ Possession wins. Dump, swing, reset, and take the open deep look when it is there.

◆ Stay curious. A little film, a few rules, and a lot of Spirit.

◆ Teach to learn. Share the game, deepen your own, and grow the community.

So there is your roadmap, thirteen friendly guideposts to carry with you. You do not have to master them all at once. Pick just one and give it a week. Chase spin. Toss with your weak hand. Round up a pickup game. Whatever pulls at you.

The road from beginner to Legend is measured in years, not months, and every single one of those years is meant to be enjoyed out in the sun with people you like. Some days the disc will fight you. Keep showing up anyway, because the breakthrough is usually closer than it feels, and the friends you make along the way are the real prize. :)