The ultimate frisbee injury study: the 2007 Ultimate Players Association College Championships
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026
Modified Drop Tower Impact Tests for American Football Helmets
Published on: February 19, 2017
Leslianne E Yen1, Andrew Gregory, John E Kuhn
1Minor and James Medical, Seattle, Washington 98104, USA. Leslianne.Yen@minorandjames.com
Objective:
To quantify and characterize the injuries incurred by ultimate players during the 2007 Ultimate Players Association College Championships.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
The Ultimate Players Association College Championships in Columbus, Ohio, in May 2007.
Participants:
Athletes who left the field of play due to injury time-outs (ITOs). There were 107 recorded ITOs.
Interventions:
During the 3 days of the 2007 College Championships, 86 games were observed by the research staff. Athletes calling an ITO were interviewed. Sex, activity at time of injury, type of injury, and associated contact, if any, were recorded.
Main Outcome Measures:
Return to play, injury type, and injured body part.
Results:
One injury prevented return to play in each of the 2 sex divisions, equivalent to 1.66 per 1000 athlete-exposures in championships bracket games. The majority of ITOs were related to contact, 53% in the men's division and 68% in the women's division. The lower extremities were injured in 53% and 51% of cases in the men's and women's divisions, respectively. Laying out was one of the most common activities at time of ITO (29% and 22% in men's and women's divisions, respectively) and accounted for all of the men's closed head injuries and 2 of the 3 women's closed head injuries.
Conclusions:
There was a low rate of play-ending injuries. There were no statistically significant associations. Physical contact and laying out were frequently linked with ITO.
