In at number 8 of the Wabd… top 10 frisbee books of all time comes Countercultural Sports in America: The history and meaning of Ultimate Frisbee by Jordan Holtzman-Conston. Written in 2010 as an academic thesis (I think) it points out that ultimate is at a crossroads in its development. One path leads to television, Olympics, sponsorship, professionalism (or “Americanization” as the author calls it); the other path is to keep it what makes it special and to remain true to itself. The author compares the growth of ultimate with the development of baseball (the first sport that was countercultural to Victorian society in America).

My personal view, for what its worth, is thatI wont tell you on which side the author comes down

The reviews on Amazon are interesting – two are gushing in their praise and the other is super-critical. Personally I think it falls between the two.
This book is worth reading. It provides background, comparison and insight into a subject matter that ultimate has been grappling with since its inception.

Just above the academic thesis and in at number 7 comes this 1970s classic –Frisbee sports & games by Charles Tips and Dan Roddick. This looks at the rules of the “officially sanctioned disc sports” including field events, self-caught flights, double disc court, golf, freestyle, guts and ultimate.

Like many frisbee books of the 70s what was particularly great were the pictures. A mixture of action photos (often from the World Frisbee Championships) and drawings this book oozes 1970s class. I really liked the rules for tournament play for the field events and self-caught flights. One gripe though is the description of accuracy: although the authors admit that it provides a valid test of throwing control “the need for equipment, its relative dullness and time-consuming nature, and the difficulty of individual practice all contributed to its demise”. Am I the only person that likes accuracy?

The other joy of this book is the section on other or related frisbee games. Here you can find a cornucopia of pointless games or hidden gems. Whatever happened to whizbo or dynamo disc?