Guts (flying disc game)

Guts or disc guts (sometimes guts Frisbee in reference to the trademarked brand name) is a disc game involving teams throwing a flying disc at members of the opposing team. One to five team members stand in a line facing the opposing team across the court, with the two teams lined up parallel to each other. Which team begins play is determined by "flipping the disc", an action similar to a coin toss, but using the disc itself. One member of the team is then selected to start play. That member then raises an arm to indicate readiness to throw, at which point the members of the opposing team freeze in position. The thrower then throws the disc as hard as possible at someone on the opposing team. If the thrower misses the "scoring area" (a demarcated area a bit larger than the space occupied by the opposing team), the receiving team scores a point. If a member of the receiving team catches the disc cleanly, neither team scores a point. If the throw is within the scoring area and the receiving team fails to catch, or catches but drops the disc, the throwing team gets a point. The receiving team then picks up the disc and becomes the throwing team.

The receiving team must catch the disc cleanly in one hand, and may not move from position until after the disc leaves the hand of the thrower. The disc may not be trapped between the hand and any other part of the body, including the other hand. This frequently results in a challenging sequence of "tips" or "bobbles", which are rebounds of the disc off receivers' hands or body to slow the disc down and keep it in play until it can be caught. This often involves multiple players on the receiving team.

Play continues until at least 21 points have been scored by one of the teams and there is a difference in score of at least 2 points.

The first International Frisbee Tournament (IFT) was held in Eagle Harbor, Michigan, in 1958. The main event, Guts, was created by the Healy family. Specifically, brothers James (Tim), John (Jake), Robert (Boots), & Peter (Beka). During the 1960s the national profile of the IFT was increased by Jim Boggio. In 1969 the official rules for Guts Frisbee were written for the 12th IFT and Michigan proclaimed July 6th of that year Frisbee Day. The event received national attention. It was attended by Ed Headrick, Stancil Johnson, Julius T. Nachazel and many others who were memorialized on 16mm video.

The early history of Guts and the IFT often requires an understanding of the cultural context of that era. It was serious sport wrapped in humor and publicity that could sometimes look comic if read at face value. Goldy Norton addressed this in his 1972 book "The IFT has been called a spoof on organized sports. Nothing could be further from the truth."

By the early 1970s, the game had spread across the United States and to other countries, with coverage on radio, television, major newspapers, and magazines such as Time.

With over 60 teams at a tournament in the heyday of the game, matches became intensely competitive affairs. Guts has become an extreme sport demanding fast reflexes, physical endurance, and concentration.

Since its rise in the 1970s, when even ABC's Wide World of Sports was televising guts action, and numerous tournaments were springing up, from Toronto to Chicago and Los Angeles, the sport has gradually declined in popularity in America. Guts had been introduced in Asia by the toy company Wham-O in the 1970s, and by the 1990s it had become even more popular in Japan and Taiwan than in the US. Recent years, however, have seen pockets of strong new American players renewing competitive American interest in the game, also drawing some older players out of "retirement".

The sport's international governing body, as with other major flying disc games, is the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF). For North America, the more game-specific United States Guts Players Association (USGPA) officiates.

The fiftieth annual International Frisbee Tournament (IFT), held in Hancock, Michigan, June 30, July 1, 2007, was a large guts disc tournament, drawing players from all over the United States and Canada, and for the first time, two strong teams from Japan , including Katon, the WFDF World Champions.

As of 2007, the USGPA plans to induct some of the most outstanding players into the Guts Hall of Fame, joining Fred Morrison (inventor of the original Pluto Platter flying disc), the Healy brothers (inventors of guts and founders of the IFT), and "Steady Ed" Headrick (IFT champion and inventor of the standard "pole hole" basket used on modern disc golf courses).