Jim's Fresher Pack

Welcome aboard AYE-AYE! You are blessed to now be crew of the greatest ship in the world as we sail into a new year.

There are a few things you should do over the next weeks:

Tell me a joke - example: "Why did the skeleton go to the dance alone?"

"...Because he had no body to go with."

Enjoy the atmosphere, remember that all the previous members are there to help, give knowledge and most of all to get some exercise and have a laugh.

Get as many telephone numbers as you can from the people you get on with, so you can immediately start meeting up on campus for a pint and/or a chuck about outside nelson court on the green. The best way to improve the rest of your game is to get confident throwing forehands and backhands... and any other throws you fancy.

Get acquainted with the web site and make sure you're signed up to the Facebook group, this way you'll find out about all sorts of events and socials, of which there are tons. Tournaments are particularly awesome so we will ensure that everyone gets to go to at least one, but you must sign up to go, so talk to any committee member if you want to go - particularly the Club President, they know a lot about those sorts of things.

For those of you who have never played before (which is probably the vast majority) there's some jargon you might encounter:

Offence: Offensive players attempt to score points by passing the disc up the field into the end zone which is much like an American football end zone.

Cut: In order to do this, offensive players make cuts. Basically they run in different ways to throw off their marker, get into space and receive the disc.

Pivot foot: Once offensive players get the disc they must establish a pivot foot. This foot remains in contact with the ground where it was first placed. It is from here that the rest of the body can pivot.

Defence: Defensive players attempt to intercept or knock the disc to the ground to 'turn over' i.e. become offence.

Force: Defensive players mark the person opposite them in the line up at the start of each point. The defensive player marking the person holding the disc will normally put on a 'force' i.e. stop the disc holder from throwing into one half of the pitch by standing on one side of them i.e. 'forcing' them to throw to one half.

Stack: The best offence to create the most amount of space is a stack i.e. a line slightly left or right of centre of stack players, from where cuts are made.

Up calls: When you are marking someone and they throw the disc it is useful for other players to know this. So "UP!" is shouted.

Layouts: For me, this is the most awesome part of the game. To hurl yourself face first at a disc just out of reach and pull it off is an amazing feeling, so go for it because at the end of the day it doesn't really hurt, it's the way to gain the competitive advantage and you look fucking cool.

Banter: pretty self explanatory.

Nightmare: When you do something wrong it is generally referred to as a nightmare. Extreme errors are known as 'Westons' i.e. nightmare - Mare - Weston super mare - Weston. If you ever hear either of these phrases, they are purely in jest, despite the small amount of truth invested in them.

So that will get you started, the rest you should 'pick up' along the way. By the way the pick up bit was actually a Frisbee joke. It can't get any worse than that. Seriously if you had to nominate a worst joke in the world award... yeah, hands down winner. In about 2 months time you will all be able to look back at that and laugh in pity.