Beginner guide
Ultimate frisbee field dimensions
A regulation ultimate field is 110 yards long by 40 yards wide — a 70-yard playing area with a 20-yard end zone at each end. Here is the full layout, the metric equivalents, and how to mark one out with eight cones.
The numbers
| Measurement | USA Ultimate (yards) | WFDF (metres) |
|---|---|---|
| Total length | 110 yd | 100 m |
| Playing field proper (goal line to goal line) | 70 yd | 64 m |
| End zone depth (each) | 20 yd | 18 m |
| Width | 40 yd | 37 m |
| Brick mark, in from each goal line | 20 yd | 18 m |
USA Ultimate governs the sport in the United States and publishes the rules in yards; the World Flying Disc Federation is the international body and publishes them in metres. The two fields are within a few feet of each other, and no pickup game has ever cared about the difference.
What each part of the field is for
- End zone
- The 20-yard strip at each end. Catch the disc in-bounds here, in the end zone your team is attacking, and you have scored.
- Goal line
- The line where the end zone begins. Unlike the sidelines, the goal line counts as part of the end zone for scoring.
- Sidelines and end lines
- The perimeter. These lines are out of bounds — a player touching one is out.
- Brick mark
- A marked point on the centre line, 20 yards in from each goal line. If a pull lands out of bounds, the receiving team may call “brick” and start play from there instead of the sideline.
- Central line
- Not a rule feature, just the midpoint. Useful when you are eyeballing a field with cones.
How to mark out a field with cones
Eight cones is enough: four corners and four goal-line markers. If you are pacing it out, an adult stride is close enough to a yard for pickup.
- Walk the long side first. Pace 110 steps along one edge and drop a cone at each end. Every other measurement hangs off this line, so get it straight.
- Set the width. From each end cone, walk 40 steps at a right angle and drop the other two corners. Stand back and check the shape looks square rather than trapezoidal.
- Mark the goal lines. Walk 20 steps in from each end along both sidelines and drop a cone. Those four cones define both end zones.
- Skip the brick marks. Most pickup games do not bother. If the pull goes out, the receiving team just takes it at the sideline or roughly at midfield by agreement.
Playing on a smaller space? Pickup groups routinely shrink the field — 70 by 30 yards with 15-yard end zones plays perfectly well and suits smaller numbers. Shrink the length before you shrink the width, and shrink the end zones last: shallow end zones make scoring too easy.
How an ultimate field compares
| Field | Length | Width |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate | 110 yd | 40 yd |
| American football | 120 yd | 53.3 yd |
| Soccer (typical) | 115 yd | 74 yd |
An ultimate field is very close to a football field in length and about three-quarters as wide, which is why so many pickup groups end up on a football or soccer field with their own cones. It is narrow on purpose: the narrower the field, the more the game rewards cutting and timing over raw speed.
We are still choosing our field
Ultimate Together is a new beginner-friendly pickup group forming in the Howell–Brighton area of Livingston County, Michigan, with first adult co-ed games planned for May 2027. The exact field is one of the things we are working out — and everyone on the waitlist hears the location first.
Field questions
How big is an ultimate frisbee field?
110 yards long by 40 yards wide in total: a 70-yard playing field proper with a 20-yard end zone at each end. In metric, the international field is 100 m by 37 m with 18 m end zones.
How deep is an ultimate frisbee end zone?
20 yards deep and the full 40-yard width of the field, at each end. That is deeper than an American football end zone, which is 10 yards.
What is the brick mark in ultimate?
A point on the centre line 20 yards in from each goal line. If the pull that starts a point lands out of bounds, the receiving team can choose to start play from the brick mark instead of from the sideline, by calling “brick” and tapping the disc there.
Can you play ultimate on a football field?
Yes, and many groups do. A football field is 120 by 53.3 yards, so there is length to spare and roughly 13 extra yards of width. Put down cones to narrow it, and use the 10-yard football end zones plus the first 10 yards of the field to make 20-yard ultimate end zones.
Are the sidelines in or out?
Out. The perimeter lines are not part of the playing field, so a player standing on a sideline is out of bounds. The goal line is the exception — it counts as part of the end zone.