How to Play Hot Box

If your sport of choice is Ultimate Frisbee, it can be difficult to motivate enough friends for a game. But if you know at least three other people interested in throwing a disc, Hot Box is a smaller, more fast-paced version of Ultimate Frisbee that can be played with as few as two on each team. Plus you can always find volunteers for a "Hot Box" session, even if they end up feeling horribly misled once they're on the field.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A disc
• At least 3 friends
• 8 markers for the end zones

1. Use your markers (they can be shoes, backpacks, cones, or anything large enough to be seen from a distance) to create two, square end zones in the area where you intend to play. The squares should be 6 feet by 6 feet, and at least 20 yards from one another.
2. Divide up into two even teams and decide which end zone each team is initially going for.
3. Decide which team will have possession first, and then that team will begin the game from the opposite end zone from the one they are headed toward.
4. On offense: Work your way toward the end zone by throwing the disc to your teammates. Once you catch the disc, you must plant a foot and pivot from that position. No one is allowed to run with the disc.
5. On defense: Try to intercept the disc or knock it to the ground while it's in the air. Once you are successful at either of these, possession changes and you become the offense headed toward your respective end zone.
6. On offense: Try to get one of your players to catch the disc with both feet in the end zone. If this is achieved, you get a point and still maintain possession. You then continue toward the other end zone.
7. On defense: Like the paint in basketball you can't stand in your own end zone. The game has no exterior boundaries but the one place you are not allowed to be for more than 2 seconds is in your own box. Instead you have to defend it from the outside.
8. Decide how many points you will play to (5 is usually plenty) and once your team racks up that number of points, you win.

Tips & Warnings

• If the game is moving too slowly, you can incorporate a stall count; the person with the disc has only ten seconds to throw the Frisbee to a teammate, otherwise possession changes. If it still moves slowly, lower the stall count.
• On offense, break-aways are a huge key to scoring in Hot Box. If your teammate has his defender beat and you can throw the disc accurately enough from a distance, your teammate can jump, catch it in the air and land with both feet inside the box.
• Hot Box has no boundary lines, so sometimes the best strategy is to work away from the end zone before working toward it to draw defenders away.
• A defender is allowed to stand two feet away from the thrower to try to block the throw, but no defenders are allowed to push, hit, or grab the offense at any time.
• Decide before you play if everyone intends to wear shoes or not. On grassy surfaces, some people choose to play barefoot. Aside from keeping it fair, it also prevents smashed toes and cleat wounds.
• Drink plenty of water, Hot Box is a fast-paced game and it is easy to get dehydrated while playing.