Why does Ultimate Frisbee have so many rules?

All Nines

I have a set of papers of the rules printed out, and it's thirty-one fucking pages long. I'm far too lazy to read through all of this.

I mean, it's not like most team sports don't have this many rules, but this is still irksome, in that I'm not going to remember most of these rules in one read-through. How did they manage to make Frisbee so complicated? I mean, most of it is fairly situational, and the main rules are easy enough to get, but still. If anything, having a bunch of situational, less memorable rules is more annoying.

[It's a fairly minor complaint in the end, and I can understand why they need certain rules, but this is the first time in a while that I've been able to think of something that bugs me, so why not?]

Vorpy

Contrast Eating Contest rules.

Saigyouji

...31 pages of rules? Well, I guess it's better than most sports.

Ponicalica

A lot of the rules are probably rigorous definitions of common-sense stuff, like what a «step» is.

All Nines

^ Sort of. There are a whole bunch of terms I haven't seen used in such a way before, is the main thing.

^^ Probably. But compared to swimming, that's a lot, especially for a lazy guy like me.

^^^ One of the few sets of rules easier than swimming.

DonZabu

Rule 1: If you don't have diabetes by round 2, you're not playing it right.

Chagen

Never ever look at regulations for racing leagues, Everest.

I think even The 24 Hours of LeMons has a pretty big rulebook.

Just so you know, LeMons is a 24-Hour Endurance race where your car cannot be worth, not counting safety equipment, more than 500 dollars.