Introduction/Disclaimer
Let me get this out of the way: these stats are very much subject to human error. The strain/time it takes to type in all of these stats throughout the course of a 30-point game is a bit much to try and do twice, so these numbers were taken with one viewing, save several rewinds and double-takes.
Most importantly, there were at least 3 points that had video skips and lag, which resulted in mostly missed defensive statistics, but also some on offense.
Additionally, on this free WordPress blog, I don’t have access to Table plug-ins, so the information can’t be displayed at an interactive level. I will leave a download link to the spreadsheet of stats, however, so people can look at things on their own and create tables, create new stats with the provided numbers, and so on.
Lastly, this is going to be a very fluid piece: fixes will be made, charts updated, and insights added. Other people will provide different opinions/information that can and will be included.
The Raw Numbers
While the stats provided are interesting on an individual basis, most people will likely be interested in comparing genders as the quest for high-level, professional mixed Ultimate is explored and implored, so that is how I will present most of the information: in gender comparisons.
Offense
Additional Stats [Women | Men]
% of Touches: 44.44% | 55.55%
Yards per Completed Pass: 7.62 | 9.27
Yards on Missed Throws: 101 | 415
Yards per Missed Pass: 33.67 | 37.23
Assist per Throw %: 07.79% | 12.64%
Goals per Catch%: 04.48% | 17.72%
Defense
Additional Stats [Women | Men]
Goals-per-Touch Against: 0.128 | 0.048
Analysis
Let me preface this first by saying I am no stats expert, and there are so many different things to compare in here that I wouldn’t understand. That said, there are some easy-to-understand comparisons and conclusions to be seen.
Women played less than the men, more offense than defense
Reasoning: discrepancy in points played, points played vs O/D possessions. There are several factors that play into these numeric relationships:
- The women turned the disc over fewer times, resulting in playing less defense. More women on the line = lower probability of a turnover.
- The U.S. frequently used 4 women on offense.
- The U.S. had to match the Philippines gender ratios on defense.
Men touched the disc/were thrown to more than women.
Reasoning: Despite almost equal possessions on offense, men had more touches/catches.
Men picked up the disc/caught the pull more.
Reasoning: difference in disparity in touches [Men +20] and catches [Men +12].
Women were more efficient throwers.
Reasoning: women had much higher completion percent [97.32% vs 80.64%].
Men threw farther than women on average.
Reasoning: Men had higher stats in all yards-per-throw and yards-per-attempt categories.
Throws to women were slightly less efficient/effective.
Reasoning: women had a lower catch-per-target rate [85.90% vs 96.34%], and women gained less yards per catch [10.07 vs 10.60].
Men scored more.
Reasoning: Men lead in every scoring stat:
- Goals
- Goals per Catch [percentage of catches that resulted in goals]
- Assists
- Assists per Throw[percentage of throws that resulted in goals]
Without tracking end-zone targets, it’s difficult to truly compare scoring efficiency, since men had more targets overall [though not many].
Additionally, the higher rate of missed throws could have occurred in the end-zone
Defense was comparable.
Defense is a weird thing to track with statistics in Ultimate. I could definitely use some suggestions/insight on how to paint a better picture on that end.
Stats to Record in the Future
- Men/Women targeting men/women
- Men/Women throwaways while targeting men/women
- Dumps vs Gainers
- Yards per Pass Completion
- Endzone targets
- Number of passes thrown at player on defense
- Yards missed [Attempted yards – completed yards]
Individual Leaders
- Touches: Jonathan Nethercutt – 27
- Completion %: Alika Johnston – 100% [17/17]
- Passes Thrown: Jonathan Nethercutt – 27
- Passes Completed: Jonathan Nethercutt – 23
- Passing Yards Completed: Jonathan Nethercutt – 222
- Yards per Pass Attempt: Jimmy Mickle – 18.55 [Perston had higher rate, but only threw 2 passes]
- Most Throwing Yards Missed [Attempted – Completed]: Beau Kittredge – 110
- Catches: Jonathan Nethercutt – 17
- Targets: Jonathan Nethercutt – 17
- Receiving Yards: Jesse Shofner – 179
- Yards per Catch: Claire Desmond – 27.83
Touches
Completion %
Passing Yards
Assists / Throwaways
Receiving
Defense
Please let me know if anything is glaringly wrong, or if you have anything interesting/important to add.
Cheers,
Bobby
Not A Handler 
very cool, thanks for doing that.
i’d change the word ‘reasoning’ to ‘evidence’ – i interpret reasoning to mean like the tactical reason the given statistic is seen
how did you calculate throwing yards? seems difficult, but could be easier on a football field, where you could just count 5 yard lines…
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Throwing/receiving yards were just estimated as best as I could using the brickmark and half-field lines. They are by no means perfect, but I feel confident in my recording of them.
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Cool. Quantifying the effectiveness of players through stats seems hard in ultimate, but stats like lateral passing yards are a nice novel method of analysis.
Like you say you’re not a stats guy but just be careful with your wording in the ‘analysis’. From your post:
‘Much higher’ = 16.66%
‘Slightly less’ = 10.44%
There’s probably a hint of bias in your interpretation which is why you would analyse it in such a way (and why proper stats avoiding the issues with bias are nice).
Also, I’d reconsider your definition of ‘efficient’.
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Right. This is my first time making this kind of content, and I was hesitant to try and do any analysis, and looking at it now there is clearly some bias. Hopefully seeing those after-the-fact will let me do a better job in the future [a.k.a. tonight in the Japan game].
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Look forward to it!
I find it’s best where the hard statistics are isolated and described first, then interpreted.
Perhaps just describe the stats without subjectivity. E.g. Men had more turnovers than women (11 vs. 5). Then, provide a ‘discussion’ where you have more poetic licence to make more subjective claims and most importantly, attempt to explain the differences/findings.
But, in the greater scheme of things, I’m being pretty pedantic.
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Those sound like good changes! Pedantic is fine by me!
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16.66% is an incredibly significant margin where it’s labelled much higher.
While the difference between 80.64% and 97.32% completion rate might not look like it justifies the term, when comparing the turnover rates of 2.68% and 19.36%, the amount is huge.
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In other words, in 40 throws, women turn over 1 and men turn over 8.
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How do Perston and Peterson have more catches than targets? Did they catch passes intended for others or is that an error?
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Exactly: I attributed targets to different receivers, and those two ended up catching the pass. It’s a tricky relationship that I’m not sure how best to approach.
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