See You On The Floor!
Looking for a sport that will give you a cardio workout, challenge your strategic thinking, and enable you to be on a team, all while just having fun? Then sitting volleyball may be perfect for you.
Like many adaptive sports, sitting volleyball can be played with able-bodied friends and relatives who follow the sitting volleyball rules.
The object of the game is the same as standing volleyball – hit the ball over the net and land it in the opposing team’s half of the court. Teams have up to three contacts with the ball before it must go over the net.
Where Can I Play?
Anywhere! All you need is a suitable low net or a rope over two chairs, (don’t worry about it being regulation when you are just learning to play).
You can easily alter the size of the court and number of players on each team at a recreational level to allow as many people to enjoy the game as possible.
What Is Different Besides Sitting?
The Basics of Play
As with any sport, practice will help you play the game better.
Scoring
Matches are played over a best of five sets format with each set won by the first team to reach 25 points with a two-point lead in the first four sets, and by the first team to reach 15 points with a two-point lead in a decisive fifth set. A match is won by the team that wins three sets.
Each team is allowed up to three hits to return the ball. A team scores a point by successfully grounding the ball on the opponents’ playing court; when the opponent team commits a fault; or when the opponent team receives a penalty. (A team commits a fault by making a play contrary to the rules.) At the moment of contacting the ball, a player’s bottom must be in contact with the floor. If not in contact when the ball is touched (except on a low-defensive play), the team will lose the rally.
The Paralympic Club Directory also has a list of clubs that offer sitting volleyball. Several other organizations throughout the country offer sitting volleyball as well, and be sure to check out your local Parks and Recreation Department to see what information they can offer you.
Beginnings
Sitting volleyball first began in the Netherlands in the 1950s as a combination of volleyball and a German game called sitzbal, which was played without nets. It significantly increased in popularity during the 1960s and today is played in more than 50 countries.
Sitting volleyball made its debut as a Paralympic sport at the Arnhem, Netherlands, 1980 Games. The Athens Games in 2004 introduced the first Paralympic competition for women’s sitting volleyball; the U.S. came away with the bronze medal.
At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, there were 198 athletes competing in the sport. The U.S. Women’s Team repeated in capturing the silver medal just as they had done at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
Governing Body
Sitting volleyball is governed by World ParaVolley, which produces all of the rules and regulations for the sport.
Download the current World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball Rulebook.
Who Qualifies for Paralympic Volleyball?
Paralympic sitting volleyball can be played by amputees and people with other types of locomotor disabilities with permanent injuries to the knees, hips, ankles, elbows, wrists and les autres (cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and polio or any major muscle loss that prevents the player from playing stand-up volleyball).
Two players on each team may have a minimal impairment, which means their impairment may appear minimal but it prevents them from competing in the nondisabled version of the sport. These injuries include anterior cruciate ligament damage and missing fingers.
Prosthetics & Adaptive Equipment
It is not recommended you wear your prosthetic leg when playing sitting volleyball as it could limit one’s speed and movement abilities during play. Additionally, if an athlete or teammate falls on it, it could cause injury to them or damage the prosthesis.
Users of a prosthetic arm can use it to pass, serve, and block.
The Striker is a chair to provide support to those with spinal cord injuries. Triangle Volleyball Club, along with DSUSA Chapter Bridge II Sports, submitted a project proposal to Duke University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering to design, produce, and put into service a chair to assist with support and movement on the floor for those with spinal cord injury. The Striker was unveiled in December 2012; a patent application and mass production work are currently underway.
There are numerous companies that provide equipment for sitting volleyball.
National Governing Body- USA Sitting Volleyball
International Governing Body- World ParaVolley
Coaching Resources- American Volleyball Coaches Association
Paralympic Sitting Volleyball- Team USA
US Paralympic Volleyball Team- U.S.A. Sitting Volleyball
Also, check out the sitting volleyball article in the Winter 2019 issue of Challenge magazine.