Sitting Volleyball (Senior 6 Physical Education): free lessons | Ganzaa

Sitting Volleyball

Lessons

Senior 6 · Physical Education

Sitting Volleyball

3 lessons

Lesson 1 of 3

The court, the net, the team and rotation

25 min

Where is a player's position?

In standing volleyball, the referee checks a player's position by the feet. In sitting volleyball the feet do not count: a player's place on court is fixed by where the buttocks touch the floor. A back-row player may stretch a leg right under the net, and still be a back-row player. That one change, playing seated, shapes every other rule: a smaller court, a lower net, and faults that standing volleyball does not have. You met the skills and tactics of sitting volleyball in Senior 1 to Senior 3. This unit sets out the rules as a referee applies them, from the World ParaVolley Official Sitting Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, which apply to competitions starting after 1 February 2025.

Definition

Front zone: the part of each court between the centre line and the attack line, 2 m deep. Back zone: the rest of the court behind the attack line.

Service zone: the 6 m wide area behind each end line from which the serve is made.

Rotation: the clockwise movement of a team's six players by one position each time the team wins back the right to serve.

Positional fault: a player not in the correct position, judged by the buttocks, at the moment the server hits the ball.

Libero: a defensive specialist who may replace any back-row player, wears a different-coloured uniform and may not serve, block or attack a ball that is entirely above the top of the net.

VS2: World ParaVolley's sport class for players with a minimal impairment; players with a greater impairment are classed VS1.

Rules 1 to 3: court, net and ball

Item	Sitting volleyball (World ParaVolley 2025–2028)	Standing volleyball, for comparison
Court	10 m × 6 m; two courts of 5 m × 6 m	18 m × 9 m
Free zone	At least 3 m on all sides; 4 m from the side lines and 6 m from the end lines at World ParaVolley events	At least 3 m
Attack line	2 m from the centre line	3 m from the centre line
Lines	5 cm wide, inside the court dimensions; a ball touching a line is "in"	Same
Net height	1.15 m for men, 1.05 m for women, measured at the centre of the court	2.43 m for men, 2.24 m for women
Net	0.80 m wide, 6.5 to 7 m long, with side bands over the side lines and two antennae 1.60 m long	1 m wide, 9.5 to 10 m long
Posts	0.5 to 1.0 m outside the side lines (1 m and padded at World ParaVolley events), no more than 1.25 m high	0.5 to 1.0 m outside the side lines

The ball is the same as in standing volleyball. At World ParaVolley events a five-ball system is used, with six ball retrievers.

Rules 4 to 7: team, scoring and rotation

Team: up to 14 players on the score sheet, with no more than two VS2 players, plus a coach, up to two assistant coaches, a team therapist and a doctor. There must always be six players on court, and no more than one VS2 player among them, even when a Libero is playing. A team may name up to two Liberos, but only one may be on court.
Clothing: players may wear long trousers, but may not sit on thick material or wear specially padded shorts; padding that is only for protection is allowed.
Scoring: every rally scores a point. A set is won at 25 points with a lead of at least 2 (26–24, 27–25 …). The match is won by the first team to win 3 sets; a deciding 5th set is played to 15, also with a 2-point lead.
Interruptions: each team may take 2 time-outs (60 seconds each) and 6 substitutions per set. Intervals between sets last 3 minutes; teams change courts after each set, and in the 5th set when the leading team reaches 8 points.
Positions: at the service hit, the receiving team must be in rotational order. Each front-row player must have at least part of the buttocks closer to the centre line than the buttocks of the back-row player behind; each side player must have at least part of the buttocks closer to that side line than the centre player of the same row. After the serve is hit, players may move anywhere in their own court and free zone.
Rotation: when the receiving team wins the rally, it scores a point and rotates one position clockwise; the player who moves from position 2 to position 1 serves.

Worked example

Worked example 1: who serves after a side-out? Team A starts a set with this line-up: position 1, number 7; 2, number 4; 3, number 10; 4, number 2; 5, number 9; 6, number 5. Team A serves first and loses the rally. Team B then serves and loses the next rally. Who serves for Team A, and where is everyone?

Team A has won back the right to serve, so it rotates one position clockwise before serving.
Each player moves on one place: 2 → 1, 1 → 6, 6 → 5, 5 → 4, 4 → 3, 3 → 2.
New positions: 1 = number 4, 6 = number 7, 5 = number 5, 4 = number 9, 3 = number 2, 2 = number 10.
Number 4, now in position 1, serves.

Worked example

Worked example 2: a positional fault judged by the buttocks. As Team B serves, Team A's right-front player has slid back to receive: her buttocks are 3.1 m from the centre line. The right-back player behind her is sitting 2.5 m from the centre line, with his legs stretched forward under the net.

Positions are judged by the buttocks, not the legs or hands.
The right-back player's buttocks (2.5 m) are closer to the centre line than the right-front player's (3.1 m), so the back-row player is in front of the front-row player.
Positional fault by Team A, called by the 2nd referee: a point and the service go to Team B, and Team A's positions are corrected.

Worked example 3: how much smaller is the game?

Court area: sitting $10 \times 6 = 60\,\mathrm{m^2}$ ; standing $18 \times 9 = 162\,\mathrm{m^2}$ . Ratio: $\frac{60}{162} = 0.37$ , so the sitting court is about 37% of the standing court.
Men's net: $\frac{1.15}{2.43} = 0.47$ , about 47% of the standing height.
With six players on only 60 m², each player covers $\frac{60}{6} = 10\,\mathrm{m^2}$ , against 27 m² in standing volleyball. Rallies are faster, and reactions matter more than jumping.

Video: "Sitting Volleyball Highlights | Day 8 | Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games", Paralympic Games. Watch the server sitting behind the end line, and notice how players slide on their hands to reach the ball while staying seated.

Note

Rwanda in sitting volleyball. According to the International Paralympic Committee (2024), Rwanda's women's team became the first women's team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the Paralympic Games, at Rio 2016, where it finished eighth. At Tokyo 2020 it won its first Paralympic match, against hosts Japan, to finish seventh, and in January 2024 it won a third ParaVolley Africa title in a row to qualify for Paris 2024, its third Games.

Warning

Common mistakes. The attack line is 2 m from the centre line, not 3 m. Positions are judged by the buttocks, not the feet. The serving team may sit anywhere at the service hit; only the receiving team must be in rotational order. A team rotates only when it wins back the right to serve, not after every point.

✦

Practice

State the dimensions of a sitting volleyball court and the distance of the attack line from the centre line.
Give the net height for men and for women.
How many players may be on court, and how many of them may be VS2 players?
Team B wins a set 25–24. Is the set over? Explain.
Using the line-up in Worked example 1, write Team A's positions after it has rotated a second time.
At Team A's service hit, its left-front player sits 1.5 m from the centre line and its left-back player 1.2 m from it. Is there a fault? Explain.
In the 5th set, Team A leads 8–6. What must happen now?
A school court has a 6 m × 10 m marked area but only 1.5 m of free space at each side line. Evaluate whether it is safe and legal for a school match, and suggest a fix.

Show answersHide answers

10 m × 6 m (two courts of 5 m × 6 m); the attack line is 2 m from the centre line.
1.15 m for men and 1.05 m for women.
Six players; no more than one VS2 player on court.
No: a set needs a 2-point lead, so play continues until a team leads by 2 (for example 26–24).
Moving everyone on one more place: 1 = number 10, 6 = number 4, 5 = number 7, 4 = number 5, 3 = number 9, 2 = number 2.
No fault: only the receiving team must be in rotational order at the service hit; the serving team may sit anywhere.
The teams change courts at once, keeping the same positions; the score stays 8–6.
The rules ask for a free zone of at least 3 m on all sides, so 1.5 m is too little: players sliding or diving for the ball could hit walls or benches. Move or shorten the court so there are 3 m all round, or pad and clear the obstacles, before allowing play.

Remember

Court 10 m × 6 m; attack line 2 m from the centre line; free zone at least 3 m.
Net 1.15 m (men), 1.05 m (women).
6 players on court, at most one VS2; up to 14 on the team list; up to two Liberos.
Sets to 25, 5th set to 15, always with a 2-point lead; best of five sets.
Positions are judged by the buttocks; rotation is clockwise.

Sources and credits

Official Sitting Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, World ParaVolley: Rules 1 to 7, 15 and 18 and Diagrams 2 to 4 summarised, not copied.
Paris 2024: Rwanda's Mukobwankawe aiming high at third Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee, 30 May 2024: Rwanda's Paralympic record.
Photo: Sitting Volleyball IRN vs JPN - Asian Para Games 2018, Griff88, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Video: "Sitting Volleyball Highlights | Day 8 | Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games", Paralympic Games, embedded from YouTube.
Court diagram, table, worked examples and practice: written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Where is a player's position?

2Rules 1 to 3: court, net and ball

3Rules 4 to 7: team, scoring and rotation

Where is a player's position?

Rules 1 to 3: court, net and ball

Rules 4 to 7: team, scoring and rotation