Sitting Volleyball Tactics
Senior 2 · Physical Education
Sitting Volleyball Tactics
Lesson 1 of 3
20 min
Sitting volleyball is volleyball played seated on the floor. At the Paralympic Games it is played by athletes with a physical impairment, for example an amputation, that affects their legs. In a school hall, anyone can play it: sitting down puts every player on the same level, so the whole class can play together.
It is also a sport in which Rwanda has made history. Rwanda's men's team played at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the first team from sub-Saharan Africa in the Paralympic sitting volleyball tournament. Rwanda's women's team qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, by winning the 2019 African zonal championship, and played again at Paris 2024 after winning the 2024 African Sitting Volleyball Championships in Lagos, Nigeria.
Sitting volleyball was invented in the Netherlands in 1956 as a sport for injured soldiers. It became a Paralympic medal sport in 1980, and a women's event was added in 2004. The world governing body is World ParaVolley.
| Item | Sitting volleyball | Standing volleyball, for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 10 m by 6 m | 18 m by 9 m |
| Attack line | 2 m from the centre line | 3 m from the centre line |
| Net height | 1.15 m (men), 1.05 m (women) | 2.43 m (men), 2.24 m (women) |
Figure 1. The sitting volleyball court. The numbers show the six rotation positions on one side. Diagram: Ganzaa.
At Paralympic level, players are classified according to their impairment, and a team may have only a limited number of players from the less-impaired class on court. At school, everyone simply plays.
Sit with knees bent and feet flat, hands on the floor beside or slightly behind your hips. Move by pushing with your hands and heels: forwards, backwards and sideways, in short, quick shuffles. In the ready position lean slightly forward, hands up in front of your chest, eyes on the ball. Most balls are lost because a player is late, not because of poor technique, so moving well matters more than anything else in this sport.
Gatete reaches for a ball above the net and pushes up off his hands, lifting both buttocks for a moment as he hits it.
Decision. A fault. At least one buttock must touch the floor when the ball is played. The rally goes to the other team.
Tip
Memory hook: "10, 6, 2, and one on the floor." A 10 m by 6 m court, an attack line 2 m from the net, and at least one buttock on the floor whenever you play the ball.
How much lower is the women's sitting volleyball net than the women's standing volleyball net?
Solution. 2.24 m − 1.05 m = 1.19 m lower.
Keza blocks the opponents' serve at the net. Is this legal?
Solution. Yes. In sitting volleyball, unlike standing volleyball, front-row players may block the serve.
A team's players touch the ball four times before it crosses the net. What is the call?
Solution. A fault: four hits. A team may touch the ball at most three times (a block touch does not count).
Which row is position 3 in, and what is its job?
Solution. The front row, in the middle next to the net. The middle front player blocks and attacks, and is often a key blocker.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
