Sitting volleyball: rules, court and moving on the floor

1Why this matters

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.

2A short history

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.

3The court and net

Figure 1. The sitting volleyball court. The numbers show the six rotation positions on one side. Diagram: Ganzaa.

4The rules you already know

• Six players a side: three in the front row (positions 2, 3 and 4) and three in the back row (1, 6 and 5).
• A point is scored on every rally. A set is won by the first team to 25 points with a lead of at least 2; a match is best of five sets, and a fifth set goes to 15.
• A team may touch the ball at most three times before sending it over, and no player may touch it twice in a row (a block touch does not count).
• When a team wins back the serve, its players rotate one place clockwise.
• Back-row players may not attack from in front of the attack line when the ball is entirely above the top of the net.

5What is different

• Stay seated. A player must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they play the ball. Lifting off to reach higher is a fault.
• The serve may be blocked. Because the net is low, front-row players are allowed to block the serve, which is not allowed in standing volleyball.

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.

6Moving on the floor

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.

Worked example

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.

7Warm-up and safety

• Warm-up: seated scoot races (forwards, backwards, sideways), shoulder and arm circles, wrist rolls, finger stretches, and gentle trunk twists.
• Sweep the floor first: you will slide on it with your hands and legs. Stones, splinters or water cause cuts and falls.
• Wear long trousers to protect your skin, and remove rings and watches.
• Keep fingers away from the net's metal fittings and from other players' feet near the net, where legs crowd together.

Practice

Solution. 2.24 m − 1.05 m = 1.19 m lower.

Solution. Yes. In sitting volleyball, unlike standing volleyball, front-row players may block the serve.

Solution. A fault: four hits. A team may touch the ball at most three times (a block touch does not count).

Solution. The front row, in the middle next to the net. The middle front player blocks and attacks, and is often a key blocker.