Specific Sport Disabled Athletes Participate In

Sitting volleyball is managed by similar regulations which regulate able-bodied sports with only a few notable variances. The sport was first introduced in Netherlands in 1956. The game was presented in 1976 Paralympic tournaments in Canada. In addition, the sport consists of a blend of volleyball and stizball. All the players are to be seated through the entire playing session. Before the sitting volleyball, standing volleyball was included in Paralympic games in 1976 as a demonstration sport (Zerger, 2008). Later on, sitting volleyball was made part of Paralympic programme in 1980s.  Currently, sitting volleyball is played across more than 70 nations. In 2005, sitting volleyball contest took place in Nebraska. During this 2005 contest, three teams took part in the disabled competition while one team took part in able-bodied contest. From this point onward, sitting volleyball created a space in sport tournaments all over the world. After Nebraska, all other countries followed suite and formed their own sitting volleyball competitions. Each year the sport increase in size as more people seek to participate in the games. Not only did sitting volley provide variety for disabled athletes but it also gave the opportunity for able-bodied athletes the chance to be compared with disabled athletes as it is open to more people and its restrictions are easily adhered to during the games. Even though it began as rehabilitation activity, the game grew beyond anyone’s expectations. The team sport only need includes continuous motions and persistent quick actions. As a extensively competitive game, sitting volleyball entry into worldwide gaming scenes might be considered late but its impression and ability to grab the attention of the fans remained undisputed all over the world.

Description of the Sitting Volleyball

A net divides the two teams. On each side of the net lies six athletes. A team gets a point every time they ground the ball onto the opponent’s side. In sitting volleyball, all the players need to be quick, exhibit strength and endurance. More so, scoring skills depend on the capability to think tactically and hastily. More than 10,000 disabled sportsmen and women in 75 nations hence sitting volleyball is an international sport with stiff competition. Each one of the teams is only permitted three ball touches and a block before the ball is crossed over to the opponent’s side. The main attack move is setting and then spiking. During a set and spike motion, a participant feeds the ball to a fellow team member before the ball is accurately served on the other side of the net. Each session contains five sets. The winning team has to garner 25 points on a first come first come basis. This translates into 15 points in one set and two points ahead of the other opposing team (Charalampos, Silva, & Kudlacek, 2015). The regulations were derived from able-bodied volleyball with only few changes here and there. The sitting version needs a small court and a lowered net for both women and men. One of the most important rule during the game, the players are to be in sitting positon. In the particular game, a player is considered seated if the torso is aligned between the buttocks and shoulders. The buttocks should be in contact with the floor throughout the game. However, if the players are struggling, their buttocks can lift a bit from the ground. Hence lifting the buttock region is only accepted during a defensive action. The players are allowed to move back and forth on the court while using their arms as sliding devices without distorting the sitting posture. The essence of the game is using tactics to attack and defend against the other team. Serving ball skills might be developed as a key tool for attacking the opponents are seeking a better hitting position. Players have to be accurate and aim at the opponent side of the net. Thus, each team has to move with quicks succession in order to ensure that they attain the 25 points required to win the entire game. Each team has a team member whose specialty in defending the entire team from the attacks from the opposing team. The defensive player is commonly known as libero and only plays the attacking parts of the game. The libero is strategically placed during the game and his or her kits are different from the rest of the team players. The libero is key even though other team member are required to defend the entire team. When compared to standing volleyball, the sitting version is a faster sport due to the small court size and the lowered net which facilitates faster attacks, spikes and serving motions to be initiated at a close proximity. Sitting volleyball’s scoring system allows each player to score a point for the team hence the sport moves speedily and makes it easier for each team to attain the required 25 points. The fifth set only requires 15 points with two points more than the opposing team (Vute, 2009). Due to its popularity, in international competitions such as Tokyo 2020, eight teams would participate in the tournaments. Moreover, in sitting volleyball, players can block serves from the opponents but one cheek should remain grounded as the player serves the ball. In addition, the players should not leave the court during the entire game. Hence while making contact with the ball, standing or even moving, all are done within the court’s perimeter. A player is only allowed to move out of the court under two conditions- during defensive actions or making a move for the ball. A part from those scenarios, the players should remain in the court at all times.

 Sitting volleyball was created and advanced for players with lower extremity injuries, for example, amputees, joint injuries etc. as stated earlier, the sport varies from volley in terms of contestants posture (Hasanbegović et al., 2011). Sitting volleyball was designated for disabled athletes since the 1980s. Additionally, experts claim that the game can be used to gauge and analyze future sporting actions for the purposes of preparation and coaching techniques.

            The sitting positon in sitting volley is one of the greatest challenge an athlete encounters while playing the sport. The players are only allowed to use their arms to move about the court. The sitting volleyball relies on minor muscles such as the hands. During the game, the hands have to overcome the force of inertia so that one can move around the court. Even though the size of the court and height are altered, the game is hard and requires one to channel in his or her physical strength (Hasanbegović et al., 2011). Some changes are also made in the gym so as to develop the pivotal points of a player. Furthermore, the sitting regulations are guided by the boundary lines. The centerline separates the court into the sections. Each section is 6 by 5 meters in terms of size. On the men’s game, the net measures 1.15m for men and 1m for female players. Pertaining the zone outlines, the attack lines appear parallel to centerlines and are situated 2m from the centerline midpoint. The service zone. Thus, the ability of the players to score entirely depends on the manner in which they adhere to the regulations and how they are able to master the guidelines around the court. Most of the times, the rapid pace of the game only relies on how one responds to each question and the intensity of the game. For example, some teams might find that they are good at defensive mechanisms while the opposing side might be good at serving. Nevertheless, tactics the players use from the start to the end of the game determine the result as half of the points in the game are attributed to chance and the ability to come up with the right combination of strategies at the right time during the game.

            A key fact to take not of is that the positioning of each athlete depends on their bottom positions or placing. This implies that the limbs or hands should be in the free zone. In sitting volleyball, a player’s position is defined as one’s torso or the area between the buttocks and the shoulders. A player is allowed to make contact with the opponent’s centerline (Katalin, 2008). In fact the eligibility of the athletes depends on whether they are disabled or not. Only disabled athletes can compete on an international stage as long as they comply with the classification procedures. Most of the athletes are amputees (DePauw, & Gavron, 2005). Moreover, only two players are allowed to have minimal impairment, however minimal impairment cannot only the athletes to take part in the standing version of the game.

Specificities of the Athletes Who Can Take Part in Sitting Volleyball

Majority of the athletes who participate in sitting volleyball are incapacitated from the legs downwards. The rules of the game are simplified to make it for the disabled athlete to easily attain them and compete favorably without straining most of the other body parts. Thus, the game considers mechanisms which prevent the athletes from extremely injuring other body parts during the game (DePauw, & Gavron, 2005). As time goes by, caution may be applied in terms of the abilities of the athletes competing in the games. Therefore, all the athletes taking part in the sport have to ensure that they have all been training prior to the match and they do not have any injuries at the beginning of the competition. In the meantime, the coach has to ensure that all the rules are adhered to and that each athlete was taking part in the training sessions and other mandated off court regulations as required by Paralympics governing bodies. Thus, most game are preceded with warm ups so as to avoid unaccepted injuries in the lower bodies. For most part, the players are usually in their best shape since they use their arms to move around due to their disability.

Description of Opportunities a Conditioning Coach Can Provide To Sitting Coach Athletes

 The conditioning coach ensures that an athletes’ strength and conditioning is maintained out and in the court. This way, an athlete’s performance improves while movement skills are sharpened.  Conditioning coach designs training strategies based on acceptable scientific concepts, oversees training periods, assesses athletes, sustains athlete registers and teachers any other special things based on the needs of the an athlete. The interaction between the a conditioning coach and sitting volleyball players gives the player the opportunity to focus on vital aspects of the game while taking care of their body (Katalin, 2008). More so, a conditioning coach is not allowed to make any assumptions hence he or she prevents injuries from occurring from a timely basis due to the ability to conduct the a better enhance routine for the people involved in the making of the decisions and retaining a balance equilibrium between the coaching patterns and establishing steady movement and even a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, the conditioning coaches tend to keep up with the mechanisms driving or influencing the performance and general wellbeing of the athletes and once a an athlete achieves a certain goal, then the coach can then draft a better way of dealing with the  physicality that comes with nature of the sitting volleyball. More so, in case of an injury, the life of the athlete is not severely interrupted due to the people in simpler terms, a conditioning coach helps an athlete live a balanced lifestyle as he or she gets the chance to easily harness energy and ability to perform and live a fulfilled life as a sportsperson. Therefore the intention of a conditioning coach is always to ensuring that the athlete is fit in and out of the court.

 Step 2

Overview of the Paper

 Sitting volleyball is a seated version of standing volleyball. Two teams made up of six members each compete against each other. Through the game, each team member’s buttocks remain in contact with the floor. Each team can only touch the ball three times before crossing it over to the other side of the net (Vute, 2009). In terms of scoring, one match has five sets with the first four settings containing 25 points. The court is 10m by 6m and is subdivided into two sections. The sport was first introduced in Canada in the 1980 Paralympic tournaments. Men began the competitions before the women category was added later in 2005. The general ideas of sitting volleyball is the same as the conventional volleyball as the court has a front and behind section. However, the strategies might vary as the sitting volleyball’s court is smaller and the net is lowered. Some of the skills needed to succeed in this sport are striking, serving, blocking and defensive skills.

One Lesson Plan

            The grade level will be 4-6 minutes and the entire duration is 20 minutes long. The first lesson will entail how to hold the ball and all the players will be introduced to the fundamental rules of the game (Zerger, 2008). All athletes will be allowed to pass the ball over the net, not for scoring. Thus, the athletes should focus on retaining on air as the first lesson while pasting the ball over the net with a partner. Another one should be concentrating on the ball or keeping the eyes on the ball while remaining seated. This should take at least five minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Charalampos, S., Silva, C. F., & Kudlacek, M. (2015). When sitting becomes sport: Life stories in sitting volleyball. European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 8(1), 30-44.

DePauw, K. P., & Gavron, S. J. (2005). Disability sport. Human Kinetics.

Hasanbegović, S., Ahmetović, S., & Dautbasic, S. (2011). Effects of programmed training on motor abilities of persons with movement impairment in sitting volleyball. Homo Sporticus, 13(1), 68-71.

Katalin, K. (2008). Injury-and sport-specific training for sportsman with disability-sitting volleyball players (Doctoral dissertation, Doctoral dissertation, Semmelweis University).

Vute, R. (2009). Teaching and coaching volleyball for the disabled. Ljubljana

Zerger, M. M. (2008). A study of movement in sitting-volleyball.