Volleyball

How to PLAY Volleyball

Deaf Volleyball can be played indoors or outdoors. The rules are near identical to the able-bodied sport, played in the Olympic Games. The only difference is a red flag is used for signalling instead of a whistle.

Sitting Volleyball is a modified version of able-bodied indoor volleyball for people with impaired lower limb function. The game is played on a smaller court with a lower net. For this reason, it is a faster game than able-bodied volleyball. Players must keep one buttock in contact with the floor at all times during play. Sitting volleyball is scored by a game, set and match system. A game is the first to 25 points. There are five games in a set, so a match is best-of-five.

Standing Beach Volleyball is played on sand with much the same rules and conditions as able-bodied Beach Volleyball. There are two small differences:

The team is comprised of three players; and
There are special rules relating to time-outs for repair of prostheses.

International Rulebook - Sitting Volleyball

International Rulebook - Standing Beach

Who can play Volleyball

Classification

Deaf Volleyball can be played both indoor and outdoor under the same rules as able bodied volleyball. A person may compete in Deaf Sports if they have permanent hearing impairment. Classification and criteria are at http://www.ciss.org.

Sitting Volleyball is played sitting on the floor with lowered net heights (men = 1.15m, women = 1.05m) and a smaller court size (6mx 10m). This makes for a quicker game to both play and watch. There are 2 main rule differences; players can block the serve and players cannot lift off the floor when playing the ball. Players are classified according to the degree of disability (Disabled or Minimum Disability).

Standing Volleyball is played under the same standards as able-bodied Volleyball played with net and court size as per Olympic Volleyball. Players are classified according to the degree of disability (A, B or C with the latter having most disability). There is a maximum of one A class player and a minimum of one C class player on the court.