Do you know about wheelchair padel? It is a racket sport which draws more and more sportspeople in. It is why we decided to write a full article about it. Read these few lines and you will know everything about this sport: the rules, competitive play and the required equipment to practice it.
What exactly is wheelchair padel?
Padel in a few words
To start things off, let’s talk about the more traditional version of the sport. Padel was created in Spain and it is derived from three racket sports:
– tennis;
– squash;
– badminton.
Padel competitions can take place either inside or outside. The pitch is monochromatic and can be brown, green or blue. It is limited by a wire fence or by Plexiglas walls.
Padel has been adapted for parasport practice, like many others. Thus, was wheelchair padel born.
Wheelchair padel in short
Wheelchair padel follows similar rules to the traditional version of the sport and is played in doubles. A team scores a point if it throws the ball on the opposite side without the opposite players throwing it back.
Other rules were adapted to a parasport practice. Here are the main ones.
Wheelchair padel rules
The main rules of wheelchair padel are the following:
– The wheelchair is considered to be an integral part of the player. The latter must thus always be in contact with their wheelchair. They cannot touch the ground with their foot either.
– The ball can bounce on the ground twice before it is hit;
– If the service ball gets on an opposing players’ wheelchair, it is considered let.
– Because the wheelchair is considered an integral part of the player, it is forbidden to touch it. If it happens, the team who served loses the point automatically.
– Players generally switch places at the end of each round. However, changing sides is not mandatory, the players on the pitch can agree with each other not to do it.
The team who served the ball scores a point if the ball bounces and:
– goes out of the pitch;
– stops on the pitch.
Setting up and required equipment to practice wheelchair padel
The wheelchair padel pitch is rectangular-shaped. It is 20 meters long and 10 meters wide.
A net marks out the two sides of the pitch. It is 10 meters long and is generally 88cm high.
In national competitions, the players’ rackets have a 20cm long grip. The racket’s length must not be more than 45.5cm.
The ball used is similar to the one used in wheelchair tennis competitions. They weigh between 56 and 59g. They have a diameter of circa 6cm.
Wheelchair padel competitions in France
Wheelchair padel categories and team formation
Wheelchair padel competitions are accessible:
- to people who cannot walk (because of a medullar disability). (category 1)
- to people who can walk but have undergone an amputation (or an equivalent ailment). (category 2)
Teams can be composed of:
- two category 1 players;
- one category 1 player and one category 2 player
Something to know is that to promote women’s padel in France, all the women who take part in a mixed tournament are classified in category 1.
Wheelchair padel tournaments
Even though wheelchair padel is not a sport that is not much broadcasted, numerous competitions are organised in France by the French tennis federation either on a local or regional scale.
On that note, France is home to more than 70 sportspeople who compete in the wheelchair padel french leaderboards.
Wheelchair padel is not a paralympic sport yet as of 2023. However, it is getting more popular as the years go on. In the future, it could thus be included in the paralympic games as a demonstration sport.
Names to follow
Numerous athletes stand out within this sport discipline. We can talk about the Australian Dylan Alcott or about David Wagner who won many titles over the past few years.
How to choose a wheelchair to play this sport?
For tournament play
In competitions, the player and the wheelchair are one and the same. It is why the sport wheelchair is adapted to the player’s disability, weight and height.
The back wheels are inclined which prevents the athlete from being knocked over. On that note, small additional wheels are here to stabilise the wheelchair. The athlete can thus easily and safely pick up speed.
For leisure play
All the types of sport wheelchairs can be used to try out wheelchair padel.
At PlayMoovin’, we have made the ideal wheelchair for this: the Freemoovin’. It is ultralight because it is made of plastic, so it is easy to handle for people of all ages! For safety, it sports the same features as competition wheelchairs:
- an anti-swing system;
- toe-clips;
- straps attached to the knees
You now know the essential things about wheelchair padel. This inclusive sport practice par excellence is quite recent. But it gathers more and more popularity as time goes on so you will most certainly hear about it in the next few years. Do you want to try this sport or let the members of your sport association practice it? What if you called us?
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