A Guide to Sitting Volleyball: Rules, Scoring, and History

Volleyball is one of the most eagerly anticipated events at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, so it’s a good time to brush up on the rules of sitting volleyball.

According to World ParaVolley, the fast-paced, physical sport is played by over 10,000 athletes. It was officially added to the Paralympics during the Arnhem 1980 Games, as a men’s event. Women’s sitting volleyball wasn’t added until over 20 years later, at Athens 2004. And now, 20 years after that at the Paris 2024 Games, there will be 36 sitting volleyball matches, evenly split between the men’s and women’s events.

Sitting volleyball originated in 1956 in the Netherlands, according to the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics site. The Tokyo Games site elaborates that the sitting volleyball rules originally came from a combination of volleyball and sitzball, a German sport with seated players and no net. Here, a guide to everything you need to know about the sport.

What Are the Sitting Volleyball Rules?

In sitting volleyball, teams of six play against each other on a 6 meter by 10 meter court, which is slightly smaller than an indoor volleyball court. The net is also lower (about three feet high), and players use a standard volleyball. During volleys, each team can touch the ball three times before it must be returned to the opposing side.

Players may use their arms and legs to move across the court, but their bottoms or backs must remain in contact with the floor at all times, according to the Paris Games site. USA Volleyball expands: “Players are allowed to block serves, but one ‘cheek’ must be in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball.” They’re also prohibited from “standing, rising, or taking steps,” according to USA Volleyball. However, there are two instances where players may briefly lose contact with the floor: “when making a defensive play in the back zone to save a ball and when making a defensive play in the front zone,” the USA Volleyball site states.

Outside of professional play (like the Paralympic Games), anyone can play sitting volleyball. But there are classifications players must meet to join the US National Team or compete in the Paralympics.

How Is Sitting Volleyball Scored?

Sitting volleyball matches are scored by a best-of-five-sets formula. Each of the first four sets is played to 25 points, but must be won by two points. If a fifth set is needed, it’s played to 15 points, and also must be won by two.

Points are scored in a number of ways: a team successfully hits the ball over the net and onto the ground of the defending team’s court, or when the opposing team commits a fault, or gets a penalty.

Why Does 1 Sitting Volleyball Player Wear a Different Shirt?

That’s the libero. This person can replace any player in the back row without it counting as a substitution. Their position has unique restrictions, so they wear a different jersey to be easier for the refs and other players to spot.

Sitting Volleyball at the Paris Paralympics

In Paralympic-level sitting volleyball, the men’s events have a dominant team: Iran, who’ve won the gold medal seven times. They’re the favorites to win this year as well — although, as we know, anything can happen at the Games. In the women’s event, Team USA are the current front-runners, coming off a win in both Tokyo and Rio 2016. Before these two Games, the Chinese women had won Paralympic gold at every Games since Athens 2004.

Samantha Brodsky is a former assistant editor at PS. She uses her gymnast background to inform her sports and fitness coverage, powering through Peloton videos in her free time.