The rules of wheelchair basketball are similar to standard basketball rules created by the Men’s National Collegiate Athletic Association. Wheelchair basketball rules also vary slightly based on country, region, division and league in which players compete. Wheelchair basketball differs from standard basketball in these fundamental ways:
1. Advancing the ball
For every two pushes on the chair, a player has to do something with the ball—pass it, shoot it, or put it on the floor for a dribble. Once you put it on the floor, you can take two more pushes.
2. Traveling and Double-Dribbling
If a player touches his wheels more than two times after he received or dribbled the ball, he is in violation of travelling/double-dribbling.
3. Loss of the Ball
If a player in possession of the ball makes any physical contact with the floor or tilts the chair so far backward that the safety casters touch the floor, it is a violation and the ball is awarded to the other team.
4. Out-of-Bounds
In wheelchair basketball, a player is considered out-of-bounds when any part of the player's body or wheelchair touches the floor on or outside the boundary.
5. Player Location
The location of the player is determined by the location of the big wheels of the wheelchair.
6. Fouls
Fouls occur when the one player or his wheelchair comes in contact with an opponent or his wheelchair. Physical advantage fouls occur when a player with a functional leg uses it to advantage during a game. Three PAF fouls result in dismissal from the game.
Wheelchair Specifications
According to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association:
- The height of the wheelchair seat rail must not exceed 21 inches
- The strap must be firmly attached to the telescope bar of the foot rest platform, have a roll bar
- Footrest must have rounded or smooth corners
- The anti-tip caster cannot exceed 1 inch from the floor
