Wheelchair & Adapted
BASKETBALL
OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVE
Played between two teams on a rectangular court, usually indoors. Each team tries to score by tossing the ball through the opponent’s goal, an elevated horizontal hoop and net called a basket.
BASKETBALL COURT
The center line divides the court in half, and there is a three-point line for long shots, the free-throw line for fouls, and the key under the hoop for close play.
EQUIPMENT
OFFICIAL
Equipment
Basketball
Basketball Court/Hoop
Pinnies (optional)
ALTERNATIVE
Equipment
Sport chairs/wheelchairs (if needed) or other mobility devices
SPACE Adaptations
Adjust the size or shape of playing area or court markings.
Vary the distance of cones or space set up to facilitate success.
Increase space of movement for skills (to support mobility aids to move).
Plan for sensory needs – lights, echo, background noise, fans.
Awareness of temperature (inside & outside), and weather conditions.
TASK Adaptations
Change number of dribbles required.
Simplify or modify the rules or game objectives.
Remove any specific numbers of activity/skills and change to time specifications.
Sensory awareness – whistles, yelling, etc.
Visual support boards to articulate drills, schedule, rewards, etc.
Visual cues (where to place your hand on the ball, tape or marking of hand to shoot from).
Modify rules of the game to reduce complexity.
EQUIPMENT Adaptations
Basketballs – range of sizes & colors (larger/lighter).
Adjust size & height of hoops (eg. Use hula-hoops hanging from the net, lower hoops, standing hoops).
Bell or beeping ball/hoop for visual disabilities.
Increase the distance of cones for dribbling drills.
Integrate wheelchairs to support play for a range of physical abilities. Everyone on the court should be in a chair to create an integrated experience.
Flags for visual aids to communicate/support neurodiverse and deaf participants.
PEOPLE Adaptations
Intentional pairing of partners based on arbitrary info (to build relationships across kids).
Guide paired up for visual impairments to support movement on the court.
Small groups for line-ups.
Pairing/grouping abilities to support development.
Adapt referee approaches to support participant success.
DRIBBLE
One hand on ball, other controls the wheel.
Dribble beside or slightly in front of the chair, not too far ahead.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
PASS
CHEST PASS
Hold ball in both hands, chest height, thumbs toward your chest.
Extend arms and snap your wrist to pass ball in a straight line to partner’s chest.
Finish with arms in front at chest height.
BOUNCE PASS
Hold ball in both hands at chest height.
Extend arms and snap wrists down to bounce ball forward to partner.
Finish with arms in front at lap height.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
SHOOT
Eyes should be focused on the basketball rim.
The shooting hand and elbow should be aligned under the ball (elbow should not flair out to the side).
Ensure the wrist snaps and the ball rolls off the fingertips to produce a backspin on the ball, the wrist is softly flexed and arm extended, commonly known as “hand in cookie jar”.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
ACTIVITIES & SKILL DEVELOPMENT
SHARK
DRIBBLE KNOCK-OUT
MIRROR GAME
CATERPILLAR PASSING
RAPID FIRE
KINGS & QUEENS OF THE COURT
CHALLENGE HOOP
SHARK
1 or more players are selected to be the "Shark”.
All other players line up on endline (minnows).
"Shark" yells out "Shark" and players must move from one endline to the other without being caught/tagged by the Shark(s). Start by having students just running/wheeling and then add dribbling.
Once a player is caught, they become a Shark.
Continue until all players have been caught.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
DRIBBLE KNOCK-OUT
In this game, students try to knock the ball away from other players. Teach the students to shield the ball and do a “V” dribble to change direction.
Try to maintain your dribble the entire game.
With non-dribbling hand, try to knock the other player’s balls out of bounds.
If your ball is knocked out of bounds, go to sideline, do 5 sit-ups/push-ups/jumping jacks or stop/starts with your wheelchair (push wheelchair forward 1 push, stop quickly, repeat 5 times) - once done, join back in.
Variation: make the court size smaller and smaller; have students who got out standing on the out boundaries and trying to knock out the dribbler’s balls.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
MIRROR GAME
Divide the group into pairs, 1 in a sports wheelchair and 1 not, with each participant holding a ball.
Have partners face each other. One partner is the leader and slowly taps, slaps, makes body circles, and drops and catches, while the other mirrors those movements.
After 1 minute, switch roles.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
CATERPILLAR PASSING
Make groups of 4-6, with the group split in half and facing each other.
Player at the end of the line, by the baseline, starts with the ball.
Start by passing the ball across to the player closest to the baseline, across from you, in the other line.
After passing the ball, back up and do a U-turn then sprint/wheel to the front of the line.
The receiver of the pass now passes across, does a U-turn, and sprints to the front of their line. Continue until the far baseline is reached, then repeat coming back in the other direction.
Variation: Add second ball, or have students race against a 2nd group.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
RAPID FIRE
Divide participants into groups of 3-4, each group with a sports wheelchair, and each participant with a ball. Assign each group to a lowered net or other modified goal.
Have one person from each group sit in the wheelchair and this player gets 1 minute to get as many baskets in as possible. It is the job of the shooter to keep score.
All participants who are not shooting are to rebound and return the balls to the shooter.
Switch sports wheelchair.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
KINGS & QUEENS OF THE COURT
Divide students into groups (number of groups depends on the number of hoops available).
1 group at each hoop in a line. You can have every student use their own ball or have 1-2 balls per group.
When the music starts, begin shooting at their hoops. If they make it, that counts as 1 point for their team. If they miss, they go to the end of their line and get ready to shoot again.
Once a team has scored 5 points in total, they go to the middle circle (center court) and practice dribbling. They are now the Kings/Queens of the court.
Once another team reaches 5 points, they come to the middle and knock out the previous team, becoming the new Kings/Queens of the court.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
CHALLENGE HOOP
In this game you will use all the hoops in your gym. Pick one hoop as the challenge hoop.
Split the students evenly between all the hoops except the challenge hoop (leave one hoop free).
Start at a comfortable shooting distance (depends on grade). 1 player will have the ball and the rest will line up behind.
First 2 students in the line have a ball. To start the game, they each bounce their ball 3 times in a row and then tap each other's ball together.
Once the tap occurs, they both shoot the ball. Continue to shoot from anywhere after the first shot until one player makes it.
The player that makes it stays and plays the next player in line. The player that lost goes to the end of the line.
If the winner wins 2 in a row, they get to leave their hoop and go to the challenge hoop.
Challenge Hoop: all winners go to the challenge hoop; if you win you stay at the hoop and get a point, if you lose you go back to your original hoop and try again.
The only place you can earn points is the challenge hoop. Each player keeps record of their own points. The player with the most points at the end of the time limit wins.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Kripps
ADDITIONAL LEARNING
REFERENCES
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL 101 Wheelchair Loan Program Lessons for School and Community Partners, Grades K-12. Wheelchair Basketball Canada. 2020
Teacher’s Guide. BC Wheelchair Basketball & Let’s Play
Fundamental Movement Skills Cue Cards. School Physical Activity and Physical Literacy Project. 2025
Inclusion of Students of All Abilities in School-Based Physical Activity Experiences. PHE Canada. 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2025. School-Based Physical Activity Experiences for Students of All Abilities | PHE Canada.
