What You Need to Know About Sport Wheelchairs

Sport wheelchairs are separated from everyday wheelchairs by several distinct factors. There are several design differences that must be considered to grant a chair sport status. With each design catering to different movements, the type of sport wheelchair you will require depends on your favorite activities. While one may think that only athletes stand to benefit from these types of wheelchairs, anyone who needs to use a wheelchair can benefit from the exercise and physical improvements gained by doing sports that involve using sport wheelchairs.

In general, there are four different types of wheelchairs that are designed specifically for sports purposes. Each of these sports wheelchairs use aluminum or titanium for their frames which grants a durable and light weight design. First is the court chair, which is used for basketball and tennis. The design of a court wheelchair allows for quick back and forth movements to accommodate the agility needed for the fast pace of both of these sports. The design usually differs in regard to the angle of the wheels and the placement of the axle to compensate for the users center of gravity. In the newer models of basketball wheelchairs specific attention to detail is placed on manufacturing a chair that has no parts that stick outside of the frame. This is important to the continuous play of the game as it ensures that two chairs won’t get caught on each other.

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A second type of sport wheelchair is the racing wheelchair. The sport of wheelchair racing itself details the design rules that must be observed. A racing wheelchair must have two back wheels and a third wheel in front with all moving parts of the chair being mechanical. These chairs also have rules that detail the size of the wheels and the chair itself. Most of these chairs will only vary depending on the athlete’s physical requirements such as being able to kneel, needing to use a chair with a strap in front as a leg rest, or making use of an amputee sling.

A third type of sport wheelchairs is the hand cycle which is also constructed with three wheels and requires the user to use their hands to power the cycle. The last type of sport wheelchairs are of the all terrain variety, which allows several options for physical activity for the user as these chairs permit stability over surfaces a conventional chair could not maneuver. The all terrain sport wheelchairs are the only type that may come in both manual and powered varieties, and the main functional difference is in the wheels. The wheels on these types of chairs allow for 360 degree movements and incorporate shock absorbing materials that make traveling over rocky, snowy, or sandy landscapes more smooth.