Wheelchair and para play, sport by sport.

Each sport's body sets its own rules for wheelchair and para players. What follows is what each rule book or body publishes, sport by sport.

Tennis: the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis

The ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 include a separate section of wheelchair tennis rules. Wheelchair tennis follows the ordinary rules, with exceptions:

• Two bounces: a player may let the ball bounce twice and must return it before a third bounce. The second bounce may land in or out of the court (rule a).
• The chair is part of the body: every rule that applies to a player's body applies to the wheelchair (rule b).
• The serve: the server must be stationary and may take one push before striking the ball. A quad player who cannot serve in the usual way may have the ball dropped for them, and must then serve that way for the whole match (rules b and c).

The same section sets rules for the chair itself: materials, a single pushrim, no steering, braking or gearing devices, a fixed seat height, and an electric powered chair for players who meet Article 10 of the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Classification Rules. Those are on the wheelchair tennis equipment page.

Classes and classification

The LTA's classification page describes two sport classes. Open players have a permanent impairment causing substantial loss of function in one or both legs, and men and women play separately. Quad players have impairments affecting the legs and the arms or hands, and men and women play together. The LTA says international eligibility requires a health condition in one of seven eligible impairment groups, that World Tennis runs classification, that classification is required for the World Tennis Wheelchair Tennis Tour, and that juniors (18 and under) need it only to play senior events.

Origins and the Paralympics

The International Paralympic Committee records, in a search summary of a page that returned an error when opened, that wheelchair tennis began in California in 1976, developed by Brad Parks after a skiing injury together with Jeff Minnebraker. Its Paralympic debut is told two ways in IPC summaries: one says it was a demonstration event at Seoul 1988 and a full medal sport at Barcelona 1992; another calls Barcelona 1992 its first Paralympic appearance. Both agree it has been a medal sport since 1992. Quad singles and doubles joined at Athens 2004, according to the same unopened IPC page.

Pickleball: Section 25 of the 2026 rulebook

The 2026 USA Pickleball rulebook gathers its wheelchair rules, which were previously spread through the book, into their own section for 2026 (Change Document, wheelchair entry). Part IV covers players with disabilities.

• Two bounces: wheelchair players and some players with disabilities may let the ball bounce twice; the first bounce must be in the court and the second may be anywhere on the playing surface (Section 1).
• Who counts: any person who plays in a wheelchair, with or without a disability, is an eligible wheelchair player (Section 25).
• The chair: it is part of the body, and its large rear wheels are treated like a standing player's legs for positioning (Rule 25.A.4). At least one buttock must be on the seat when striking the ball (Rule 25.A.5).
• Power chairs: a player who cannot propel a manual chair for a whole match may use an electric power wheelchair, controlled only by the player and capped at 10 mph (Rule 25.A.3).
• Events: USA Pickleball tournaments list wheelchair singles and doubles, adaptive standing singles and doubles, and hybrid doubles (Rule 15.A).

Pickleball is not on the Paralympic programme.

Padel

Padel is not a Paralympic sport. At its 36th General Assembly in October 2026 the FIP named adaptive padel a priority. No FIP rules for wheelchair or adaptive padel were found for this page.

Squash

Squash is not a Paralympic sport. Squash Australia says, in a search summary of its para squash page, that it is working with the World Squash Federation towards acceptance of para squash within the IPC framework. That page was not opened.

Badminton: one set of Laws for both

The BWF Laws of Badminton (version 2.1 copy, in force from 29 May 2023) cover Para badminton in clauses printed in italics:

• Service: in wheelchair badminton the whole shuttle must be below the server's armpit at the moment of service (Law 9.1.6.1).
• Courts: wheelchair singles and doubles use the courts in Diagrams D and E; standing classes that play half-court singles (SL3) use Diagram F; all other standing classes use the standard court (Law 1.1).
• Equipment: a wheelchair or a crutch may be used (Law 5).

Classes

Search summaries of BWF and IPC classification pages, neither of which could be opened, name six sport classes: wheelchair WH1 and WH2, standing SL3, SL4 and SU5, and short stature SH6. The IPC summary describes WH1 as more severe and WH2 as less severe wheelchair impairment, SL3 and SL4 as lower-limb impairment (severe and minor), SU5 as upper-limb impairment and SH6 as short stature. A BWF summary says first-time international players are classified before competition by a BWF classifier, through a medical examination and some badminton activities.

Equipment as USA Badminton states it

USA Badminton's para equipment page, summarising BWF para rules (not checked against the Laws text), says wheelchair players may be strapped at the waist, the thighs or both, feet must be fixed to the footrest, part of the trunk and the legs must touch the seat when striking, the seat may be level or angled backward but not forward, and no electric or other device may help movement or steering. It says amputees may use a crutch no longer than their natural armpit-to-ground measurement, and that prosthetic limbs are allowed in the SL3, SL4 and WH classes but not SU5.

Governance and the Paralympics

Para badminton has been governed by the BWF since 2011, according to a search summary of an IPC feature, and made its Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, held in 2021. UK Sport confirms the Tokyo debut and names Badminton England as the UK's governing body for Paralympic badminton.

The Paralympic picture across all five sports is on the Olympic and Paralympic programme.