Life on Wheels (106 page)

Some wheelchair bowlers grip and throw the ball like a standing bowler. This is more difficult in a wheelchair because of the need to keep the arm away from the wheel as you roll the ball. Since a walking bowler is using the momentum of his body to propel the ball, a wheelchair bowler must either do much more work with his shoulder (with the potential for causing tendinitis) or choose a slower style.

There are metal or wood ramps available for bowlers to use from a wheelchair. The ramp has a level surface at the top. The ball is pushed forward and down the ramp once you have pointed the ramp where you want the ball to go. Another option is a bowling stick, which allows you to direct the ball from the ground. A bowling stick, such as the Bowl-A-Cue, is a pole with four prongs conforming to the shape of the ball and used to push the ball. Another device you can use is a snap handle—a gripper that fits in the three holes and lets go of the ball when you place it down to roll it. Most wheelchair bowlers use a 10-pound ball, rather than the 15 or 16 pounds used by most standing bowlers. The IKAN bowling ramp was designed so that people with high quadriplegia could bowl (www.ikansportsfoundation.org).

The American Wheelchair Bowling Association was formed in 1962. Competitors are required to use brakes, and ramps are not allowed in competition. The Association offers a videotape and book to help you learn how to bowl from a wheelchair (www.awba.org).

Field events include throwing javelins, discuses, shot puts, and clubs. The club is a special adapted prop that resembles a bowling pin. It is weighted at the end and can be thrown by people with quadriplegia (Figure 8-3). There are rules about where the legs must be placed and how much contact with the seat is maintained as you position yourself to gain the best possible leverage. Gloves or assistive devices are not allowed in competition.

Juggling can be learned with practice. You need to be willing to drop things and be patient with failure. It is worth enduring the initial awkwardness to discover how well your body can learn complex tasks and to enjoy feelings of competence and joy.

Most juggling options are limited to people with the ability to grasp with their hands, although a quadriplegic could get involved in plate spinning by putting a cuff on the sticks. You will probably start by learning how to juggle three balls. This is easily done sitting down and does not require a great deal of upper-body balance. There are hundreds of possible patterns you can throw with three balls, so there is endless opportunity for exploration. A ball-juggling routine can become an excellent source of aerobic exercise:

Juggling is a growing amateur sport. Many cities have weekly gettogethers. Experienced jugglers are happy to teach the basics to anyone who shows up and asks for a lesson (www.juggling.org).

People with quadriplegia are generally unable to play basketball because of the grip needed to shoot the ball and the greater arm strength usually needed to loft the ball to the hoop 10 feet above. In the 1970s, a group of Canadians developed quad rugby as an alternative sport. The United States Quad Rugby Association was formed in 1988 (www.quadrugby.com).

Quad rugby is a very physical game, a blend of basketball, hockey, and football. It is played with a volleyball, which is lighter than a basketball. The object is to carry the ball across goal lines marked at the ends of the court, usually a basketball court. Players may push their wheels any number of times but are allowed to keep possession of the ball for only 10 seconds. There are many collisions, thus the rugged design of specialized rugby chairs offered by some wheelchair makers. Spoke guards are common for protection of both the spokes and the players’ hands.

Brought to greater public fame by the movie,
MurderBall
, quad rugby is one of the most popularly attended events at the Paralympics. It is a very dramatic, entertaining game, where any notion of sympathy for the disabilities of the players cannot survive.

Target shooting with a pistol or air rifle can be done from a sitting position and is available to anyone with the visual ability to sight the target. There are puff-and-sip devices for firing the gun for people with quadriplegia who cannot squeeze the trigger with a finger. Competitive shooting is a sport that does not need separate events for people with disabilities—there is no advantage or disadvantage. You may set the rifle on a table using a tripod support and must support the rifle without placing your arms on armrests or other supports. Shooting equipment for wheelchair users can be found at www.beadaptive.com.

There are several adaptive devices for both downhill and cross-country skiing. The sit ski is like a sled, with two tracks on the base of a shell in which you sit, strapped in. There is a roll bar at the back to prevent the ski from bearing down on top of you when you fall and roll over. Sitting close to the ground, you hold small poles or grips with metal disks to plant in the snow when you make a turn, just as you would use a pole on normal skis. The sit ski behaves like skis, responding to turns of your body.

Getting onto a chair lift with a sit ski requires the assistance of two lifters, who pick you up and place you on the lift. One lifter rides with you. A buckle is attached to the back of the chair lift during the ride. Getting off the lift is the exciting moment, since you must shimmy forward to the edge and jump off to the ground while the chair is still moving. Operators slow down the lift as you approach, as when you board.

You must be certified to ski unaccompanied on a sit ski. Until you are certified, an instructor will ski with you, holding a tether rope attached to the rear of the sit ski. Since it is possible to slide out of control down the hill, someone must be there to take control until you are sufficiently trained and experienced. The art of being a sit ski instructor is to shadow the skier’s movements, with no tension on the tether. You don’t even feel her presence unless she needs to help you gain control.

Another version of adaptive snow skiing uses a seat on two skis. It requires minimal upper-body strength and dexterity to control and sits close enough to the snow that you don’t fall or roll over as you can on a sit ski.

The mono-ski is the peak experience for disabled snow skiers. It is made of a seat set atop a single regulation ski. Since you are sitting higher up, you use outrigger poles that have small skis on the end. It is possible to fall over in a mono-ski, which is why instructors do not need to use a tether. When you fall, you stop. The mono-ski requires greater dexterity and balance because it relies so much more on the use of your upper body for steering and control. The supporting mechanism is hinged or built in an X-shape, which allows you to elevate the seat to a level at which you can board a chair lift unassisted. It collapses to its lower setting as soon as you are on the lift, back in ski mode:

A dual-ski design allows people with less upper-body strength to ski downhill. Adaptive cross-country skis rely on the use of poles to propel the skier. A sling seat with a back is mounted on two regulation-sized long skis. Ski Central, www.skicentral.com, is an extensive resource site for skiers with disabilities.

Adaptive skis have also been developed for water skiing. Visit www.usa waterski.org and type “disability” in the search field for more information.

Swimming is a popular and excellent exercise option for many people, almost regardless of how severe the disability. It is a full-body exercise with significant cardiovascular benefits. Because you are essentially weightless in water, you are able to move more easily. The natural resistance of the water gives muscles a meaningful, though gentle, form of workout. Even for those able to float only with assistance, it is a relief to be freed of your body weight in the buoyancy of a pool. This woman with paraplegia enjoys swimming:

Your local hospital, rehab center, or recreation center might offer special opportunities or programs for disabled swimmers.

Wheelchair basketball is a team sport played on a regulation basketball court with the net at the normal 10-foot height. Two pushes of the chair are allowed before the ball must be dribbled, passed, or shot. You are allowed to push one wheel as you dribble the ball.

There is a “physical advantage” foul. People able to use their legs may not use them to gain an advantage, such as to brake the wheelchair. Since a player can’t jump or get up close to the net, those with the ability to shoot from a distance have an advantage. A trick unique to wheelchair basketball involves picking up the ball from the floor. You press it against a wheel as you are moving, and let it come up as the wheel turns.

Players are rated according to physical capacity. For example, a single-leg amputee would get a higher rating than a low-level quadriplegic with slightly limited hand use. The purpose of the rating system is to even out the competitiveness of the teams. No team may have more than a given number of total points when you add up the ratings of the players on the floor at any time.

Wheelchair basketball is played by many people unable to run well enough for ablebodied play, not only those with paralysis (Figure 8-4). It is a rough game, in which players often end up on the floor. There is a significant wheelchair basketball league, with competitive play around the country. Many players practice weekly and travel to games. Wheelchair basketball is sometimes seen as exhibition play before professional games. Get information from the National Wheelchair Basketball Association at www.nwba.org.

One of the more well-known examples of wheelchair athletics is marathon racing. The riders train hard for the event, which involves hours of continuous racing. Wheelchair racers are the first out of the gate at major marathons, such as the Boston Marathon. The times of the wheelers are faster than the ablebodied runners.

Racing wheelchairs are extremely lightweight and finely balanced and use a three-wheel design in which the third wheel extends out ahead of the chair. Many racers sit in a tucked posture, feet under their bodies for optimal leverage. The push rims are small so that the chair can be propelled by the upward motion of the arms as well as the normal downward push.