D4E1: Sitting Volleyball Aid
by Volleyball aid in Circuits > Assistive Tech
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D4E1: Sitting Volleyball Aid
Joyce plays sitting volleyball. Her legs were amputated at age 11. She still likes to be active and practice sports.
When playing sitting volleyball she encouters some inconveniences.
To move while playing, she has to slide on her bottom. When catching or throwing a ball she has to do different movements like rolling on her side or back. All this hurts her bottom, sides and back. So for the aid we had to focus on protecting the bottom and keeping it slidable.
The whole sitting volleyball team would like to be helped with this problem. When making the aid we had to think about fitting all body types.
Other aspects we wanted to include were:
- Durability: the aid will wear out quick because of the sliding on the floor. We wanted to prevent this as much as possible.
- Cleanability: when playing sitting volleybal, you will start to sweat. We wanted it to be easy to clean so the aid doesn’t smell after some time
Our aid is a pants were pockets are sewed on so they can hold a foam. This protects the bottom. The pockets are adjustable in size with velcro so it fits for everyone. Over this pants you have to wear your normal training pants, so you have the benifit of sliding.
The foams are removable from the pockets so they can easily be replaced or washed seperatly.
Material and Tools
Materials + Where can you find it:
- High waist pants of your size: https://www.decathlon.be/nl/p/legging-voor-fitness...
- EVA foam with thickness 1,5 cm: https://cosplayshop.be/nl/product/eva-foam-high-de...
- EPE foam with thickness 1 cm: https://dutch.alibaba.com/product-detail/soft-epe-...
- Stretchy fabric: Fabric shops, Fabric from other projects
- Velcro: Fabric shop
- Thread: Fabric shop
Tools:
- Scissors
- Sewing machine or needle
Cutting the Foam, Fabric & Velcro
All the cutting can be done with scissors.
a. Measure and cut the EVA foam
30 x 60 cm
b. Measure and cut the EPE foams
2 times: 15 x 24 x 20 x14 (see picture)
c. Measure and cut the fabric (see picture)
1. 64 x 40 cm
2. 15 x 25 x 15 x 15 cm, cut out 2 times
d. Measure and cut the velcro
8 pieces of 10 cm long
Sewing the Pockets
All the sewing can be done by sewing machine or by hand.
a. Take the biggest piece of fabric and place the middle of the fabric in the middle of back of the pants as high as possible. Sew the 2 long sides on the pants. (see red lines)
b. Take one of the smaller pieces of fabric and place it on the pants like in the picture. Sew the 2 longer sides on the pants. Sew the short side of the fabric that is on the back of the pants closed. Now you have 1 opening at the front. (see red lines)
c. Do the same on the other side of the pants with the other piece of fabric.
d. Sew the hard part of the velcro on the open sides of the pockets. (3 pieces on each side of the big pocket and 1 on each little pocket, divide them evenly over the opening). See picture for reference
e. Sew the soft part of the velcro on the pants so the pockets can be closed.
Assembling
a. Put the EVA foam in the big pocket and the EPE foams in the smaller pockets
b. Close the pockets with the velcro
c. Put the pants on, adjust the velcro if needed
d. Put your regular pants over the pants
e. Ready to play!