Filming a wheelchair rugby match

“How do you film a wheelchair rugby match?” The results explain the rules and introduce the national teams; there is nothing on how to film a club match so you can review it. Here is what works with a phone.

The rules that change what you film

The court has the dimensions of a basketball court, and you score by crossing the opposing goal line with two wheels, ball in hand. Three points matter for video:

• Four players a side: few people on a big court, so each block opens or closes a whole lane.
• Contact between chairs is allowed: it is the heart of the game, and it is what the image must show in full, not only the ball carrier.
• Classification: each player gets a value based on functional ability, and the total of the four on court is capped. Reviewing a match also means reviewing which combinations of players worked.

Where to put the phone

Seen from the sideline, the chairs hide one another, and a block set behind the ball carrier disappears. The right viewpoint is up high, in the middle of a long side: a bleacher, a gallery, the top of a wall. From there you see all eight chairs, their angles and the lanes that open up. The principle is the one in where to put the camera: height matters more than equipment.

A wide shot to see the blocks

In wheelchair rugby, the try is prepared away from the ball: a defensive player hooks an opponent with their chair, another blocks the path of a defender, and the ball carrier runs through the freed space. A zoom on the ball loses exactly that. A fixed wide shot, keeping both goal lines in the frame, shows who blocks whom, at what angle, and when. Afterwards, you enlarge the action that raises a question during review.

The area in front of the goal line

In front of each goal line, a marked area limits the number of defenders and the time the attacker can spend there. Many tries are won or lost there, in a few seconds. Check when framing that both areas are fully in the image, corners included: that is where you see whether the defence got into position in time.

Light and movement

The tips from indoor basketball apply here: avoid windows in the frame, long-press the phone screen to lock focus and exposure on the centre of the court, and film at 60 frames per second if the phone offers it. Impacts stay sharp in slow motion. If the image flickers under the neon lights, this page explains why and how to avoid it.

What to look at in the review

• Blocks: the angle of the chair at the moment of contact, and the lane it opens.
• Work off the ball: what the three players not carrying the ball do during an attack.
• Defensive transition: who gets back to the area first, and whether it is protected before the ball carrier arrives.
• The four on court: which combinations of players produce the most tries.

One question per sequence is enough for a useful session; the method is described in running a video session that players really listen to. For wheelchair basketball, see filming a wheelchair basketball match.

Filming without leaving the bench

Nobody needs to stay behind the phone. With TactiCam, the phone films from its tripod up high, and the coach controls it from their own, at the sideline. After the match, the sequences are in the Video Room: you draw an arrow on a block or a zone on the freed lane, add a sentence, and each player sees it on their own phone. The trial lasts 14 days, with no credit card.