Studies on Designing Adaptive
Sportswear for Differently Abled
Wheelchair Tennis Players of India
N. Bairagi and S. K. Bhuyan
1 Introduction
In India, 21 million people are suffering from disability of one sort or the other
according to the census data 2001–2011. Globally, efforts and initiatives are being
taken to empower and promote differently able people in all fields. To bring about
the mental and physical wellbeing of the differently abled individual, introduction to
sports is essential. Among other sports, wheelchair tennis is gaining momentum in
urban India where they are trained according to the International Tennis Federation
(ITF) rules (IWTT 2016). Wheelchair tennis helps in rehabilitation and also played
as a competitive sport [1]. As classified in Paralympic sports the open class category
includes players who have paralysis in lower limbs, whereas a quad class can have
both players whose both lower and upper limbs are non- functional. The later may
not have the ability to manoeuver the wheelchair (ITF) in this case. It was observed
that no Indian brands cater to sportswear specific to wheelchair tennis players and
the players do have issues with the presently available sportswear. The Indian players
presently wear a basic knitted T-shirt and knitted loose/fitted Track pants made out
of cotton and polyester, as observed during the pilot study. Therefore, there is a need
for functionally designed adaptive sportswear in this category.
The definition of adaptive wear comes from the clothing specifically designed
for differently abled people suffering from both physical and mental disorders. Such
people can very well adapt to the environment with the help of functional clothing
[2]. According to Kabel et al. (2017) clothes can be a factor, which hinders the health
N. Bairagi
Department of Knitwear Design, National Institute of Fashion Technology, 27th Main, HSR
Layout, Bengaluru 560102, India
S. K. Bhuyan (B)
Department of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology, 27th Main, HSR
Layout, Bengaluru 560102, India
e-mail: subhalakshmi.bhuyan@nift.ac.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Majumdar et al. (eds.), Functional Textiles and Clothing 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9376-5_7
67
Sportswear for Differently Abled
Wheelchair Tennis Players of India
N. Bairagi and S. K. Bhuyan
1 Introduction
In India, 21 million people are suffering from disability of one sort or the other
according to the census data 2001–2011. Globally, efforts and initiatives are being
taken to empower and promote differently able people in all fields. To bring about
the mental and physical wellbeing of the differently abled individual, introduction to
sports is essential. Among other sports, wheelchair tennis is gaining momentum in
urban India where they are trained according to the International Tennis Federation
(ITF) rules (IWTT 2016). Wheelchair tennis helps in rehabilitation and also played
as a competitive sport [1]. As classified in Paralympic sports the open class category
includes players who have paralysis in lower limbs, whereas a quad class can have
both players whose both lower and upper limbs are non- functional. The later may
not have the ability to manoeuver the wheelchair (ITF) in this case. It was observed
that no Indian brands cater to sportswear specific to wheelchair tennis players and
the players do have issues with the presently available sportswear. The Indian players
presently wear a basic knitted T-shirt and knitted loose/fitted Track pants made out
of cotton and polyester, as observed during the pilot study. Therefore, there is a need
for functionally designed adaptive sportswear in this category.
The definition of adaptive wear comes from the clothing specifically designed
for differently abled people suffering from both physical and mental disorders. Such
people can very well adapt to the environment with the help of functional clothing
[2]. According to Kabel et al. (2017) clothes can be a factor, which hinders the health
N. Bairagi
Department of Knitwear Design, National Institute of Fashion Technology, 27th Main, HSR
Layout, Bengaluru 560102, India
S. K. Bhuyan (B)
Department of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology, 27th Main, HSR
Layout, Bengaluru 560102, India
e-mail: subhalakshmi.bhuyan@nift.ac.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Majumdar et al. (eds.), Functional Textiles and Clothing 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9376-5_7
67