Returning to tennis

After a somewhat lengthy layoff, I returned to resume my weekly blind tennis sessions in late 2015 and I must say that it was not as difficult as I had first thought.

I had to reacquaint myself with the sound of the ball, how it bounced as it came towards me, and I had to readjust my swing and timing.

I cannot see the ball so I have to depend solely on sound.  This means that I have to give all of my attention to the sound of the ball as it is coming towards me and then I have to use my skill to know when to swing and how hard.

Blind tennis is a lot of fun for me.  It all comes down to me facing off against the person tossing the ball to me and I have to make sure that when I swing that it is enough to send the ball back over the net to the person tossing to me.

The balls are made of sponge and they are filled with bells so that they jingle as they move.  They are very light in weight, of course, so this is another thing that I have to get used to.

For whereas the sighted person depends mostly on their vision to get them through their game, a blind person needs to use their sense of hearing to do the same.

We use junior-sized rackets to hit the balls and the nets are at the regular heights.  We play our tennis in a huge basement of a church.

Lots of fun and great exercise for me.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

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Blind tennis anyone?

Believe it or not, I started playing blind tennis some time ago, and you know what? It is great, it is terrific, and I thank Alan Ma for having introduced it to us here in Toronto.

What exactly is blind tennis? Well, you use a junior tennis racket and you play with a soft ball that has bells in it. It is a sponge-like ball and bounces quite nicely. As the ball moves, the bells from within make noise so that a blind person can hear the ball as it approaches. It is fun and I just need to be able to judge when the ball is approaching, the distance between me and the net, and most important of all, hit the ball with a scoop-like motion so that it can float effortlessly over the net.

Alan is great! He has divided us into two specific groups. The first of which I am a member is for those of us who are either totally blind or have light perception. The second is for those with partial vision. I just have to remember to go out there and meet the ball, not wait for the ball to come to me. We play in the large basement of a Church.

Yes, that's blind tennis for you and Alan is hoping to train us well enough to play matches and eventually reach for the Olympics.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility expert, wishing you a terrific day and if you have any questions then please read the following.
The sport of blind tennis was started in the 80s by a Japanese inventor, a student at the time, Miyoshi Takei. His website is the following: www.hanno.jp/matsui/