As disability sports exploded onto the scene at the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1960, wheelchair tennis was absent from its offerings. Brad Parks took steps in 1976 to introduce wheelchair tennis as an official form and continue developing it.
Kinesiology, nutrition and dietetics Professor Scott Douglas sets up a court with an individual player and ball.
Introduction
Tennis is an extremely popular sport among people of all ages and abilities, including those living with some form of disability – particularly wheelchair users. Adaptive tennis allows wheelchair users to participate in regular tennis courts as normal players do; with two bounces before passing over the line of service. In addition, adaptive standing tennis (tenis Adaptivo de Pie) can also be played by physically disabled persons.
Tennis for those who are physically disabled does not require any modifications to court dimensions or net height, using conventional tennis balls and rackets instead of wheelchair ones. It’s often seen at community centers or country clubs; Paralympic Games competitions or FESPIC events also host this variant of the sport.
United States-wide organizations provide programs and clinics designed to teach tennis skills to individuals with disabilities, including programs from U.S. Paralympic Tennis Association, USTA Southern, and USTA Net Generation. Furthermore, VA hospitals often have recreational departments or therapeutic sports programs dedicated to offering adaptive athletics such as tennis for their patients.
Gill is confident that as Clemson’s wheelchair team grows, it can become an inspiration for other college wheelchair teams. Virtually every university contains students with disabilities who would welcome an opportunity to try something new; all it takes is making such opportunities available.
Learn the fundamentals of tennis with almost any everyday wheelchair; however, serious athletes who wish to master court sports usually invest in a special court sports chair designed for court sports. Such chairs feature lightweight material and no armrests which could interfere with swing motion – this provides greater agility and response time and separates this form of wheelchair sports from others. Furthermore, these chairs typically include one small castor at the front with two larger cambered wheels at the rear for enhanced stability and manoeuvrability.
Rules
Adaptive Tennis is a form of the game designed to enable people with disabilities to participate in tennis within an environment with modified rules, typically consisting of heavier balls and two bounces before hitting, instead of one, from wheelchair players. Playing this sport provides mental, physical and social development to its participants. Benefits may include increasing self-confidence while providing cardiovascular exercise as well as improving hand-eye coordination.
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Adaptive Tennis program offers its services to adults and children of all abilities who are diagnosed with medically diagnosed mobility related disabilities. For instance, proficient wheelchair users are able to compete actively against stand-up players in a game of tennis; rules are similar to traditional tennis with one exception being that the ball may bounce twice before returning back into play.
Wheelchair players rely on the hub of their chair to quickly react and move around the court, negotiating the ball and positioning themselves for shots. A wheelchair user’s head typically moves first; consequently, their hub should always be placed angled towards the center of the court so as to respond more rapidly when reacting to an opponent.
Competition in wheelchair tennis includes singles and doubles games held under two classification systems set forth by the International Paralympic Committee: an “Open class”, designed for players who have experienced permanent loss of function in both legs, while “Quad class”, for players who also possess upper limb impairments.
Tennis has always been played by athletes with various disabilities and is one of the most widely practiced adaptive sports today. Playing can increase self-confidence, hand-eye coordination and aerobic fitness while providing socialization between disabled individuals and able-bodied peers.
Tennis is an inclusive sport and should be accessible to everyone regardless of level of disability, whether temporary (such as stroke rehab) or long term (such as intellectual disability). By providing customized instruction to participants with physical and/or intellectual challenges, adaptive tennis ensures everyone can experience its joys.
Equipment
Tennis is an intense and absorbing game which combines power, speed, finesse and strategy into one enjoyable sport. Plus it can be played against both stand-up players and wheelchair users – providing an inclusive activity suitable for everyone.
Wheelchair Tennis is rapidly gaining in popularity as both a recreational and competitive adaptive sport, providing social and therapeutic exercise which boosts confidence, self-esteem and mobility for daily living. Tennis can be played by any level of disability; adaptive Tennis provides opportunities to participate in similar games as able-bodied tennis players.
Rules of wheelchair tennis mirror those of traditional able-bodied tennis, with singles matches between two players and doubles matches between two pairs taking place on court simultaneously. One key distinction lies within its rules; wheelchair tennis players are allowed two bounces while their counterparts only get one bounce of the ball.
A wheelchair designed specifically for tennis requires special features to maximize manoeuvrability, stability and agility. It contains four wheels: two cambered rear wheels for improved stability; and two small anti-tip castor wheels to the front which aid with manoeuvrability and control. Furthermore, each chair includes an additional safety feature: positioning straps across both thighs and waist to keep players from falling out while using their wheelchairs.
As well as using standard equipment, wheelchair tennis players require special training to hone and refine their skills. This may involve building arm and hand strength to support wrist when holding their racket; often a gripping aid like athletic tape or an Ace bandage wrap is used to increase grip strength while in some instances orthopedic racquet holders or grasping gloves may also be utilized for this purpose.
Recent research in wheelchair tennis demonstrates that hand rims play an integral part in player interactions with wheelchairs, and that there may be an association between hand size/grip strength and the interaction of hand-racket-rim. More study must be conducted in order to ascertain this exact nature.
Competitions
Tennis is one of the few adaptive sports that can be played almost identically with its able-bodied equivalent, making it popular with beginners through to elite tournament players. Furthermore, one benefit for many people with disabilities is that this aerobic adaptive sport can be played with only minor modifications needed; thus adapting perfectly to meet different intensity levels or physical restrictions.
Wheelchair tennis first made its Paralympics debut as an exhibition sport at Seoul 1988 Paralympics and became an official medal event two years later in Barcelona 1992. Today there are six wheelchair tennis medal events: men’s and women’s singles; doubles competition between male players and doubles events for both genders; quad singles/quad doubles events as well as quad singles/quad doubles matches. It follows similar rules as traditional tennis with one notable distinction – wheelchair players can allow the ball to bounce twice before returning it back onto court before returning it back onto court before returning it back into play before returning it from play.
This sport is administered by the International Paralympic Committee and divided into two classifications. The Open division caters for athletes with significant and permanent lower limb impairment, but with some residual function remaining in their arms; while Quad division allows athletes with significant and complete impairment in both legs or no functional use of arms to compete.
Wheelchair tennis serves multiple functions beyond recreation: competition and training. Competitive players compete in the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour which was created in 1992 and now hosts over 160 tournaments worldwide.
Esther Vergeer and Shingo Kunieda are two renowned wheelchair tennis competitors. Vergeer competed from 2000 to 2012 and was four-time Paralympic champion for both women’s singles and mixed doubles competition. Kunieda hailing from Tokyo achieved great success as the most prolific male wheelchair player ever by winning 45 Grand Slam titles during his career.
At JTCC, wheelchair players enjoy equal opportunities with other tennis players through our junior and adult paid programming, including clinics. In addition, an invite-only class offers tournament-level tennis players focused on high performance fitness training and conditioning.