{"id":10557,"date":"2024-07-01T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T07:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=10557"},"modified":"2024-07-15T11:24:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T10:24:54","slug":"sensory-tennis-its-a-match-for-lin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/sensory-tennis-its-a-match-for-lin\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensory tennis is a match for Lin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">Lin is mad about tennis. She doesn\u2019t let her cerebral palsy or blindness get in the way of her game. Our sensory tennis sessions offer Lin the opportunity to enjoy the sport she loves in a way that\u2019s completely accessible to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m in my sixties now and tennis is as important to me as ever. I remember when I first fell in love with it, watching the players on TV \u2013 I thought, \u201cI have to give that a try!\u201d My favourite player is Roger Federer, he never loses his cool.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My vision loss has led me to find new ways of enjoying and playing the game. I\u2019ve got cerebral palsy and epilepsy. When I\u2019m being active, like during tennis, I feel calm. It\u2019s part of how I support my physical and mental wellbeing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, the social side of the sport is also something I enjoy. I go to the gym twice a week, but at tennis I get to be outside and spend time with people I like.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sensory tennis is designed for me<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve always wanted more opportunities to play. Now, with sensory tennis, I can join in! I\u2019m happy in these sessions, I\u2019m always included in the game.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignfull is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube is-style-secondary wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sensory Tennis - Lin&#039;s story\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0cQ9V-GOzBA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The activities are always really fun. I love working one-on-one with my coach, James. He\u2019s very supportive and I\u2019m definitely getting better at tennis now.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s great to work with specialist equipment. We use balls with bells inside, which makes the games a lot easier. James is really good at creating a rhythm for me to follow. I can hear the balls coming and they make a sound when I hit them. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would encourage anyone to go along to a sensory tennis session and see what\u2019s going on. Try it out, you might find something you love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why we need more accessible sports<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I think more centres should make tennis accessible. Otherwise, people with disability don\u2019t get a chance to do it. There should be more ways for people to play in a mixed group, or with special equipment like the balls with bells. That way, tennis can be for everyone, not just those without disabilities.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being active and playing tennis is good for people\u2019s health. It also helps their mindset \u2013 they can be more relaxed. For me, it\u2019s also been helpful to play sports with other disabled people. It helps you to realise that you\u2019re not the only one who has difficulty participating.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/sense-active-for-professionals\/sensory-tennis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sensory tennis<\/strong><\/a><strong> has been designed by Sense to provide people with complex disabilities with a more accessible and inclusive way to participate. By removing the barriers presented by traditional tennis sessions, such as complicated rules and tactics, sensory tennis offers a new person-centred approach to the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n  <div class=\"wp-block  box    is-style-textured-grey-tint-10\">    <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p><strong>You can find out more in our <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/sense-active-for-professionals\/sensory-tennis\/how-to-plan-a-sensory-tennis-session\/\"><strong>how to plan a sensory tennis session<\/strong><\/a><strong> guide<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Or, if you want to sign up to an existing programme, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/scheduled-activities\/?_type=sport\">our activity finder<\/a> to see what\u2019s on near you!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lin explains why sensory tennis sessions help her enjoy the sport she loves in a completely accessible way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":10562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[255],"class_list":["post-10557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-lin"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10557"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=10557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}