Bookings are now being taken for the Tennis Foundation’s wheelchair tennis development camps, which will be taking place at eight locations nationwide throughout 2012.
Run by qualified LTA tennis coaches, the camps provide two days to get to know more about wheelchair tennis, whether you’re a complete beginner or someone who wants to develop their skills on the court further.
The first camp of 2012 is taking place in Preston at South Ribble Tennis Centre on February 18 and 19 and bookings are now open for all eight camps.
The camps run from 11am until 5pm each Saturday and again from 10am until 4pm on the Sunday so there is plenty of time to build up your tennis skills and get invaluable advice from the coaches on hand.
Previous camps have included guest appearances from some of the current Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme players, who shared their experiences of how they started playing the game and what a huge part of their lives it now is.
All equipment is provided including rackets, balls and tennis chairs and you can get advice on the best tennis chair for you and how to get the right set-up. Accommodation is also available for the Saturday night.
“I first came to a Tennis Foundation camp in 2010 and I absolutely loved playing wheelchair tennis straight away,” said Caroline Wareing, who now plays the sport regularly.
“The camp gave me the time to pick up all the basics, make a lot of stupid errors and still have fun at the same time. I’ve since gone on to compete at a number of British wheelchair tennis tournaments and I really enjoy both the competitive and social aspects of these events.”
The Tennis Foundation’s Disability Competition and Events Manager Becky Tilley added: “In this Paralympic year, the Tennis Foundation has increased the number of camps being run in 2012 as we aim to get more people playing wheelchair tennis across the country.
“The camps are a great way to meet new people as well as have a safe, fun introduction to the sport. The camps are open to anyone, whatever their ability on court so I’d really recommend giving tennis a go even if you’ve never thought about it before.”
Still one of the fastest growing wheelchair sports in the world, wheelchair tennis integrates very easily with the able-bodied game since it can be played on any regular tennis court, with no modifications to rackets or balls. Wheelchair players are allowed two bounces of the ball.
There are now over 170 tournaments on the ITF’s NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour and the sport is featured at all four of the able-bodied Grand Slams.
The Tennis Foundation is again running it’s Wheelchair Tennis Development Series, which features 10 tournaments across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland for up and coming players in 2012.
Find out more about the camps and book your place here.