The LTA published its Inclusion strategy for tennis in Britain in 2021, with the ambition to lead the way on inclusion and diversity in sport. The LTA’s Open Court programme is a national scheme that actively promotes and delivers opportunities for disabled people to get involved in tennis and padel. Partnered with and jointly funded by Sport England, the programme provides disability specific sessions for tennis and padel, – including adaptations for learning disability, wheelchair, visually impaired and deaf. The programme has also been expanded into other long-term health conditions such as mental health and dementia.

We hope you share in our vision to be truly open to all, no matter your background, disability, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or race and ethnicity. This will only be fully achieved when every person’s experience, in all tennis and padel environments, makes them feel like they belong.

Visually Impaired Tennis

Visually Impaired tennis (also known as VI tennis, Sound tennis or Blind tennis) is one of the leading sports for blind and partially sighted people in the UK. The sport is open to players of all abilities, experience and fitness levels who are blind or have a visual impairment.

This format of the game is different to traditional tennis as it is played on a smaller court with a lower net and uses an audio tennis ball that makes a noise so players can hear it bounce and being hit. For more information see the link below.

Sound Tennis Sussex organises and develops Sound Tennis in Brighton & Hove with plans to expand across Sussex, it is part of the East Sussex Vision support.

Wheelchair Tennis

Wheelchair tennis is a highly competitive, fast-growing adaptation of tennis for athletes with physical impairments, played on standard courts using regular rackets and balls. The primary distinction is the ‘two-bounce’ rule, allowing the ball to bounce twice, even outside the court, before being returned. Players use special maneuverable wheelchairs to compete in singles and doubles, often reaching high speeds in a sport which has been part of the Paralympics since 1992. See link below for more information.