Monica Smith was awarded £570 towards fifteen one to one coaching sessions with Andy Ireland at Harlow Tennis Club to improve her skills for Blind Tennis.
Areas that Monica and Andy worked on together included:
• Learning and practicing different types of serve
• Taking her left hand off the racket when hitting a forehand, which she does when nervous in tournaments.
• Hitting low to high rather than across her body.
• Learning to be less rigid and more relaxed when hitting the ball.
• Concentrating on the mental side of the game
Monica has improved her game with the coaching sessions and won the London Regional Tournament and came third in the National finals in Nottingham.
We are very proud of Monica and her progress within the sport of Blind Tennis.
About blind tennis
Blind Tennis is a special game played on either a badminton or a standard tennis court using a junior tennis racket and an adapted sponge ball that makes a noise when it bounces. The court layout is smaller than a full tennis court and the lines are tactile, usually lengths of chord stuck down with masking tape. So, my feet know where the lines are by feel. I can move around the court and know my position within it. We are allowed the concession that the ball can bounce up to three times before we have to return it. This gives me time to locate the ball and aim my racket where I believe it to be.