“An introduction to visually impaired tennis - Tennis Foundation” Transcript
Note that while the term “visually impaired” is used throughout this video, the more widely accepted term to refer to this community is “low vision.”

[Music]. 
Jill Osleger: Visually impaired tennis is a fantastic sport for those who are blind or partially sighted. If you've never heard of visually impaired tennis and you wonder how to play tennis without full vision, we change the court size…

Chris Bailey: It’s a foam ball, rather than a harder ball so it goes through the air more slowly, it's got a rattle in it as well…

Jane Thomas: If a new player comes along sometimes I might just start by throwing the sound ball to them and then they learn to walk towards the ball…

Jill Osleger: We have raised lines so you can track the side lines and the base line.  In visually impaired tennis we have four categories…

Keith Turner:  I play in B1 category that's for people that are totally blind or have very limited vision.

Chris Bailey: B2 has a little bigger, a very small amount of sight or very fuzzy vision or a bit of a combination of both then three to four to five you get progressively a bit more vision.

Jill Osleger: If you want to get involved in visually impaired tennis as a player, coach, or volunteer there's opportunities available to all. Coaching visually impaired tennis takes no specific qualifications you just need to get on court and have a go.

Jane Thomas: I just love seeing the progress that the players make. They've all come on so much.

Chris Bailey: I started off quite leisurely tennis and now I'm competing for my country and winning national titles, so it's a great game for me. 

Jill Osleger: You can play at a local level, at your club, also regional and national events take place supported by the Tennis Foundation, and we also have our GB visually impaired tennis team that competes internationally with long term aspirations for us to turn into a Paralympic sport.

Chris Bailey: I always used to play tennis and I had to give the game up a year or so ago but this has given me the opportunity to keep playing the game that I love. 

Keith Turner:  Our volunteers are brilliant and used to assisting visually impaired players to get…get to know the game, you know, who knows, you know you might find you like it.

Jill Osleger: Tennis is a fantastic sport for any age or ability. The tennis foundation want people who are blind or partially sighted to be included in our game just like everybody else. If you want to find out more about visually impaired tennis visit the tennis foundation's website.