USTA Wheelchair Tennis continues to be one of the fastest growing sports and most challenging of all wheelchair sports. Programs for beginning youth and adults are offered in various cities in Florida and Wheelchair Tournament opportunities exist throughout the year. Please contact Linda Curtis, Director of Community Development, at 386-671-8934 to find out more about wheelchair tennis in your area.
Benefits of Wheelchair Tennis
In wheelchair tennis, the player must master the game of tennis as well as the wheelchair. Learning mobility on the court is exiting and challenging and helps build strength and cardiovascular ability. Wheelchair tennis provides persons with disability the opportunity to share in activities with their peers and family, whether ablebodied or disabled. A wheelchair player who plays against an ablebodied person in singles or doubles is allowed two bounces of the ball while the able-bodied player is allowed one bounce. Playing wheelchair tennis adds to socialization and the normalization of life after sustaining a disabling injury. Wheelchair tennis is a fun and exciting sport to be involved in!
History and Rules
Created in 1976 in California, wheelchair tennis is one of the fastest growing and most challenging of all wheelchair sports. Since 1979, the sport has been promoted in the United States by the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis. The Wheelchair Tennis Players Association formed in 1981 under the auspices of the NFWT, allowed players to take an active role in the governance of the sport. January 1998 marked the merger of the WTPA into the USTA structure. Since then, the USTA has actively managed wheelchair tennis activities in the U.S.A. Wheelchair tennis player must have a medically diagnosed, permanent mobility related physical disability, resulting in a substantial or total loss of function in one or more lower extremities. Examples of permanent disabilities that meet the eligibility criteria include paralysis, amputation, radiological evidence of limb shortening and joint replacement. Wheelchair tennis rules are the same as stand-up tennis, except the wheelchair tennis player is allowed two bounces of the ball. The wheelchair is considered part of the body; all applicable rules which apply to a player’s body apply to the wheelchair. More...
> USTA/ITF Wheelchair Rules Reference
> Play Now: Wheelchair
> Tournaments: Wheelchair
Wheelchair Programs in Florida include the following locations:
Boca Raton – contact Jim Tierney at 561-997-0881.
Clearwater – contact Dawn Lewellyn at 727.793.2320 ext. 227.
Daytona Beach – contact Dave Brown at 386-671-8903.
Fort Myers – contact Lee County Community Tennis Association at 239-565-5300.
Jacksonville – contact First Coast Tennis Foundation at 904-699-7331, contact Alice Krauss, Brooks Health Foundation at 904-910-9738.
Miami –
Big Five Tennis Club
9299 SW 7 Terr., Miami
Call 305-752-4966
Greater Miami Tennis Foundation
Call 305-666-8103
Judge Arthur Snyder Tennis Center
16851 West Dixie Highway, North Miami Beach
Call 305-948-2957
Pensacola – contact David Mayo at 850-434-8586.
Tallahassee – contact Tallahassee Tennis Association at 850-893-2251.
Tampa – contact Wheelchair Sports of Tampa Bay at 813-323-2569, contact Andy Chasanoff at 813-744-5307.
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| John Jonston from Gainesville |