Leamington-based charity working with Swim England and LTA to break down sporting barriers

New courses have been launched to help swimming and tennis coaches play their role in boosting the number of blind and partially sighted people participating in the sports.

Bespoke swimming and tennis training sessions teach coaches how to include those with sight loss in sessions with their fully-sighted peers - including the importance of providing detailed commentary on their surroundings and what is happening around them – from walking out of the changing room to stepping out on court or into the pool.

The swimming session also recommends hands-on tactile demonstrations when teaching new swimming techniques, as well as how to help blind and partially sighted swimmers to develop and progress both recreationally and competitively.

The tennis session explains how to identify tennis techniques that are appropriate to teach according to one’s level of sight, and also recommends hands-on tactile demonstrations when teaching participants new warm-up or tennis techniques, and how to track the noise of the tennis ball.

The bespoke sessions are also complemented by generic training around sight loss and how it affects participants, creating engaging environments, and venue accessibility to name a few.

The new e-learning sessions feed into the See Sport Differently campaign that British Blind Sport has partnered with RNIB on, which shows that one in two blind and partially sighted people feel that having sight loss stops them from exercising as much as they would like to, with one in three saying there are sports they want to try but have been unable to.

Frankie Rohan, Workforce Officer at British Blind Sport, has worked closely with Swim England, the LTA and UK Coaching on creating the four-hour training courses.

Frankie is herself severely sight impaired, and recently coached Great Britain’s B1 tennis team at the 2023 International Blind Sport Federation World Games.

She said: “As a charity that is striving to break down sporting barriers for those with sight loss, we know first-hand that swimming and tennis are sports that blind and partially sighted people are keen to participate in, but having enough confident coaches is key to helping them take that first step – which is often the biggest.

“So many sports coaches across various sports tell us that they do not feel confident teaching an individual with sight loss because they don’t want to say the wrong thing or don’t know how to integrate them into a session safely and appropriately – and this new course has a crucial role to play in changing that.

“We also want to encourage a shift in mindset that blind and partially sighted people aren’t just there to have a nice time – they should also be given the opportunity to fulfil their potential to try and compete competitively if they so wish – and the training course informs coaches how they can go about this.

“From the perspective of someone with sight loss, the mark of a good coach is one who isn’t afraid to ask questions, can articulate well, listens, and provides challenging and engaging sessions to foster development and improvement – and that is what we are hoping emerges in swimming pools and tennis courts up and down the country over the coming months.

“It’s fantastic to have the LTA, Swim England and UK Coaching supporting this initiative, and we are excited about the impact that these new training courses are going to have for both current and future generations.”

The training courses – the first sport-specific sight loss e-learning course - will be promoted by the LTA and Swim England to their coaches/workforce across the UK.

Mike Hawkes, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Swim England, said: “We have really appreciated the opportunity to work with British Blind Sport and UK Coaching to co-produce this resource.

“We know that coaches want to provide the best possible experience to their participants and this e-learning will ensure they have the confidence and understanding to support those with a visual impairment.

“The use of video examples will certainly help in this regard and includes best practice examples of orientating within the pool and providing effective feedback.”

Matt Elkington, Disability Development Partner at The LTA, said: “The LTA is excited to support the production of this brand new online course in partnership with British Blind Sport and UK Coaching.

“As part of our wider Open for All plan, one of our main aims is to develop our workforce and diversify their educational opportunities.

“We feel this education will not only drive more coaches to take a lead on visually impaired tennis but will also therefore see more players able to access a high-quality tennis session, no matter where they are in the UK.”

For more information about coaching blind and partially sighted people in swimming and tennis visit www.swimming.org/ios/coaching-training/ or www.lta.org.uk/play/inclusion-disability/visually-impaired-tennis/