February 27 - Wheelchair Tennis

Lyle and I enjoy watching tennis matches. In February, the Australian Open tennis tournament was broadcast on the sports channel. Mostly we watch the men’s and women’s singles matches, but there are other categories – men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles and what was a surprise for me this year – wheelchair tennis. I have seen other sports where the athletes were wheelchair bound, but I had never seen the game of tennis played from this perspective. I was totally impressed and to my chagrin, a bit behind the times. Tennis has been played by wheelchair participants for quite a few years already.

Have you ever had occasion to need a wheelchair?  My own answer to this is affirmative but fortunately for me, each time the need has been temporary. The very first time was a doozie. I had fallen – I wasn’t using my cane, missed a step – well, actually a large hole, and went tumbling down into a culvert. The pain was excruciating! A trip to the hospital emergency showed only a severe sprain, but I was not to put any weight on the foot for the next several weeks.  When crutches seemed to invite the probability of another fall, we opted to borrow a wheelchair.

Over the next six weeks Lyle and I began a steep learning curve of navigation and wheelchair mobility. We looked for alternate ways of entering buildings instead of using revolving doors. We looked for ramps instead of steps and searched – sometimes in vain, for accessible washrooms. We were very cognizant of which street intersections had sloped ramps to the roadway and which ended in high curbs. It took lots of energy from both of us and we were often played out by the end of the day.

The wheelchair I used was an older one borrowed from our local health unit. It was heavy and clumsy. It was hard enough for Lyle to push and I found trying to move the wheels forward myself almost impossible. It was a far cry from the lighter weight trim looking chairs propelled around the court by the tennis competitors. Nevertheless, I’m sure that the arm muscle development of these super athletes was way beyond the norm. How did they ever manage to maneuvere their chairs with one hand and ready their tennis racquet with the other? If we ever get to see a live match, I would definitely book a seat to watch these champion tennis stars. Such skill, strength and agility would be a sight to see!