Coaching visually impaired

Lisa Austin Asked 6 years ago

Hi, 

I volunteer and help coach local special needs table tennis group.  

I have one student a 30yr old autistic male who has just lost his sight in his right eye.  He is a left handed player who's reasonably co-ordinated/mobile.  We've told him it'll take time for him to adjust and at the moment he is quite positive.  

Could you advise how best to start coaching him, in particular if there are any specific exercises that i could do with him that may help/develop the weakness he now has on his right side through losing the sight in his right eye.  I need to keep him positive to avoid undue anxiety which can easily spiral out of control and see him shutdown and unable to play at all.

Grateful for any advice pointers you could give on exercises to try, likewise anything i shouldn't do.

Thank you

Lisa

Alois Rosario Answered 6 years ago

Hi Lisa,

I would start with some simple drills.  Even rolling the ball to him across the table and getting him to roll the ball back with his racket.  Then as he develops confidence in doing this you can start to bounce the ball to him with your hand.  Get him to tap the ball back.  Bounce it to his forehand side first as this will be the side he can see more easily.  Then start to bounce to his backhand and check that he is tracking the ball.  He will need to turn his head a little more because of the vision in his right eye.

The next step would be to hit the ball once or twice in a row and so on.

The main thing is to keep the drills at a manageable level to start with till he develops confidence and wants to move forward more quickly.