Local Tennis Leaguse - reasonable adjustments
We want to make Local Tennis Leagues as open and inclusive as possible. Everyone has a right to request reasonable adjustments, such as providing extra help, or making changes to the way in which we provide services to make them as accessible as possible.
Reasonable adjustments can be any small alterations which enable a person to take part in activity, if details are provided in advance. These may include things like: requests around venue type, ensuring the courts chosen are accessible and step free, having a helper there to score the match, or using hand gestures to call lines if someone is deaf/hard of hearing.
We recommend you request a letter from us, as it will make future communication with your opponents easier. See below for more details on how to do this.
Yes, the only rule change is that wheelchair tennis players will get two bounces to return a ball, while their opponent would get one (unless they are also a wheelchair player). The opponents first bounce must land “in” but the second can land anywhere.
Yes, bringing a friend or family member along with you is allowed. This will help some players cope with the stresses around meeting a stranger but additionally, if you struggle to keep score, you can have someone on-site to help you with this.
Any guest brought to the match cannot interfere with the game of tennis and must only be there for support. Unless helping with scoring, any guests must stay off court and not interfere with the tennis. If you need someone to help you keep score, they can stand courtside, but you must let your opponent know in advance (when arranging your match).
The opponent does have the right to request approval from the LTA. The person keeping score should only shout out the score, they should not interfere with calling lines or any other on court matters.
Yes, if the venue doesn’t have scoreboards and you would benefit from a scoring aid, we suggest you use Scoring Right which is an ITF approved tool you can attach to your racket.
Yes, if you need someone else to help arrange your matches use their email address and phone number when signing up. We recommend your appointed person explains who they are and how they are supporting you when they initiate communication with others in your league.
Get in touch
If there is something we could do to make your tennis experience better, you can request a “reasonable adjustments” letter from the LTA by emailing competitionsupport@lta.org.uk.
This letter can then be used when entering events or while arranging matches, but we ask that this is always done in advance, and never on the day of your match.