Blind Tennis
In this photo taken Oct. 16, 2012, an oversized tennis ball filled with ball bearings is displayed at the California School for the Blind in Fremont,...
In this photo taken Oct. 16, 2012, an oversized tennis ball filled with ball bearings is displayed at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, Calif. Students at the school are learning to play tennis, and expanding the boundaries of what the blind can do while offering new insights into the human mind. They must turn their ears into eyes, listening for the ball's bounce to figure out where to swing their rackets. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Blind Tennis
In this photo taken Oct. 16, 2012, Austin Benavidez, who is blind, practices his tennis serve using an oversized ball filled with ball bearings at th...
In this photo taken Oct. 16, 2012, Austin Benavidez, who is blind, practices his tennis serve using an oversized ball filled with ball bearings at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, Calif. Students at the school are learning to play tennis, and expanding the boundaries of what the blind can do while offering new insights into the human mind. They must turn their ears into eyes, listening for the ball's bounce to figure out where to swing their rackets. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Blind Tennis
In this photo taken Oct. 16, 2012, Austin Benavidez, who is blind, returns a volley using an oversized ball filled with ball bearings at the Californ...
In this photo taken Oct. 16, 2012, Austin Benavidez, who is blind, returns a volley using an oversized ball filled with ball bearings at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, Calif. Students at the school are learning to play tennis, and expanding the boundaries of what the blind can do while offering new insights into the human mind. They must turn their ears into eyes, listening for the ball's bounce to figure out where to swing their rackets. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Learning how to play tennis is hard enough. Now try it when you can't see.
That's what students are doing at the California School for the Blind. They're learning a form of tennis adapted for the visually impaired.
The state-supported campus in Fremont, California, is one of three American schools for the blind that recently began teaching adapted tennis, which was invented in Japan in the 1980s.
A nonprofit group called Tennis Serves is working to promote the sport throughout the U.S.
Blind tennis features a smaller court, lower net and junior tennis rackets with bigger heads and shorter handles.
Players use a foam ball filled with metal beads that rattle on impact, allowing them to hear and locate the ball when it hits the ground or racket.
