[Sportsandrec] accessibility of sports

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi Shawn,

I was hoping there would be more traffic on your important question.
I am answering as I finally have time in my busy schedule. I'm not really an 
athlete, but I do enjoy working out on cardio equipment to stay fit.

Here is what I know. For swimming, you just need someone to tap you with a 
ball when you near the wall.
Otherwise, you do it like everyone else.

For track and other running, you need a sighted guide with a teather you 
will hold onto.

Unfortunately, there are no adaptations for team ball sports.
Team basketball, soccer, and football are not really adaptable. Its pretty 
visual having to see the ball.
I'd be concerned about playing team basketball because you might get hit by 
a ball.
But, you can indeed do many basketball things. I had a basketball hoop in my 
yard as a kid and enjoyed playing with the help of my sighted brother.
While I do not advise trying basketball in a fast paced team, you can 
certainly
do some of the skills and actions of the sport.
Have you learned how to use the basketball from PE classes? I did learn some 
skills.
You can do things like dribble and catch the ball as someone bounce passes 
it to you.
You can shoot hoops. If you have no vision and need to know where the hoop 
is, have someone stand by it and tell you. They could hit the hoop rim with 
something so you can hear it.
You could also put a beeping sound on the hoop to locate it.

There are basketball games too such as Horse. You could play that with 
friends if you wanted.
Horse is basically shooting hoops and when you miss the hoop, you get 
assigned a letter; when you spell Horse, you are out.

Other sports you mentioned are easier to do with little adaptations.
Skiing just requires a guide to direct you.
Judo requires nothing except for more physical guidance to  learn the moves 
and I heard that in tournaments you make contact with your opponent to 
begin. Gymnastics just requires more physical guidance to learn the moves 
too and maybe some descriptions of the
set up for competitions.

If you are interested in a land activity that won't require sighted 
assistance to practice, you might try gymnastics or judo first.

Good luck.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Shawn Abraham via Sportsandrec
Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2015 5:24 PM
To: Sports and Recreation for the Blind DiscussionList
Subject: [Sportsandrec] accessibility of sports

Hello all,
I've been considering some different sports that I wanted to do,
but before that I wanted to find out about the accessibility or
adaptability of different sports.  Meaning that I'm interested in
finding out how most blind people do certain sports.  What are
the adaptations you use for the following sports?
How do blind people usually run track? Is it always with the use
of a guide? Trail? What about field events: Javelin throwing,
shot put, discus throwing, high jumps, etc? How would
crosscountry work?
Are there any adaptations at all needed in official swimming?
What about tennis or lacrosse?
What about team soccer, basketball, or football? I heard that
there was recently a movie about a blind football player.
Baseball? Gymnastics? Skiing? Judo?
Tell me about your sport! I'm interested in knowing any
adaptations, modifications, or special techniques you use.
Thanks!

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