Wheelchair tennis in Klosters (report by Martina Steiner)

In the arena in the tennis mecca of Klosters, there is the opportunity to play wheelchair tennis. There are two maneuverable tennis wheelchairs for hire on site, which can be booked free of charge. There is a disabled parking lot directly in front of the hall, which can be reached via the access road to the swimming pool (Doggilochstrasse) (the barrier can be opened with the Eurokey). 

All areas in the arena are easily accessible. In the basement there is a disabled-access shower with a folding shower seat and grab rails, as well as a disabled-access toilet. In my opinion, the perfect infrastructure for a carefree tennis lesson. 

I had a trial lesson with the qualified tennis instructor Andre van der Merwe and I really enjoyed it, also thanks to his excellent coaching!

As it was my first encounter with tennis, I found it not so easy to move the wheelchair to the right place at the right time and then to hit the ball.

The cool thing is that it doesn't matter whether your tennis partner is also in a wheelchair or not. The main thing is to have fun and move in a different way.

And the great thing is that you can play wheelchair tennis in Klosters all year round, regardless of the weather, whether in summer in the fresh air on one of the beautiful outdoor courts with a view of the mountain panorama or, of course, in winter in the air-conditioned hall.

By the way, surprisingly, you don't need much strength in your arms, because all you have to do is “hold out” the tennis racket and the ball goes back to your opponent without any effort - in theory. It was a little different for me, because I had the feeling that I had to hit back with all my strength to get the ball over the net. But practice makes perfect and I will definitely book another tennis lesson with Andre next time I'm in Klosters.