Blind Tennis Players Keep Their Ears on the Ball

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, Calif., 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.