Every Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m., senior Max Marks can be found at Wayland’s Longfellow Sports Club. Rather than swimming or exercising with his friends at the club, Marks works as an instructor in a program called Handi-Racket Tennis.

Handi-Racket Tennis is an instructional program that helps teach adults with disabilities how to play tennis. Marks was introduced to the program by his mother, who knows the executive director of the program, Sylvia Swartz.

“I wanted to do something that I would enjoy and get satisfaction out of. My brother did it for community service in high school, so I thought ‘Why not give it a try?’” Marks said.

While the program is aimed toward adults, a few kids participate every year. Instructors teach participants differently depending on how advanced they are. In the first hour, instructors have the less-experienced players with more severe disabilities learn the fundamentals of tennis, such as scoring and how to properly hit shots. In the second hour, instructors have the more advanced athletes focus on match play and prepare to play in the Special Olympics and tournaments sponsored by the Special Olympics.

“A lot of the athletes are very energetic and excited every week to play tennis, and surprisingly, we rarely have any controversies or disagreements,” Marks said. “They all have a good sense of humor and just enjoy playing tennis every Saturday.”

The athletes in the first hour tend to have physical disabilities, which is why they are limited athletically. Many of them are unable to run or have weaker hand-eye coordination. As for neurodevelopmental disorders, they range from autism to Asperger syndrome to Tourettes syndrome.

“My favorite part is seeing the satisfaction that the athletes get from playing tennis and having fun with each other in a way they normally wouldn’t be able to,” Marks said.