The Bandeja Magazine Issue 1
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ISSUE 1 MAY 2022<br />
TIA<br />
Norton<br />
GB’s shining star<br />
takes aim at the top 100<br />
Kevin Palmer<br />
on Jurgen Klopp’s<br />
winning weapon<br />
Padel elbow<br />
Cooler than tennis elbow<br />
but just as painful!<br />
iPadel league<br />
finals<br />
Padel Tribe UK<br />
talks NOX ML10 Pro Cup
<strong>The</strong> Smarter Way to Run Your Academy or Club<br />
TECH BUILT<br />
FOR GREAT<br />
COACHES.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Smarter Club System<br />
Runs on Autopilot<br />
Puts the Coach at the Core<br />
Eliminates Receivables<br />
Let kids challenge you,<br />
the Coach.<br />
Coach Mike Barrell<br />
Founder Evolution Kids Tennis<br />
www.bounx.com<br />
PADEL | TENNIS | SQUASH | FITNESS<br />
...ANYWHERE #GREATCOACHINGMATTERS
thebandeja.com<br />
contents//<br />
<strong>Issue</strong> 1 / May 2022<br />
AUXETIC<br />
TECHNOLOGY<br />
SHAKE UP THE COURT<br />
Feel the power. Designed for experienced players who are seeking more power, the<br />
oversized, diamond-shaped Delta racquet series has been upgraded with the new Auxetic<br />
construction for sensational feel. Shake up the court with the new Delta.<br />
#ShakeUp<strong>The</strong>Court<br />
Cover Story<br />
24 <strong>The</strong> girl with good hands<br />
welcome<br />
6 Editor’s Comments<br />
News<br />
8 Team GB in Vegas<br />
9 11 courts for Derby<br />
11 New London league<br />
12 University challenge<br />
14 Roland Garros<br />
18 New court openings<br />
INTERNATIONAL<br />
10 Kuwait embraces padel<br />
16 Padel at the AO<br />
COMMENT<br />
14 Padel Pussy asks for a news reset<br />
22 Kevin Palmer: Padel phenomenon<br />
FEATURES<br />
28 Cut-out-and-keep guide to padel<br />
30 <strong>The</strong> REAL history of padel<br />
36 #PadelTribe UK<br />
42 Inspiring Yorkshire women<br />
44 Coaching: basics for beginners<br />
46 iPadel Winter League finals<br />
PRODUCTS<br />
33 New products<br />
HEALTH<br />
38 Padel elbow<br />
CLUB NEWS<br />
40 <strong>The</strong> only way really is Essex<br />
48 Round-up of club news<br />
ON COURTS<br />
50 Lighting: it’s not you<br />
24 16<br />
#Padeltribeuk<br />
Equipment reviews & discussion from a padel geek<br />
@the_bandeja<br />
Padel Publishing: All content is copyright of Padel Publishing. All rights reserved. Whilst we<br />
make every effort to ensure the factual content of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> is correct, we cannot take<br />
any responsibility nor be held accountable for any factual errors contained within. We make<br />
every effort to check quoted prices and product specifications with manufacturers prior<br />
to purchase. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or<br />
resold without prior consent of Padel Publishing. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> recognises all rights within this<br />
issue. Where possible we acknowledge the copyright holder. This digital issue may contain<br />
links to third party content, advertising or websites. We accept no legal responsibility for loss<br />
arising from information in this publication and do not endorse any advertising or products<br />
available from external sources. All rights reserved.<br />
22<br />
.COM/PADEL<br />
4 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
5
editor’s comment<br />
Emma Kimber<br />
Editor<br />
<strong>The</strong> Democratic<br />
Party of Padel<br />
Welcome to <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>, the UK’s first magazine<br />
dedicated to the rather brilliant game of padel<br />
and the many thousands of people playing it<br />
up and down the country.<br />
Apparently there are some 90,000 of us,<br />
with 15,000 people playing every month.<br />
Worldwide it’s believed there are eight<br />
million participants - roughly equivalent to<br />
the population of a small African country<br />
(Togo, to be precise).And it’s growing,<br />
exponentially in some countries.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> has been in the making for<br />
about five months and in that time the<br />
UK padel scene has changed massively,<br />
with a huge number of new clubs and<br />
courts being announced and opened,<br />
including at the Queen’s Club. Foreign<br />
companies and operators have spotted<br />
an opportunity and are investing heavily<br />
alongside home-grown entrepreneurs<br />
vying with them to identify and sign-up<br />
sites for new courts.<br />
At times it feels like a modern day gold<br />
rush. In the scramble to secure sites, be<br />
the biggest name in a city or bring padel<br />
to a new area, millions of pounds are<br />
being poured into new and reinvigorated<br />
sporting facilities. And for that reason<br />
alone it is, quite simply, fantastic.<br />
And, amazingly, all this is happening<br />
somewhat under the radar. When we<br />
began <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> journey so many<br />
people hadn’t heard of padel. Or worse,<br />
they thought they had and asked if you<br />
ever fell in, or got cold. Er no. It’s padel, not<br />
paddle boarding…..or they confused it with<br />
pickle ball, which I’m sure is great but it is<br />
not padel. Now when I mention padel there<br />
is a flicker of recognition, perhaps thanks<br />
to national press coverage, the increased<br />
number of facilities and buzz around the<br />
sport that is infectious and building.<br />
<strong>The</strong> beauty of padel is perhaps summed<br />
up in three words - accessible, inclusive<br />
and fun. Apart from a racket you don’t<br />
need special kit and almost all courts<br />
(bar the very small number that operate<br />
a private membership) are accessible<br />
without membership, making it truly<br />
democratic. Because it’s doubles, court<br />
costs are split four ways so an hour or so’s<br />
play is affordable for many people.<br />
More often than not most players can<br />
get a rally going in their first session. If<br />
you’ve played racket sports previously<br />
then it’s a cinch. And super addictive. It<br />
has the potential to shake-up the sporting<br />
landscape, attracting players of all ages,<br />
abilities and backgrounds to courts in<br />
ever-more inventive locations that are<br />
right on their doorsteps.<br />
I love padel because it’s great fun and<br />
I really like hitting a ball hard every now<br />
and then. I’m not going to set the world<br />
alight with my play but that’s sort of the<br />
point - there is room for everyone and<br />
there’s nothing better than a good rally<br />
at any level. Walk past almost any court<br />
during recreational play and you’re likely<br />
to hear laughter or banter. <strong>The</strong>re’s is no<br />
better advert than that.<br />
Our mission at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> is to<br />
showcase all that is brilliant about padel<br />
in the UK (and further afield), inspire<br />
people to play and love being part of<br />
an amazing community. We want you<br />
to be involved - send in club news, your<br />
favourite videos of padel shots, questions<br />
you want answered about the game<br />
or equipment, topics you’d like to see<br />
Emma Devine<br />
Designer<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> team<br />
Emma Kimber<br />
Editor<br />
emma@thebandeja.com<br />
Catherine Larrad<br />
Consultant<br />
Emma Devine<br />
Designer<br />
Advertising<br />
emma@thebandeja.com<br />
Launch sponsors<br />
PadelShack / Playtomic<br />
covered, pictures of your friends doing<br />
daft things on court etc. We are, together,<br />
Team Padel and all questions, story ideas,<br />
comments or submissions are welcome.<br />
It’s fair to say that this project probably<br />
wouldn’t have happened without the<br />
help and support of a few rather amazing<br />
people, to whom I am more<br />
than grateful. So take a bow Catherine<br />
Larrad, Bob Smith (of our launch sponsor<br />
Padel Shack), Jo Buchanan-Smith (of our<br />
launch sponsor Playtomic), Ian Colligon<br />
(iPadel), Minter Dial, David Capper (Padel<br />
Tribe UK) and the boys down at Padel<br />
United in Maldon, especially Richard Smith<br />
and my first coach Kai Woodgate. And<br />
Katie Weiner. You’d said I’d like it!<br />
Emma<br />
Emma Kimber<br />
Editor<br />
emma@thebandeja.com<br />
6 thebandeja.com<br />
“<br />
It’s great to be part of this amazing and booming sport. Since<br />
opening we’ve gone from strength to strength thanks to the people<br />
of Harrogate and the excellent Playtomic platform.<br />
”<br />
Stuart Perrin. Surge Padel Harrogate<br />
Call our UK team now on 07340 528 866<br />
www.playtomic.com
News<br />
News<br />
No mingle singles!<br />
Small(er), beautiful and a record<br />
breaker – this is believed to be the UK’s<br />
first* singles padel court, just finished<br />
by Pro Padel Courts for a private client<br />
in Oxfordshire. Compared to a doubles<br />
court it is 6m rather than 10m wide, but<br />
with the same length of 20m. Which<br />
means that singles is probably harder<br />
work than doubles given that each player<br />
has to cover 60m 2 rather than 50m 2 . And<br />
hit every ball. Anyone for doubles?!<br />
*Liverpool FC has a ‘standard’ padel court<br />
but there’s a suggestion it also has a singles.<br />
If you know let us know!<br />
StarVie boosts<br />
production<br />
Spanish padel racket manufacturer<br />
StarVie is extending its factory near<br />
Madrid to enable it to produce 15,000<br />
rackets a month. See how it’s done<br />
here: click here<br />
Equality in WPT<br />
International Women’s Day in March saw<br />
the World Padel Tour (WPT) announce<br />
equal prize money for men and women,<br />
with the prize pot at women’s tournaments<br />
increasing by 250% for Challenger events,<br />
178% for Open and Masters and 160% for the<br />
Master Final, which the WPT described as<br />
‘unprecedented’ increases.<br />
takes on the world in Vegas<br />
Well done to the GB team who<br />
represented their country at the<br />
recent Electrolit Seniors World Padel<br />
Championships in Las Vegas, taking<br />
on some of the best players in the<br />
world and recording great results<br />
during the six day team and<br />
pairs tournament.<br />
Almost 600 players representing<br />
32 national teams and 18 countries<br />
(including Spain, Argentina, Portugal<br />
and Uruguay) played more than 500<br />
matches during the event, which was<br />
hosted by the United States Padel<br />
Association under the authority of FIP<br />
and the American Padel Federation.<br />
breaking news...<br />
Brilliantly the GB ladies finished 8th<br />
overall in the team event. <strong>The</strong> GB men,<br />
who only played their first LTA national<br />
tournament last year, were up against<br />
stiff competition, finishing 15 th in the<br />
team tournament.<br />
In the individual pairings, Libby Fletcher<br />
& Claire Smith made it through to the<br />
quarter finals in the +35 years women’s<br />
doubles and Michael Gradon/Matt<br />
Lansley won through to the quarter<br />
finals in the +55 years men’s doubles.<br />
A huge well done to all the players. Full<br />
details of the championships in the next<br />
issue of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>.<br />
Just as <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> was going to press Rocks Lane Padel, London,<br />
announced plans to develop two padel sites in Cornwall - <strong>The</strong> Point at<br />
Polzeath and Trevose Golf Club, Padstow (which should be open for the<br />
June Bank Holiday. Playtomic is the booking platform). Chris Warren,<br />
Rocks Lane co-founder, said in announcing the plans: “So pack your<br />
golf clubs, bucket & spade, surf board and now your padel racket!”<br />
8 thebandeja.com<br />
Photo courtesy Trevose Golf Club<br />
Derby Calling<br />
We Are Padel has launched onto<br />
the UK scene with news that it<br />
is opening the country’s largest<br />
indoor facility in Derby, with<br />
another multi-court site to<br />
follow in Shoreditch, London.<br />
Both schemes revolve around<br />
Powerleague facilities; the company<br />
took over the Powerleague operation<br />
at Derby’s Pride Park in mid April with<br />
ambitious plans to have 11 indoor<br />
courts up and running in the next few<br />
weeks. Until then Harrogate’s Surge<br />
Padel will retain the title of largest<br />
indoor club, with six courts.<br />
We are Padel (a LeDap club)<br />
proposals are also progressing for<br />
the Powerleague site in Shoreditch,<br />
where it will have seven outdoor<br />
‘semi-covered’ courts.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company is pursuing a further<br />
25 potential new locations in England<br />
with the intention of opening up to six<br />
clubs this year and expanding into<br />
Scotland and Ireland in the future.<br />
We are Padel UK spokesman Rosco<br />
Muller told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> that their<br />
vision is to build a community at each<br />
of the locations, which will operate<br />
on a pay-per-play basis. “Our DNA<br />
is the personal touch, a premium<br />
experience and really connecting<br />
with the community. We are not a<br />
business that will just build clubs,<br />
the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
get a booking system in place, install<br />
electronic gates and issue QR codes.<br />
Our customers will receive a warm<br />
welcome from our team who will,<br />
if required, take them by the hand and<br />
into the world of padel,” said Rosco.<br />
Derby club manager will be<br />
Matthew Baker and his assistant<br />
Jennifer Truong.<br />
LeDap is owned by private equity<br />
company Triton and already<br />
operates some 100 padel centres<br />
and more than 800 courts across<br />
Europe and the Middle East. It has<br />
stated its aim to become the<br />
world’s leading platform to drive<br />
the growth, innovation, digitalisation<br />
and professionalisation of the<br />
game, making it ‘available to all’<br />
and contributing to it becoming<br />
an Olympic sport.<br />
Have a lake or water frontage but no physical space<br />
for a padel court? Us neither! But if you do then checkout<br />
Flodel, a rather lovely floating padel court. It’s a<br />
collaboration between Swedish companies World Wide<br />
Padel and Pontech and can include spectator/lounge<br />
areas with a bar and cafe. Just don’t hit the balls out…<br />
Find out more about Tom Murray, the<br />
LTA’s Head of Padel, in Rob Salmon’s<br />
My Tennis Journey podcast. Rob chats<br />
with Tom about his early career, from<br />
teaching English to becoming a young<br />
tennis hopeful, and then going on to<br />
drive the growth of padel in the UK.<br />
www.serveandvolley.net<br />
It’s coming...<br />
A mini padel court, a racket<br />
specialist and racket sports brand.<br />
Full details in the next issue!<br />
Phew...<br />
we can all breath a sigh<br />
of relief. Garmin has<br />
made padel official by<br />
including it in the latest<br />
firmware update for its<br />
Fenix 6. Now we just need to<br />
work on Strava, since we all<br />
know that if it’s not on Strava...<br />
If you’re using it and comparing with<br />
other racket sports let us know, we’d<br />
love to see your stats.<br />
“If tennis is chequers,<br />
padel is chess. It is really<br />
a thinking person’s<br />
sport but the great thing<br />
about padel is that it is<br />
easy to learn and hard<br />
to master.<br />
”<br />
Lee Sponaugle, All Racket Sports<br />
9
News<br />
taking padel<br />
to their hearts<br />
New<br />
London<br />
league<br />
Swedish booking app Padel Mates has<br />
lived up to its name for two players who<br />
met and fell in love after arranging a<br />
game via the app. Larsa Gustafsson<br />
Brintler made a late booking to play at<br />
his local club in Sweden, slotting into a<br />
game with three women, one of whom<br />
was Ellinor Berglund. By the first serve of<br />
the match he realised he was hooked<br />
and the pair are due to marry.<br />
Court construction...<br />
Padel court construction is probably<br />
cheaper than you think and – because<br />
you can fit nearly three padel courts<br />
into one full-size tennis court – installing<br />
one makes economic sense. That can<br />
be 12 players instead of four in the same<br />
space using other club facilities and<br />
spending money at your bar!<br />
– Corrie Padel.<br />
Playtomic & GotCourts<br />
Playtomic has acquired GotCourts,<br />
a racket-sports platform operating in<br />
Switzerland, Germany and Austria. <strong>The</strong><br />
deal gives Playtomic a strong foothold<br />
in Germany, the largest market for<br />
tennis in Europe, and allows the Spanish<br />
company to meet an expected surge<br />
in popularity of padel in the region.<br />
“Padel is, besides<br />
football, the best game<br />
I’ve ever played. I’m really<br />
addicted to it. You make<br />
big steps in a short<br />
period of time. It’s really<br />
fun to play.<br />
10<br />
”<br />
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool FC manager<br />
Kuwaitis are embracing the padel boom, with what is thought to<br />
be the first ladies tournament held there recently and thousands of<br />
players downloading booking app Padel Mates to organise matches.<br />
Padel has been established in the<br />
country for little over a year but its<br />
popularity is gathering pace and<br />
driving the opening of new courts.<br />
For Padel Mates co-founder Daniel<br />
Dawood the sudden interest in the<br />
sport came out of the blue, with some<br />
3,000 app downloads in just two days.<br />
“It was very unexpected, we didn’t<br />
even know there were halls in Kuwait.<br />
After a few weeks we had added more<br />
than 40 halls to Padel Mates.”<br />
This prompted Padel Kuwait City to<br />
host a women’s-only tournament<br />
organised through the app. Club<br />
owner Dr Imad Dash said: “<strong>The</strong> first<br />
Americano tournament was an<br />
enormous success. We launched a<br />
‘Ladies Friday Challenge’ tournament<br />
which was an amazing experience<br />
with 12 ladies, most of them having<br />
never met before, flying from court to<br />
court with padel rackets in hand for<br />
two hours. <strong>The</strong> ladies stayed after<br />
the tournament, appreciating the<br />
social gathering and having fun. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
exchanged techniques, tricks, secrets,<br />
laughs, and phone numbers.”<br />
Player Sarah Dashti said padel quickly<br />
‘reached the heart’ of Kuwaitis during<br />
the pandemic. And, because it is not<br />
dominated by strength, it is easily<br />
played by all ages. “<strong>The</strong> easiness of<br />
playing led to big popularity with<br />
Kuwaiti women. Padel is a fun sport<br />
that has a positive impact on your<br />
health. Seeing people move, be<br />
happy and have fun socialising is<br />
an amazing achievement for the<br />
people and the community. Padel<br />
Mates made it possible for us to have<br />
a wonderful women’s tournament<br />
where we had fun, met new players<br />
and built a great padel community.”<br />
And, of course, there’s a What’sApp<br />
group!<br />
thebandeja.com<br />
Live in the capital and want to play<br />
competitive league matches in the<br />
Greater London area? <strong>The</strong>n check-out<br />
Padel-London’s new box league at<br />
padel-london.co.uk/compete<br />
Devised by David Segura-Pravia of<br />
Padel London, the league is intended<br />
to give players aged 18+ years of all<br />
abilities the opportunity to participate<br />
in a league, with the freedom to play<br />
anywhere in Greater London at times<br />
agreed by all players.<br />
“I have been playing padel in London<br />
since 2018 in different locations and<br />
And our survey says…<br />
A Padel United survey has highlighted<br />
that people in London and the North<br />
West particularly are keen to see more<br />
padel facilities as the sport grows<br />
rapidly in these regions.<br />
And even in Essex, where Padel United<br />
UK is based and has three clubs<br />
(Maldon, Brentwood and Chelmsford)<br />
plus a club in Bishops Stortford, survey<br />
respondents identified that it can be<br />
difficult to get a game, particularly at<br />
peak times.<br />
“People in Essex seem overwhelmingly<br />
to feel that Padel United is doing a<br />
good job in providing a vibrant padel<br />
community with enough court time<br />
the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
I always missed a friendly,<br />
organised league that would have<br />
allowed me and my friends to play<br />
in a more competitive way,” said<br />
David. “That is why I decided to<br />
create the box league.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> league is split into two regions<br />
(East and West), played in rounds<br />
- winter, spring, summer and autumn<br />
- and divided into ability bands<br />
to ensure competitive play. Entry<br />
is capped at 48 teams, with each<br />
playing five matches per round.<br />
Click here to join padel-london.co.uk<br />
and events to keep them happy<br />
– up to a point,” said a spokesman.<br />
“In other parts of the UK it remains<br />
hard to even find a game close to<br />
home; some of our survey respondents<br />
mentioned having to travel more than<br />
100 miles to access facilities.”<br />
Padel United research identified that<br />
players want facilities to have a cafe,<br />
equipment shop, good changing and<br />
bathroom facilities, all weather courts<br />
and decent access/car parking.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company is committed to<br />
developing the game throughout<br />
the UK, with London, Manchester,<br />
Just as us tennis players are<br />
getting to grips with picking balls<br />
off walls and sticking to our own<br />
side during service there’s another<br />
new concept landing – T30.<br />
Created by tennis enthusiast<br />
Mark Milne, T30 is a shorter and<br />
faster-paced scoring format<br />
starting from 30 all for tennis that he<br />
feels will work equally well in padel.<br />
www.thirty30tennis.com/rules<br />
Glasgow, Birmingham and Bristol<br />
key locations it wishes to invest<br />
in. As with many padel facility<br />
providers, it is scouting for sites. Its<br />
preference is to build 10+ indoor<br />
courts at each site, with news of its<br />
first major indoor venue expected<br />
to be announced shortly.<br />
Enjoying<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>?<br />
Free sign-up is now<br />
open for <strong>Issue</strong> 2<br />
www.thebandeja.com<br />
11
News<br />
Game4Padel<br />
secures Cornish<br />
location<br />
Andy Murray-backed Game4Padel<br />
is bringing padel to Newquay<br />
having gained planning<br />
permission for two covered courts.<br />
Cornwall Council granted plans to convert one<br />
tennis court into two padel courts at Heron<br />
Tennis Centre. Building work was expected to<br />
begin immediately with a view to opening this<br />
summer.<br />
Heron Tennis Centre director Jon Askey<br />
said: “We are really excited about bringing<br />
padel to Cornwall. We have seen how<br />
quickly the game is growing across the<br />
country and believe it will be extremely<br />
popular in Newquay.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> plans had the full backing of Newquay<br />
Town Council, with councillors stating the<br />
scheme would ‘see the town benefit from the<br />
introduction of this widely inclusive sport’.<br />
Support<br />
Town residents also threw their support<br />
behind the application. One wrote: “Having<br />
played padel tennis numerous times it is a<br />
sport which can be thoroughly enjoyed by<br />
a complete novice but at the same time<br />
is very skilful for advanced players. I hope<br />
to be able to play locally rather than waiting<br />
until my next holiday in Europe.”<br />
Game4Padel co-founder and CEO, Michael<br />
Gradon, said: “In the past year there has<br />
been unprecedented demand for new padel<br />
courts around the country. We already have<br />
27 venues operating or in development and<br />
planning and plan to have at least 50 padel<br />
venues open by the end of 2022.”<br />
Game4Padel venues due to open this year<br />
include London Westfield shopping centre;<br />
Broxbourne Sports Club, Hertfordshire; Draycott<br />
Sports Club, Stoke on Trent; Liverpool Cricket<br />
Club and Dundee Forthill.<br />
Jon Askey, Heron Tennis Centre Director;<br />
Terry Askey, Heron Tennis Centre founder<br />
and Michael Gradon, CEO of Game4Padel.<br />
Varsity Padel<br />
<strong>The</strong> seeds of a national varsity padel league<br />
have been sown following the UK’s first Padel<br />
University Challenge between Edinburgh and<br />
Stirling universities.<br />
Hosted by Thistle Padel Club in<br />
Edinburgh, the match saw three teams<br />
from each university battle it out.<br />
Edinburgh emerged victorious with an<br />
8-1 win after some very close matches.<br />
Edinburgh Uni team captain Ali Gordon<br />
and teammate/match organiser<br />
Sam McKinney, said: “It was a great<br />
experience. <strong>The</strong>re were lots of close,<br />
high-level matches across the day.<br />
We all really enjoyed it. Huge thanks<br />
to the Stirling guys for coming across<br />
to Edinburgh and to Game4Padel for<br />
sponsoring the event and hosting<br />
us at Thistle Padel Club. Looking<br />
forward to a rematch!”<br />
Game4Padel is on the look-out for<br />
universities and colleges to join its Padel<br />
University Challenge with the hope that it<br />
will lead to a national varsity league.<br />
Fit. and Healthy<br />
A new report - Safe and Essential -<br />
from ukactive has revealed extremely<br />
low rates of COVID-19 among people<br />
using fitness and leisure facilities during<br />
the pandemic. Data gathered from<br />
thousands of ukactive members across<br />
To register interest e-mail<br />
info@game4padel.com<br />
the UK showed that of 241,154,977 visits<br />
to facilities from July 25th, 2020, to<br />
February 27th, 2022, just 2,605 cases<br />
of COVID-19 were reported among<br />
visitors - an overall rate of 1.08 cases<br />
per 100,000 visits.<br />
12 thebandeja.com
News<br />
Off <strong>The</strong> Wall<br />
with Padel Pussy...<br />
It’s great to see padel getting national<br />
news coverage. A recent article in a<br />
broadsheet gave a whole page to<br />
discussion about the game. It had a<br />
focus on the business side of the sport,<br />
with really good, positive input from<br />
Christopher Wilkinson and Kevin McCollum<br />
of Padel4All, Simon Pearson of David Lloyd<br />
Clubs and Neil Morgan of JetPadel.<br />
I personally, however, would like to see<br />
a change in the narrative when journalists<br />
report on the sport. <strong>The</strong> growth of padel<br />
isn’t to the detriment of anything (notably<br />
tennis) and it’s definitely not the tennis<br />
equivalent of crazy golf (yes, that was<br />
one analogy) or played with over-sized<br />
ping-pong paddles. As for being the<br />
sporting version of Japanese knotweed?<br />
I rest my case.<br />
Padel is its own sport and a massive<br />
positive worldwide that’s bringing people<br />
of all ages into racket sports - and sport.<br />
Some of them may even switch to tennis,<br />
God forbid. It’s creating new careers for<br />
young people, re-invigorating sports<br />
clubs and facilities and bringing in foreign<br />
money. Hats off to all the clubs and padel<br />
facility providers for making this happen.<br />
<strong>The</strong> padel story is overwhelmingly positive.<br />
It doesn’t need comparing to anything<br />
else and we really must get the message<br />
across that it is not an easy sporting<br />
option and it is not less demanding of the<br />
player. Those ideas need scratching from<br />
the record. It may be easy to start but<br />
building skill, as with any sport, takes time,<br />
effort and patience.<br />
What do you think? Let us know here.<br />
Padel has been included in<br />
the 2023 European Games in<br />
Krakow-Malopolska, from<br />
21 June to 2 July 2023<br />
Game on GameCam!<br />
Want to analyse your shots after a coaching session or<br />
post-match with a beer at the bar? <strong>The</strong>n start lobbying<br />
your club to install GameCam.<br />
<strong>The</strong> high-performance sports camera<br />
records and live streams matches in<br />
broadcast quality as well as generating<br />
a slew of match stats via its built-in AI<br />
chip to help players identify strengths<br />
and weaknesses. Or simply tease their<br />
opponents or playing partner about<br />
unforced errors, time spent in the<br />
dead zone and the player who hit the<br />
least shots. You can even heat map<br />
movements around court.<br />
<strong>The</strong> video analytics and statistics<br />
feature has been developed in<br />
conjunction with professional padel<br />
players and coaches, according to<br />
GameCam CEO Ruud Smits, to ensure<br />
it extracts and delivers the data that<br />
players want.<br />
Starting from €950 including the<br />
wall mount<br />
www.gamecampadel.com<br />
Roland Garros to<br />
host top flight padel<br />
Padel is heading to its second<br />
tennis Grand Slam location<br />
this year with news that Roland<br />
Garros will host a world-class<br />
tournament in July.<br />
Just months after padel was showcased<br />
at the Australian Open (see page 16),<br />
the sport is heading to the Paris Premier<br />
Padel Major on July 11-17th as part of<br />
a multi-year agreement between the<br />
French Tennis Federation (FFT) and<br />
Premier Padel, the big-money rival to<br />
the World Padel Tour.<br />
Premier Padel is managed by the<br />
International Padel Federation (FIP)<br />
supported by the state-backed Qatar<br />
Sports Investments. <strong>The</strong> Paris event is its<br />
first major padel tournament in Europe.<br />
Gilles Moretton, president of the FFT,<br />
said: “<strong>The</strong> federation is proud to write<br />
padel history by teaming up with FIP<br />
and Premier Padel. This will propel padel<br />
to a new dimension and boost the<br />
French fervour for the discipline.”<br />
Luigi Carraro, president of FIP, said:<br />
“Padel is growing rapidly in France and<br />
we look forward to showcasing our<br />
sport at its best to new audiences in<br />
this spectacular venue – and to viewers<br />
all over the world.”<br />
Watch Premier Padel tournaments<br />
on Sky.<br />
Growing Padel in the UK<br />
www.ipadel.co.uk<br />
07765 403769<br />
ian@ipadel.co.uk<br />
14 thebandeja.com
international<br />
Padel scored a landmark achievement<br />
earlier this year with the addition of<br />
an exhibition court to a Grand Slam<br />
tennis tournament.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pop-up court attracted<br />
Maxime Cressey’s coaches<br />
Armand D’Harcourt and<br />
Romain Sichez, pictured<br />
with Mark Monjonell and Erin<br />
Purtle. Photo: Lee Bradshaw<br />
<strong>The</strong> Australian Open threw its doors<br />
open to the sport, hosting a pop-up<br />
court at Melbourne Park for the public<br />
to try it and watch exhibition matches.<br />
In the shadow of the Rod Laver arena,<br />
the court attracted a huge amount of<br />
interest, with organisers hoping it will<br />
drive engagement with the sport,<br />
described by AusPadel, the Australian<br />
Padel Federation as ‘the ‘T20’ of cricket,<br />
the ‘touch rugby’ of rugby, the ‘cross-fit’<br />
of gym and the ‘five-a-side’ of football’.<br />
Tennis Australia, which has taken<br />
over national governance of the<br />
sport, hopes that within three years<br />
an international tournament will be<br />
played at Melbourne Park.<br />
Erin Purtle, who was involved in the<br />
initiative, said the Australian Open<br />
was a ‘huge success’ for padel in<br />
Australia. “Before the AO if you asked<br />
anyone if they’d heard of padel they<br />
would think that you were talking<br />
about stand-up paddle (boarding)<br />
Matt Thomas<br />
but since the AO everyone knows what<br />
padel is! It was on the news and in<br />
newspapers getting great coverage.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problem now is that<br />
we have so few courts to promote<br />
the sport further, but there is plenty<br />
of activity and many rumours about<br />
new locations opening in Australia.”<br />
At present the country has just<br />
24 public courts at six clubs in<br />
Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and the<br />
Gold Coast - making it a prime target<br />
for development. Fifteen courts are<br />
expected to open this year.<br />
European padel operators have<br />
expressed interest in expanding their<br />
operations down under and there<br />
are a growing number of<br />
home-grown organisations<br />
looking to invest in facilities.<br />
Brit Matt Thomas, along with Matt<br />
Barrelle (now president AusPadel),<br />
is credited with introducing padel to<br />
Australia in 2016 having seen it played<br />
in Spain while working as a tennis<br />
coach there. Matt T is now ranked<br />
Australia’s top player and both he<br />
and Matt B represented the country<br />
at the recent Seniors World Padel<br />
Championship in Las Vegas.<br />
16 thebandeja.com
New Courts Opened<br />
Garon Park, Southend, Essex (Padel4all)<br />
3 canopied, 1 outdoor show court<br />
Withdean Sports Complex, Brighton,<br />
East Sussex (Game4Padel)<br />
1 outdoor court<br />
Ipswich Sports Club (Game4Padel)<br />
1 pop-up court (see page 47)<br />
Surbiton Racket & Fitness, Surrey<br />
2 outdoor courts<br />
Surge Padel, Harrogate, North Yorkshire<br />
6 indoor courts<br />
<strong>The</strong> Welsh Padel Centre, Cwmbran<br />
2 canopied courts with space for a third<br />
Padel United UK, Chelmsford, Essex<br />
2 outdoor courts<br />
Lowther Gardens, Lytham St Annes,<br />
Lancashire<br />
2 floodlit padel courts<br />
Hurlingham Club<br />
3 courts, two floodlit<br />
Solihull Arden Club, Birmingham<br />
3 outdoor courts<br />
Roehampton Club, London<br />
2 floodlit courts<br />
Coming Soon<br />
Derby (We Are Padel)<br />
11 indoor courts<br />
<strong>The</strong> Queen’s Club, London<br />
2 floodlit courts<br />
Oxford (MVP Padel)<br />
3 courts<br />
Lockleaze Sports Centre, Bristol<br />
(Padel4all)<br />
4 covered floodlit courts<br />
Dundee (Game4Padel)<br />
1 court<br />
Lethamhill golf course, Glasgow<br />
(Game4Padel)<br />
3 covered courts<br />
Heron Tennis Centre, Newquay<br />
(Game4Padel)<br />
2 courts<br />
Island Padel, Jersey<br />
3 indoor, 2 outdoor floodlit courts<br />
Planning Granted<br />
Ripon Tennis Centre<br />
2 floodlight covered courts<br />
South Essex Golf Club, Brentwood<br />
(Padel United)<br />
3 courts – 2 covered<br />
Grappenhall Village LTC, Oxford<br />
(Game4Padel)<br />
2 covered courts<br />
155 & counting...<br />
Keeping up with new padel clubs and courts opening<br />
around the UK feels, at times, like herding cats; public and<br />
private courts are going up at a rate of knots and more<br />
are being announced weekly.<br />
Official LTA figures give some insight<br />
into this – in September last year<br />
it quoted 114 courts (37 covered,<br />
77 outdoor), which had risen to<br />
155 courts (93 covered, 62 outdoor)<br />
at 70 venues as of March 1st this year.<br />
Since then there have been a<br />
flurry of new facilities opening and<br />
development plans announced<br />
both from ‘established’ big players<br />
(Padel4all, Game4Padel and Padel<br />
United to name just three) and new<br />
names to the UK sector – LeDap’s We<br />
Are Padel plans for the Powerleague<br />
site in Derby (11 covered courts opening<br />
in a matter of weeks) is a major step<br />
forward for the sport here. And it has<br />
plans – which we can only presume<br />
will be comparable – for a site in<br />
Shoreditch, London.<br />
Until Derby’s We are Padel opens, the<br />
impressive and new Surge in Harrogate<br />
remains the largest indoor facility<br />
to date (six courts). It has quickly<br />
built a strong following and has the<br />
powerhouse that is Nicky Horn very<br />
successfully driving engagement of<br />
women in the game (see page 42).<br />
Special mention must also go to <strong>The</strong><br />
Welsh Padel Centre in Cwmbran and<br />
its driving force David Cornwell, who<br />
deserves huge credit for his hard work<br />
in developing a brilliant facility that’s<br />
attracting players from a wide area.<br />
It’s also worth mentioning that there<br />
is a growing market for private courts<br />
(ie in your back garden or perhaps<br />
estate) for those lucky enough to have<br />
the space and funds. <strong>The</strong>se courts<br />
aren’t, to our knowledge, included<br />
in any official figures. One court<br />
developer told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> that they<br />
are doing more installations for private<br />
clients than they are for clubs and<br />
organisations. So for anyone struggling<br />
to get court time it could be worth<br />
making friends in high places...<br />
London bastions of Britishness,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hurlingham Club and Queen’s Club,<br />
are both flying the flag for padel by<br />
adding the sport to their facilities.<br />
Hurlingham members have had the use of one<br />
court for seven years but it was getting heavy<br />
use and didn’t allow the club to build a padel<br />
community. In addition, club sports executive<br />
Danny Sitton told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> that they were<br />
examining sports trends and identified padel’s<br />
huge growth. <strong>The</strong> club invested in three new<br />
courts (two floodlit) and within weeks has<br />
reported usage on a par with its tennis courts.<br />
Over at Queen’s, two new courts with floodlights<br />
are in progress, a sure sign that the sport has<br />
arrived. Next stop Wimbledon?.<br />
18 thebandeja.com<br />
the UK padel magazine<br />
19
undercover<br />
in wales<br />
Helen Rossiter (left)<br />
and Jane Sunnucks.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first covered padel club in Wales has<br />
opened in Cwmbran with two undercover courts<br />
and room for a third, immediately tripling court<br />
provision in the country.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Welsh Padel Centre has been<br />
developed from the site of derelict<br />
tennis courts, transforming an unused<br />
area into what has been described<br />
as a ‘fantastic community resource’<br />
which also includes a 3G five-a-side<br />
football pitch.<br />
David Cornwell, director of Padel<br />
Centres Ltd, is behind the scheme.<br />
He began playing padel in Spain but<br />
found that his nearest home court<br />
was, initially, in Winchester, a 230<br />
mile round trip. That changed with<br />
the installation of a padel court at<br />
Windsor Lawn Tennis Club in Penarth<br />
last year.<br />
He believes there is real demand for<br />
the sport locally: “It’s a great location<br />
– we had people from Bristol come<br />
to play on our open weekend and it’s<br />
easy for people from Cardiff, Newport,<br />
Monmouthshire, Caerphilly as well as<br />
Torfaen to play. <strong>The</strong>re’s latent demand,<br />
we just need to encourage people.”<br />
Centre ambassador Paul Jenkins is<br />
a point in case: “I used to drive to<br />
Birmingham two hours once a month<br />
to play in a tournament. I’ve played<br />
in Ireland. I’ve played in Scotland and<br />
various parts of England. So to have<br />
it on my doorstep - what a fantastic<br />
opportunity for the people of south<br />
Wales,” he said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> development has the support<br />
of Tennis Wales. Chief executive<br />
Simon Johnson said: “Padel is growing<br />
right across the UK and seeing further<br />
investment into Wales is superb<br />
for the game.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> centre includes changing<br />
facilities/equipment hire and<br />
plans to organise coaching<br />
sessions and tournaments. It is fully<br />
automated with an online booking<br />
system in place.<br />
Charity organisation the HWB<br />
Torfaen has taken responsibility<br />
for the management and running<br />
of the site in partnership with the<br />
community council.<br />
Dan Oliver, HWB Torfaen chief<br />
executive, said: We are delighted<br />
with the development. What David<br />
and his team achieved during<br />
the pandemic is nothing short<br />
of remarkable. What a fantastic<br />
resource he has brought into the<br />
area for the community to enjoy.”<br />
enjoying<br />
<strong>The</strong>n subscribe here for FREE and make<br />
sure you receive <strong>Issue</strong> 2 of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong><br />
straight to your inbox.<br />
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20 thebandeja.com
kevin palmer<br />
Andy Murray and Peter Crouch<br />
kevin palmer<br />
<strong>The</strong> padel<br />
phenomenon<br />
an unstoppable force<br />
by Kevin Palmer<br />
From 30 padel<br />
courts in 2018 to<br />
more than 150<br />
now, there’s no<br />
stopping the<br />
march of this<br />
highly addictive<br />
game across the<br />
UK. Here Kevin<br />
Palmer charts its<br />
rise and rise, from<br />
being a ‘delicious<br />
secret’ to Klopp’s<br />
winning weapon<br />
and now the<br />
favourite sport<br />
of thousands<br />
of players.<br />
Roll the clock back to 2018 and<br />
there were just 30 padel courts<br />
in a UK market still largely<br />
unaware of the sport’s potential<br />
- but how that has changed.<br />
Back then, the sport we all know and<br />
love so well was a delicious secret<br />
being kept by the padel hotbeds<br />
such as Spain and Argentina, but the<br />
landscape was about to be hit by<br />
a revolution that would change the<br />
sport forever in Britain.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lawn Tennis Association’s<br />
decision to hire UK pioneer Tom<br />
Murray to front up their padel division<br />
and add the sport to its family was<br />
a decision that has proved to be<br />
pivotal to the stage where we are<br />
now seeing a growth that appears<br />
to be unstoppable.<br />
Since the day Sport England, Sport<br />
Scotland and Sport Wales officially<br />
recognised the sport as a discipline<br />
of tennis, to the vast investment<br />
in padel courts from a variety of<br />
ambitious backers, there is a sense<br />
that we are on the cusp of something<br />
unique with a sport all <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong><br />
readers share a passion for.<br />
‘New’ sports rarely get a platform<br />
of this magnitude to launch<br />
themselves, but padel is being driven<br />
by a momentum that appears to<br />
be unstoppable.<br />
<strong>The</strong> loans being offered by the LTA to<br />
install padel courts across the country<br />
are changing the way tennis clubs are<br />
viewing the sport, with an appreciation<br />
of the financial benefits of including<br />
a padel court on your list of offerings<br />
now at the forefront of decision making<br />
when padel courts are installed.<br />
Premier League fans<br />
In addition, padel has been given<br />
the kind of star power publicity that<br />
could never have been provided by<br />
an expensive PR campaign. Take the<br />
example at Liverpool Football Club,<br />
where manager Jurgen Klopp and his<br />
assistant Pep Lijnders discovered the<br />
sport when they were on a pre-season<br />
training trip to Tenerife.<br />
At first, Klopp and Lijnders were<br />
bemused by the sport they saw as an<br />
‘extended version of table tennis’, but<br />
that stance quickly changed when they<br />
got padel rackets in their hands and<br />
experienced what so many of us have<br />
felt as we quickly found a new love.<br />
“We built a court for us at the training<br />
ground and now we are playing this<br />
game almost every day,” Lijnders<br />
confirms. “<strong>The</strong> game has been a nice<br />
distraction from our daily routine.<br />
Sometimes we come up with the best<br />
ideas to solve issues during these<br />
games. We sit down on a bench in<br />
between two sets and we discuss<br />
solutions for football problems. In<br />
fact, we do that a lot. When you are<br />
constantly playing matches or doing<br />
top-level training sessions every day,<br />
there is no time to wind down.”<br />
Such an endorsement from Liverpool’s<br />
leaders is just one of many that<br />
have put padel on the map. Two-time<br />
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray<br />
has invested in a padel business<br />
and former Scotland rugby star<br />
Max Evans and one-time England<br />
captain John Terry are regular padel<br />
rivals when at their holiday homes in<br />
Quinta do Lago, Portugal.<br />
Few sports looking to make a<br />
breakthrough in a crowded marketplace<br />
have promoters of that calibre driving<br />
the message, but they are not alone in<br />
appreciating that this is a sport ready<br />
to move to another level.<br />
PSG’s pro tour<br />
Confirmation that the Qatari owners<br />
of French soccer giants Paris<br />
Saint-Germain are ready to take<br />
padel to a new level by launching a<br />
pro tour that will offer big prize money<br />
may just be the next phase of a<br />
journey laced with promise.<br />
<strong>The</strong> building blocks required to build<br />
a phenomenon rarely slot into place<br />
quickly, yet the latest participation<br />
Sports journalist Kevin Palmer will be<br />
writing for <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> on a wide<br />
range of padel topics. Some of you may<br />
know him from his brilliant coverage<br />
for Tennis365 and he’s worked with Sky<br />
Sports, ESPN, Yahoo, Goal.com, Planet<br />
Sport and femalefirst.co.uk. His Twitter<br />
account has been named the most<br />
influential in Irish sports media for the<br />
last four years. We are delighted to<br />
have him onboard!<br />
figures for padel in the UK confirm<br />
89,000 active players are now playing<br />
the sport and 15,000 of those are hitting<br />
the courts on a regular basis.<br />
While the pandemic has stunted<br />
plans for court development across<br />
the country, those participation<br />
numbers are a triumph for a padel<br />
community that is growing at a pace<br />
that suggests the future is only<br />
heading in one direction.<br />
Addictive<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> readers don’t need to be<br />
told how gloriously addictive padel is<br />
and we all have a duty to get our friends<br />
on court to experience the sport that<br />
sets our collective pulse racing. After all,<br />
we are all the groundbreakers in taking<br />
padel into the mainstream in UK sport.<br />
New sports rarely<br />
“<br />
get a platform of this<br />
magnitude to launch<br />
themselves, but<br />
padel is being driven<br />
by a momentum<br />
that appears to<br />
be unstoppable.<br />
”<br />
22 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
23
<strong>The</strong> interview<br />
<strong>The</strong> girl with<br />
good hands<br />
...and her gap year goal<br />
Taking a gap year usually means travelling, volunteering, or<br />
simply taking time out between ‘A’ levels and university to firm up<br />
on a career path. Exam pressure is off and there’s a more relaxed<br />
time stretching out ahead.<br />
24<br />
“I never get fed up, I love it so<br />
much. I enjoy training, I enjoy<br />
playing, I enjoy competing,<br />
I enjoy every aspect of it.”<br />
Image courtesy the LTA<br />
That is, of course, unless you are<br />
Tia Norton, the first British woman<br />
to compete on the World Padel<br />
Tour and a regular in the GB Women’s<br />
team, assuming captaincy for the World<br />
Championships in Doha last November.<br />
And all, brilliantly, achieved before and<br />
just after she turned 18.<br />
With a university place safely secured<br />
(interior architecture at Nottingham<br />
Trent) Tia has taken a gap year, setting<br />
herself a clear goal – to break into the<br />
world top 100. It’s an aim that remains<br />
despite unforeseen interventions<br />
from Brexit and FIP’s break from the<br />
WPT, more of which later.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Leamington Spa teenager’s ever<br />
growing list of padel achievements<br />
have been well documented in the<br />
press, where she has been described<br />
as ‘trailblazing’, ‘a bright future star’,<br />
‘shining star’ and ‘leading-light’. And<br />
all with good cause. In her six years on<br />
the international circuit she has racked<br />
up a raft of notable firsts, her career<br />
highlight being a match win on her first<br />
appearance in the World Padel Tour<br />
in Malaga last summer with Swedish<br />
partner and fellow teen Amanda Girdo.<br />
“Amanda & I went in to the tournament<br />
with completely no expectations, it was<br />
the first WPT event for both of us. We<br />
got a wildcard and were like yeah, let’s<br />
just go in, enjoy it and see how it goes.<br />
I think, because we put no pressure on<br />
ourselves, we came out with such a<br />
good achievement. I remember going<br />
back to the hotel room after we won<br />
the first match and I was like this is it,<br />
this is what I want to do for the rest<br />
of my life!” said Tia.<br />
the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
<strong>The</strong> newcomers defeated Romanian/<br />
Spanish duo Raluca Sandu and Noemi<br />
Aguilar to make it through to the second<br />
round of pre-qualifiers, where they beat<br />
Italian/Spanish pairing Carlotta Casali<br />
Vannicelli and Raquel Segura Aguilar to<br />
secure their spot in the qualifiers, where<br />
they went head-to-head with Spaniards<br />
Nuria Rodriguez and Marina Guinart<br />
España, losing 6-2 & 6-2.<br />
Having tasted WPT success, Tia is now<br />
focussed on getting matches and<br />
ranking points under her belt to achieve<br />
her goal of joining the world’s top 100<br />
players. But forces beyond her control<br />
have thrown spanners in the works,<br />
notably Brexit and WPT’s break with FIP.<br />
“Amanda and I played tournaments<br />
last year but I had to come home<br />
because of the 90 day restriction in<br />
Europe due to Brexit. Because I wasn’t<br />
able to travel and do tournaments my<br />
ranking dropped. This year I managed<br />
to secure a Swedish permit visa which<br />
meant I could travel in Europe freely<br />
for six months.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> second issue is the division of WPT<br />
and FIP following the International Padel<br />
Federation’s decision to launch its own<br />
world tour in opposition to WPT, as Tia<br />
explained: “By playing FIP tournaments<br />
you could earn WPT points to make<br />
Tia has recently<br />
renewed her<br />
collaboration<br />
with Nox<br />
it easier to get into tournaments.<br />
But now FIP has created its own<br />
professional league it is quite hard<br />
to play the WPT because there is no<br />
other way of getting points. If you<br />
are a new player there is, essentially,<br />
no way on to the professional circuit<br />
at the moment. <strong>The</strong>re is a rumour<br />
that they are going to create smaller<br />
tournaments for these points but they<br />
haven’t announced anything yet.”<br />
Coaching<br />
Tia is now partnered with Spanish<br />
player Carla Fitó and the pair are<br />
playing FIP tournaments and hoping<br />
to gain wild card entries into WPT<br />
tournaments. Her current schedule<br />
sees her travelling between home and<br />
Tia has taken a gap year, setting<br />
herself a clear goal - to break into<br />
the world top 100.<br />
25<br />
Photo courtesy Nox
<strong>The</strong> interview<br />
<strong>The</strong> cricket<br />
connection<br />
Her sponsors<br />
Tia is sponsored by NOX Sport,<br />
MATCHi, Padel Shack, Bynx<br />
and Game4Padel.<br />
Michael Gradon, CEO of<br />
Game4Padel said: “Tia is the<br />
future bright star of the padel<br />
world and we are delighted to<br />
support her on her journey.”<br />
“We’re really excited to have<br />
Tia joining our team. Everybody<br />
knows about the qualities she<br />
possesses on court. Together<br />
with an influential ambassador<br />
like Tia, we hope to spread<br />
the joy of padel across the<br />
UK, introduce new people to<br />
the sport and help her on her<br />
amazing journey,” said Anna Ek,<br />
commercial partnership and<br />
event manager at MATCHi<br />
Tia said: “I’m so grateful to my<br />
sponsors for the faith they have<br />
put in me at this early stage in<br />
my career. I’m excited about<br />
what we can achieve together.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y support me in so many<br />
ways and I am determined to<br />
repay that in the best way I<br />
can - by delivering on court!”<br />
Image courtesy World Padel Tour<br />
Barcelona, where she trains with new<br />
coach Juan Alday, an Argentinian who<br />
previously coached world No 1 Marta<br />
Marrero and is also now working with<br />
French No 1 Alix Collombon.<br />
“Day to day I am hanging around with<br />
these people and am able to train with<br />
Alix, the world No 19, which is amazing,”<br />
said Tia. “And everyone is so nice. I have<br />
a very solid relationship with my coach<br />
Juan even though we’ve only been<br />
working together for a few months.<br />
He said at the start when I went out to<br />
Barcelona ‘Tia everyone we have in this<br />
training camp is a family’. Everyone was<br />
welcoming, friendly and hanging out all<br />
the time. <strong>The</strong> support and friendship in<br />
padel is huge and it definitely has an<br />
impact on your game.”<br />
Juan has Tia working on two aspects<br />
of her game - thinking and leg work: “He<br />
has made me realise that padel is a lot<br />
more simple than you think,” she said.<br />
“Before I used to think that I had to play<br />
the most perfect shot all the time in<br />
order to win a point. But Juan said ‘Tia,<br />
you do realise padel is literally just get<br />
the ball in’. <strong>The</strong> main focus they are<br />
teaching me is to play padel with an<br />
idea, so which shots I want to play, when<br />
I want to play them and how I want the<br />
point to finish. Basically using my brain<br />
a bit more. I have all the shots but the<br />
difference between a good player and<br />
an incredible player is when to use those<br />
shots, how to use them, etc.<br />
“One of the biggest physical<br />
aspects I am working on is using my<br />
legs a lot more. I have always been<br />
used to using my arm and my wrist<br />
so coaches now are telling me to move<br />
my legs and use my whole body in<br />
every shot.”<br />
It’s no doubt hard work but Tia is not<br />
deterred: “I never get fed up, I love it<br />
so much. I enjoy training, I enjoy playing,<br />
I enjoy competing, I enjoy every aspect<br />
of it.”<br />
Dad Jonathan on Tia<br />
“Tia immediately connected with<br />
padel after her transition from tennis,<br />
competing at an international level<br />
from the age of 12, both in the junior<br />
and women’s senior team at World<br />
and European championships. Her<br />
success on the World Padel Tour<br />
opened many opportunities. As parents<br />
we have been there every step of the<br />
journey and have travelled thousands<br />
of miles. Her success, commitment<br />
and determination has made her the<br />
successful British athlete she is now.”<br />
Quick fire questions...<br />
Q: Her dream padel partner?<br />
My dream partner would have to<br />
be my favourite player Marta Ortega.<br />
I absolutely love her game style and<br />
Image courtesy the LTA<br />
have had the pleasure of meeting<br />
her and seeing how kind and amazing<br />
she is off the court. I also managed to<br />
experience playing against her in the<br />
last European championships, and<br />
wow. I really understood the level of<br />
her game and would love to be able<br />
to share the court with her again one<br />
day. Hopefully next time on the same<br />
side of the net!<br />
Q: Her interests outside padel?<br />
I love anything to do with arts and<br />
crafts, I’m quite a hands-on person.<br />
I also really enjoy baking and cooking<br />
which I have definitely picked up from<br />
mum as she is rather talented in this<br />
area. I also have a tendency to learn<br />
random skills as well in my free time<br />
– juggling, card tricks, headstands.<br />
It really varies…<br />
Q: Her advice to young players<br />
aiming high?<br />
Whatever goal you set yourself, don’t<br />
let anyone of anything stop you until<br />
you get there. Your mind and body<br />
are a lot more powerful than you<br />
think so never limit yourself, always<br />
chase your dreams. Every second<br />
you work for them, the closer you<br />
are getting to achieving them. When<br />
I started playing padel my dream<br />
was to play the World Padel Tour.<br />
I am now living my dream because<br />
I never gave up or let anyone tell<br />
me otherwise.<br />
If Tia’s older brother<br />
Jamieson ever wants<br />
to score sibling<br />
brownie points he<br />
could point out that if<br />
it hadn’t been for his<br />
cricket prowess her<br />
prodigious padel talent<br />
may have remained<br />
undiscovered, at least<br />
for a little longer.<br />
Tia would watch Jamieson play<br />
cricket in Warwick every week. <strong>The</strong><br />
cricket club also had tennis courts<br />
so, aged seven, Tia and her dad<br />
Jonathan gave it a try.<br />
It was the fledgling start of a tennis<br />
career. Within a couple of years Tia<br />
was scouted to join a club in Coventry<br />
to train and compete more seriously.<br />
Within four years of picking up a<br />
racket she was playing in the national<br />
team finals at the National Tennis<br />
Centre in Roehampton, coming third.<br />
It was then that a former tennis<br />
coach, Matt Thomas, invited her to<br />
play padel at a club in Birmingham<br />
(Padel Nation). Tia said: “Initially I<br />
was very frustrated. Obviously the<br />
back wall is a huge issue for tennis<br />
players because you instantly move<br />
backwards; the movements are<br />
complete opposites. It is like when<br />
people smash, instantly you would<br />
start moving back but you forget you<br />
have a glass wall behind you.”<br />
Despite her frustrations, Tia proved<br />
a natural and just a few weeks later<br />
trialled for the GB team heading<br />
Brother Jamieson on Tia<br />
“Tia has been dedicated to the sport<br />
from the outset. I am so proud of her<br />
many achievements at such a young<br />
age. I have enjoyed watching her grow<br />
and develop her skills over the years<br />
and it’s great to support her along<br />
the way. I can’t wait to see what’s<br />
next for her future. If only she was as<br />
passionate about doing the recycling<br />
and emptying the dishwasher as her<br />
padel that would be great.”<br />
to the Junior World Championships in<br />
Mexico, securing her place in the U14s<br />
squad. <strong>The</strong>re she competed in the<br />
team event and the open tournament,<br />
reaching the quarter finals despite<br />
having only been playing for two months.<br />
“I came home and was continuing with<br />
tennis and padel but it got to the stage<br />
where I was playing tennis shots in<br />
padel and padel shots in tennis. I was<br />
like right, I need to decide what I want<br />
to do. It wasn’t the easiest decision<br />
but I decided to continue with padel.<br />
I definitely feel like I made the right<br />
choice,” she said.<br />
26 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
27
Feature<br />
What is padel?<br />
A cut-out & keep guide<br />
for Friends & Family<br />
by Emma Kimber<br />
We all love padel and know<br />
that you don’t get your feet<br />
wet when ‘padelling’ (yes, I<br />
have been asked), that it is not difficult<br />
to stand up when doing it (yes, I have<br />
been...) and no, I don’t freeze my<br />
extremities if I padel for several hours<br />
(yes, I have...) You might deduce from<br />
these questions that I live near the<br />
coast, so perhaps everyone doesn’t<br />
get asked exactly the same ones.<br />
But I’m pretty sure that all of us, at<br />
some point, have talked about it and<br />
seen the glazed look descend upon the<br />
face opposite. It’s padel parenthesis;<br />
we know exactly what we are talking<br />
about, know that the conversation is<br />
very much complete and makes total<br />
sense but for the sake of our friend/<br />
colleague/family member/random<br />
public person we have to add the<br />
brackets and explain.<br />
So we’ve compiled this cut-out-andkeep<br />
guide that you can hand out to<br />
those bemused people to help them<br />
understand our passion and what it is<br />
all about. It’s not exhaustive and is likely<br />
to be a work in progress, so if there’s<br />
anything you feel needs adding let<br />
us know (emma@thebandeja.com)<br />
and we can update it for future issues.<br />
What is padel?<br />
A racket sport that is a cross between<br />
tennis and squash and almost<br />
exclusively played as doubles. Like<br />
tennis it has a net and service boxes<br />
and, like squash, you can play the ball<br />
off the side and back walls.<br />
A padel court is much smaller than<br />
its tennis cousin. Depending who you<br />
talk to, you can get two or three<br />
padel courts (some people even<br />
quote four) into the space occupied<br />
by a tennis court. We think four is<br />
pushing it but if you don’t need the<br />
run-around space required by WPTstandard<br />
pathletes (padel athletes,<br />
usually Spanish, often attractive)<br />
and the tennis court has a little extra<br />
space around it, then may be.<br />
Players use a bat or racket. For the<br />
moment the jury is out on which one.<br />
Purists argue that rackets have strings,<br />
so therefore it has to be a padel bat.<br />
But bat sounds a bit, well, basic. We<br />
quite like the approach of Neil Bilton<br />
at BoblPadel who suggests backet,<br />
which is completely in-line with the<br />
new padel vocabulary we are<br />
developing. I am, however, taking an<br />
executive decision on the matter (our<br />
Padel Tribe feature excepted) and<br />
My padel racket -<br />
for a review see It’s<br />
Tribal, pages 34-35<br />
enshrining in <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> style<br />
guide that it is a racket. With a ‘ck’.<br />
And the balls. <strong>The</strong>se look like tennis<br />
balls (and smell like tennis balls) but<br />
are fractionally smaller due to lower<br />
pressurisation (around 11psi compared<br />
to about 14psi for tennis balls). All the<br />
materials and yellow fuzz are the same.<br />
Which makes tennis players feel very at<br />
home for the nano second before it hits<br />
the wall and rebounds, leaving them<br />
flailing like a fish out of water.<br />
Is it pickleball?<br />
No. Just no.<br />
<strong>The</strong> court<br />
Looks nothing like a tennis or squash<br />
court apart from the net, service<br />
boxes and sides, which actually makes<br />
it sound quite similar. It’s not. A padel<br />
court is enclosed and the back portion<br />
is glazed. To the sides of the net is metal<br />
mesh – the cage. <strong>The</strong> playing surface<br />
is, we understand, known as ‘turf’ (some<br />
people also call it carpet) and comes<br />
in different colours, pink included. Very<br />
Katie Price. Turf is surely a misnomer<br />
because it’s not at all grassy nor alive<br />
but more akin to astro turf and can be<br />
supplied in differing curliness and length.<br />
Sanding the surface is normal - we’re<br />
not sure why, we’ll ask. More sand means<br />
slower play. We think.<br />
Equipment<br />
If you have a racket you can play<br />
(most places will loan or rent you one).<br />
You’ll obviously be more comfortable if<br />
you have decent trainers and a bit of<br />
lycra or sweats on but it’s not completely<br />
necessary. I played at Rocks Lane in<br />
Chiswick and there was a chap on the<br />
next court who had just come from<br />
what I presumed to be work and was<br />
in jeans and a shirt. His shoes wouldn’t<br />
have given the best grip but he played.<br />
However, there’s a lot to be said for<br />
getting padel-specific trainers – the<br />
herringbone sole is really different<br />
to tennis shoes/normal trainers and<br />
designed to grip sanded turf to prevent<br />
turf surfing. If you’ve got clay court shoes<br />
they are almost the same but obviously<br />
not quite the same according to padel<br />
shoe manufacturers. I’m still in my tennis<br />
Nikes but know the day is approaching<br />
when I will need totalk to myself about<br />
some spanky new padel pumps.<br />
How do you play?<br />
Much the same as tennis but court<br />
positioning is different and you can use<br />
the walls. <strong>The</strong>re’s no over arm serve,<br />
which makes padel immediately more<br />
accessible, easier and less intimidating.<br />
Service always starts from the right, as<br />
in tennis. <strong>The</strong> server must bounce the<br />
ball behind the service line and hit it<br />
diagonally cross court into the receiver’s<br />
service box. If it hits the wire mesh either<br />
before or after bouncing the serve is out.<br />
If it hits the glass walls before bouncing<br />
it is out. If it hits the turf and then the<br />
glass it’s in – and quite often a winning<br />
shot if played with pace, spin or into the<br />
corner. <strong>The</strong> serve can also just plop it<br />
into the receiver’s box to bounce nicely<br />
for your opponent to pick their return<br />
shot. Hit the net during service and it’s<br />
a let, unless the ball is out (ie hitting the<br />
cage). Once the serve goes in it’s just<br />
a case of returning the ball and making<br />
sure it always hits the turf before hitting<br />
the glass or the cage. That’s the golden<br />
rule, turf first unless your opponent<br />
volleys. Scoring is exactly the same as<br />
tennis and you change ends on odds<br />
during matches.<br />
Court positioning<br />
A basic of padel is that you almost<br />
always move with your partner up and<br />
down the court and side-to-side. <strong>The</strong><br />
only time your partner is at the back<br />
of the court and you are at the net is<br />
during your service game. Generally.<br />
Other than that you should be roughly<br />
lined-up and scuttle back and forth and<br />
side-to-side with each other. Positioning<br />
for service is another story and, given<br />
this guide is for the uninitiated, we don’t<br />
need to complicate matters. What is<br />
agreed is that both sides want to take<br />
control of the net. And avoid no-man’s<br />
land (between the white line and the<br />
net) because your opponents will pick<br />
on you if they see you there.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Fridge<br />
Getting a bit technical now, this is<br />
perhaps more suited to What is Padel<br />
Pt 2. But it’s worth knowing so that you<br />
can recognise (when you are playing<br />
social padel only) opponents with ‘ck’<br />
at the end of their names. <strong>The</strong>se people<br />
Have we missed anything?<br />
Or you want to comment? <strong>The</strong>n write<br />
to me - emma@thebandeja.com.<br />
We are working on having a prize<br />
for the star letter so you never know,<br />
you might get lucky and win a ball<br />
or something.<br />
will pick on the weaker player, excluding<br />
the stronger player - so putting them in<br />
the fridge. In social padel it’s not a nice<br />
tactic and is neither big nor clever.<br />
Where can I play?<br />
Courts are popping up all over the<br />
country but there are still huge chunks<br />
of the UK going without. We call them<br />
peprived (padel deprived) and we very<br />
much feel for people in these localities.<br />
To find out if you’ve won the padel<br />
lottery (plottery, of course) check out<br />
www.ipadel.co.uk as well as<br />
www.lta.org.uk<br />
Why is it so popular?<br />
Sometimes we feel there aren’t enough<br />
superlatives to describe padel. It’s easy<br />
to play, really fun, addictive and very<br />
social (there are four people sharing<br />
quite a small space, waving their arms<br />
around and diving for balls, it’s fun,<br />
competitive and very compelling). Padel<br />
devotee Lee Sponaugle, of All Racket<br />
Sports in the States, probably best sums<br />
it up: “It is really a thinking person’s sport<br />
but the great thing about padel is that<br />
it is easy to learn and hard to master.”<br />
So, if any one tells you padel is easy,<br />
put them in the fridge.<br />
28 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
29
feature<br />
Feature<br />
<strong>The</strong> tennis-mad beauty queeN<br />
who sparked a racket<br />
sport revolution<br />
<strong>The</strong> history of padel is well-documented<br />
and correctly attributed to Mexican millionaire<br />
Enrique Corcuera. But there’s more to the<br />
story than this, with its early development<br />
driven by love amidst the jet-set.<br />
Victor Dial was an early adopter<br />
of the game, mixing with the<br />
Corcueras and partnering Henry<br />
Kissinger on their neighbour’s<br />
court. Here he gives his account of<br />
the game’s inception and growth.<br />
Padel tennis is the best of all the<br />
racquet games: better than lawn<br />
tennis, better than real tennis,<br />
racquets, squash, platform tennis (often<br />
referred to as paddle), pickleball,<br />
and table tennis.<br />
<strong>The</strong> story begins in 1969 with Enrique<br />
Corcuera, an elderly Mexican<br />
gentleman and his young wife Viviana,<br />
Miss Argentina 1964 and beautiful,<br />
energetic, vivacious. <strong>The</strong>y were living<br />
on the outskirts of Acapulco in a large<br />
house with extensive gardens, including<br />
a tennis court. Viviana retained a tennis<br />
coach to train with her several times a<br />
week while her husband was enjoying<br />
a siesta or away on business. All went<br />
well until one day Enrique announced<br />
he’d bought land nearby in Las Brisas,<br />
where he intended to build a house.<br />
When he showed her the drawings<br />
Viviana noticed at once there was<br />
no tennis court - impossible because<br />
of the steep slope on which most of<br />
the properties in Las Brisas were built.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re followed, so goes the story, an<br />
emotional exchange best summarised<br />
as ‘no tennis, no Viviana’. To calm the<br />
situation, Sr Corcuera ordered his<br />
architect to find a solution.<br />
<strong>The</strong> architect proposed a miniature<br />
court built into the hillside, using a<br />
retaining wall on the uphill side and<br />
stilts to support the platform on the<br />
downhill side with walls and strong<br />
wire fencing all around for safety.<br />
It would be expensive, but in Enrique’s<br />
eyes, worth it.<br />
<strong>The</strong> couple developed specific rules<br />
for their game which were enshrined<br />
in the official ‘Paddle Corcuera’ rule<br />
book: a tennis-like net in the middle<br />
with marked service boxes. <strong>The</strong>y used<br />
tennis balls and wooden paddles (à la<br />
platform tennis) to slow the ball, with<br />
the option to play off the walls, as in<br />
squash. <strong>The</strong> server had to bounce the<br />
by Victor Dial<br />
Enrique Corcuera with his wife Viviana.<br />
ball once and hit it no higher than his/<br />
her waist. Lawn tennis scoring would<br />
be used, but ping-pong scoring was<br />
also allowed. Padel tenis [sic] was<br />
born. Enrique usually gets the credit for<br />
inventing padel but I believe Viviana<br />
deserves the lion’s share; without her<br />
intransigence the court and game<br />
would never have seen the light of day.<br />
It rapidly became apparent that playing<br />
doubles was more fun than singles,<br />
so Viviana touted her new game to<br />
her entourage and guests. One of<br />
their neighbours was an extravagant<br />
Texan couple, Sandra and Ricky. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
owned a large house which they<br />
filled with glamorous house guests<br />
and memorable parties. <strong>The</strong> property<br />
had a luxurious padel court built to<br />
Enrique’s design. In 1973, Prince Alfonso<br />
Hohenlohe, a charming Spaniard visited,<br />
and Viviana proudly showed him their<br />
creation. Alfonso enjoyed the game so<br />
much that he decided to build a replica<br />
at his Marbella Club Hotel in Spain,<br />
carefully noting the measurements<br />
before he left. I know all this because<br />
Alfonso and Viviana each told me.<br />
Julio Iglesias<br />
Prince Alfonso built Spain’s first court<br />
at his club in the spring of 1974. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
were many guest celebrities, including<br />
the Julio Iglesias family, who started<br />
playing. But it took a while to convince<br />
hard-core tennis players to grasp the<br />
fun of it. I admit I was slow to adopt it,<br />
in spite of the urging of Alfonso and<br />
others. When I tried it some months later<br />
I quickly became an addict. From then<br />
on, when in Marbella or any other place<br />
where there was a court and three<br />
other players, all I wanted to do was to<br />
play padel (as with my sons Minter and<br />
William, both excellent players).<br />
A couple of years later friends invited<br />
me to stay in Las Brisas and Ricky<br />
and Sandra, the Texans, invited me to<br />
play padel on their elegant court. <strong>The</strong><br />
court was lit with Hollywood-style klieg<br />
lights for night play when it was cooler<br />
(except for the lights!). Alongside the<br />
court there was an open but covered<br />
and air-conditioned gallery complete<br />
with plush leather sofas. White-gloved<br />
waiters served refreshments.<br />
Kissinger connection<br />
My partner on the first of the many<br />
games I played there was Dr Henry<br />
Kissinger, former US Secretary of State,<br />
vacationing nearby. He seemed to<br />
enjoy playing with me, and to my<br />
surprise called regularly to ask me to<br />
be his partner: “Viktor, do you vant [sic]<br />
to play today?” I was flattered by his<br />
interest in me (there were surely other<br />
choices) and asked why: “Because I<br />
vant to vin.” I enjoyed his wit.<br />
On one occasion while I was (as usual)<br />
running all over the court retrieving<br />
balls, he was (as usual) trying mostly<br />
to stay out of the way. Inspite of my<br />
best efforts, a ball went past me and<br />
hit him full on in the stomach. “Zat’s<br />
de best shot I’ve made all day!” he<br />
said, triggering gales of laughter from<br />
the elegantly dressed, bejewelled,<br />
and neatly coiffed spectators, mostly<br />
admiring and fawning females.<br />
Following our match I would usually<br />
collapse in a heap of sweat and fatigue<br />
– completely ignored except for one<br />
of the waiters. Kissinger, however, was<br />
surrounded by the ladies, who listened<br />
breathlessly to his every word.<br />
Argentine take-over<br />
Prince Alfonso’s padel courts were the<br />
first in Spain. Now there are thousands.<br />
It’s said to be the second most popular<br />
sport in Spain after football – more<br />
popular even than lawn tennis (in the<br />
home country of Rafa Nadal). <strong>The</strong> game<br />
itself has advanced beyond recognition.<br />
When we first started playing there were<br />
no pros to teach us, we just picked it up<br />
the best we could and the court and<br />
the rules have evolved. Now technique<br />
and strokes specific to the game have<br />
been perfected and there are many<br />
outstanding teachers and players. <strong>The</strong><br />
first country to adopt padel massively<br />
was Argentina in the 1980s, no doubt<br />
inspired by Viviana’s many connections<br />
there. But with proper backing and a<br />
Victor Dial with Henry<br />
Kissinger and Baroness<br />
Sandra di Portanova.<br />
more solid economy, Spain took over in<br />
terms of number of courts and players.<br />
Today, the Spanish and Argentinians<br />
dominate the top rankings of both the<br />
female and male professionals.<br />
Thank you, Enrique and Viviana for<br />
inventing the game. Thank you, Prince<br />
Alfonso for bringing it to Spain. And<br />
special thanks to you, Mr Secretary,<br />
for being my most famous and<br />
enthusiastic partner.<br />
About <strong>The</strong> Author<br />
Yale graduate Victor Dial spent a<br />
30 year career in Europe as a senior<br />
executive with Ford Motor Company<br />
and Automobiles Peugeot. He<br />
was also President of the Board of<br />
Governors of the American Hospital of<br />
Paris for 17 years and is now enjoying<br />
retirement in Gstaad, Switzerland,<br />
and Baltimore, Maryland<br />
References:<br />
Enrique speaks about the<br />
development of the game<br />
https://auspadel.com.au/blogs/<br />
padel-history-enrique-corcuera/<br />
An interview with Viviana<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch<br />
?v=BIrOHCsvF0s&ab_channel=<br />
WorldPadelTour<br />
A recent tribute to the Corcuera’s<br />
influence on the game<br />
https://blazetrends.com/the-acapulco<br />
-exhibition-a-tribute-to-the-inventor<br />
-of-paddle-tennis/<br />
30 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
31
New products<br />
Metalbone HRD 3.1<br />
www.padelshack.com<br />
RRP £325<br />
Take a look at the adidas Metalbone range, which uses an innovative and unique<br />
system of six weighted screws (12g in total) allowing players to vary the weight and<br />
balance of the racket. Left on, the balance of the Metalbone will be in the middle<br />
low part of the racket, giving more control. Removed, the balance is raised up 1.5cm,<br />
delivering more power. <strong>The</strong> head-heavy Metalbone HRD 3.1 incorporates what adidas<br />
describes as an ‘octogonal structure’ for greater rigidity and power, has a diamondshaped<br />
design to assist with speed and power and an EVA high memory core.<br />
objects<br />
of desire<br />
adipower Light 3.1<br />
www.padelshack.com<br />
RRP £250<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2022 edition of Martita Ortega’s racket,<br />
the adipower Light 3.1, maintains the round<br />
format with low balance and is a good<br />
choice for players looking for a lighter weight<br />
racket that is hi-tech, manoeuvrable but<br />
with power. Its EVA soft energy rubber core<br />
combines balance and comfort and the<br />
dual exoskeleton technology and aluminised<br />
carbon composition assists with power.<br />
Salming Padel Shoes<br />
www.padelshack.com<br />
RRP around £100<br />
Be a Rebel on court with Salming’s new range<br />
of padel shoes, designed to deliver speed,<br />
grip and stability. <strong>The</strong> lightweight shoes –<br />
for men & women – have been specifically<br />
developed for padel. Expect flexibility,<br />
support and reduced shock impact thanks<br />
to a patented design. We love the Swedish<br />
company’s ‘no nonsense’ approach and its<br />
website statement ‘if you believe gimmicks in<br />
your products make you a better athlete, then<br />
Salming is not for you’. Boom!<br />
the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
33
New products<br />
new products<br />
padel products<br />
see page 45 for<br />
10% OFF<br />
men’s Barefoot<br />
Wanderer double<br />
layer shorts<br />
www.flanciactivewear.co.uk<br />
RRP £36.99<br />
Drop Shot’s new Cristal 3.0 from its Ambition<br />
line has ‘smart hole’ technology to optimise<br />
its impact zone for a larger sweet spot. Cork<br />
cushion grips and silicone grip technologies<br />
help to reduce vibrations and the racquet has<br />
what Drop Shot describes as a clear ‘offensive<br />
cut’ thanks to a pronounced diamond format,<br />
with balance shifted towards the tip.<br />
www.padelcorner.uk<br />
RRP £144<br />
Cristal 3.0<br />
Check out Head’s new series of Delta<br />
oversized, diamond-shaped racquets<br />
which incorporate its new Auxetic<br />
tech on the bridge, providing better<br />
feel, even on balls that don’t hit the<br />
sweet spot. <strong>The</strong> Delta Pro (formerly the<br />
Delta Hybrid) is aimed at advanced or<br />
professional level players looking for<br />
maximum power. Weight is 375g and<br />
the racquet has a slightly higher head<br />
balance. <strong>The</strong> Delta Motion delivers power<br />
but in a lighter racquet (360g). <strong>The</strong> Delta<br />
Elite (360g) has a softer hitting surface<br />
and is ideal for medium-high level players.<br />
<strong>The</strong> series is complemented by the EVO<br />
Delta, for beginners, and the Delta Junior.<br />
www.padelcorner.uk<br />
RRP from £75 to £260<br />
<strong>The</strong> Delta series 2022<br />
Slazenger padel<br />
www.padelcorner.uk<br />
RRP Bag £120 / Racket £180<br />
Slazenger Padel is a relatively new entry to<br />
the market, launching two years ago. Take<br />
a look at the new Slazenger Padel SLZ Light,<br />
a round-shaped racket weighing in at just<br />
345g. It has a soft EVA core and graphite<br />
surface with ‘head light’ balance. Suitable<br />
for beginners to medium players who prefer<br />
a lighter racket. <strong>The</strong>n you’ll need a bag to<br />
store it safely. <strong>The</strong> Vibora racket bag comes<br />
in white or black.<br />
Channel your inner Marta Marrero<br />
through her new range of apparel<br />
for Black Crown. Choose from<br />
leggings, skirts, a hoodie, vest tops,<br />
dress and even a racket bag, all colour<br />
co-ordinated (utilising black, green,<br />
blue and white). <strong>The</strong> sportswear is<br />
designed to be quick-drying, light<br />
and comfortable. We’re particularly<br />
loving the blue/green combo.<br />
www.padelshack.com<br />
RRP from £45<br />
Marta Marrero<br />
Cartri Volcano Teide<br />
www.padelshack.com<br />
RRP £415<br />
Cartri has released a raft of innovative and<br />
high quality new rackets. <strong>The</strong> covetable<br />
Volcano Teide (355/375g) is one of three in its<br />
premium range, offering medium to advanced<br />
players aggressive yet stable performance<br />
from its hybrid shape. With a Kevlar 6K carbon<br />
frame, hard-wearing 12K carbon hybrid face,<br />
black evasoft rubber core and a rough face it<br />
is packed with features for comfort, durability<br />
and precision. Head balance is medium/low<br />
and what is described as a ‘new hole drilling<br />
system’ is designed to minimise vibrations<br />
and improve shots.<br />
From the award-winning British<br />
company Flanci, chaps don’t have<br />
to miss out on funky and functional<br />
fitness wear. Flanci have a range of<br />
men’s double layer technical shorts<br />
that are cool, quick drying and<br />
form-fitting. <strong>The</strong>y have a lighter<br />
over-layer to provide extra wicking,<br />
a zipped back pocket and two<br />
thigh pockets.<br />
This popped up in <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Bandeja</strong>’s LinkedIn feed.<br />
We’re not majorly into ‘girly’<br />
colours and we know very<br />
little about Fes padel but<br />
we found this racket rather<br />
alluring. And their website<br />
says ‘you’ll walk in as a<br />
customer... you’ll walk out as<br />
a friend’. What’s not to like?<br />
www.fespadel.es<br />
RRP €249.00<br />
FEs padel<br />
34 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
35
It’s Tribal<br />
It’s Tribal<br />
#Padeltribeuk<br />
Equipment reviews & discussion from a padel geek<br />
Nox ML10 Lightweight<br />
Nox ML10 Smartstrap<br />
Nox ML10 Luxury<br />
Padel Tribe grew out of an Instagram page - Essex Padel<br />
- set up by David Capper to talk about games he played,<br />
usually at Prested Hall, Padel United in Maldon and David<br />
Lloyd Chigwell. As the account’s popularity grew a name<br />
change was required and Padel Tribe UK was born and<br />
has gone from strength to strength.<br />
Padel Tribe UK has gone from<br />
strength to strength, discussing<br />
the padel scene. People say padel<br />
is a cross between tennis and squash,<br />
but where similarities do exist, padel<br />
is padel and has its unique shots and<br />
tactics. <strong>The</strong> beauty of padel is the ease<br />
to start playing, difficulty to master and<br />
that it quickly becomes very addictive. I<br />
am totally addicted to padel.<br />
I’ve been given the opportunity to talk<br />
about all things padel - equipment,<br />
the club scene etc. Being a total<br />
padel geek this is a great opportunity.<br />
Remember though, these are my<br />
opinions and thoughts. Padel rackets<br />
or bats, (rackets have strings, bats<br />
don’t?) come in a myriad of shapes<br />
and designs. If you are from a tennis<br />
background (I’ve played tennis and<br />
squash) some brands might be<br />
familiar, such as Head or Wilson, but<br />
there are many other great Spanish<br />
and Argentinian brands in the<br />
marketplace - Bullpadel, Nox, Drop<br />
Shot and Royal Padel to name a few.<br />
For this launch issue of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong><br />
I thought I would review one of the most<br />
popular and best-selling bats in the<br />
history of padel: the Nox ML10 Pro Cup.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y say you never forget your first<br />
love and, in terms of padel, the ML10<br />
Pro Cup was the bat I used, loved<br />
(and still love) for a number of years!<br />
<strong>The</strong> beauty of this bat is that it can<br />
be used by all levels of player. <strong>The</strong> Pro<br />
Cup is synonymous with one of the<br />
most popular players in the history of<br />
Padel, Miugel Lamperti, who assisted<br />
with its development and design over<br />
the last 10 years. My son Harry has<br />
also used the Pro Cup; it’s ideal for an<br />
advanced junior player.<br />
When recommending a bat I advise<br />
looking for comfort and ease of use.<br />
No one wants to spend £££ on a bat<br />
that is difficult to use and ends up<br />
injuring your arm. Tennis elbow is<br />
prolific in padel!<br />
<strong>The</strong> ML10 Pro Cup is the round shape,<br />
meaning the balance is closer to<br />
the hand, providing better control of<br />
shots. <strong>The</strong> sweet spot (the area on<br />
the face that is optimal to hit the ball)<br />
David (and his Nox Pro Cup) with<br />
World Padel Tour player Pablo Lima.<br />
is large and the unique HR3 rubber core<br />
and metallised fibreglass in the face of<br />
the bat provide a ton of comfort,<br />
power and durability!<br />
For 2022 Nox has introduced its<br />
‘SmartStrap’ system which allows you<br />
to personalise your racket, improve<br />
hygiene and safety by easily<br />
replacing the strap - there’s a loop<br />
at the end of the racket. Simple but<br />
effective. Watch Miguel Lamperti<br />
demonstrate it here.<br />
So how does the Pro Cup perform<br />
on court? From the back of the<br />
court in defence, the round shape<br />
and lower balance make it easy to<br />
move into the right positions. It has a<br />
relatively large sweet spot, provides<br />
a sense of security in the defensive<br />
game and makes it easy to play<br />
forehands and backhands. <strong>The</strong> lob<br />
can be played with confidence to<br />
hit the ball high and deep.<br />
Transitioning up the court from<br />
defence to attack the Pro Cup,<br />
with its great manoeuvrability,<br />
makes playing consistent volleys<br />
and bandejas with confidence<br />
straightforward, providing the control<br />
to find the gaps and place the ball<br />
exactly where you want it.<br />
Being a control focussed bat,<br />
viboras and smashes are played<br />
with surprising power, providing the<br />
ability to finish the point.<br />
If you watch Lamperti play you will<br />
see him smash out of the court with<br />
ease (but he is a top world pro!)<br />
SUMMARY <strong>The</strong> Pro Cup is an all<br />
round performer. It provides comfort,<br />
playability and durability. This is why it<br />
is the best-selling padel bat ever and<br />
why I recommend people should try it.<br />
Final note, the ML10 is also available<br />
as an Ultra Light version with similar<br />
properties and the latest release is the<br />
new ML10 Pro Cup Luxury which features<br />
all the great properties of the original<br />
Pro Cup but with added technologies<br />
such as additional anti-vibration<br />
features and a rough finish on the<br />
face to provide additional<br />
grip and spin on the<br />
ball, all in a slightly<br />
updated mould.<br />
#padeltribeuk<br />
“You may hear of<br />
rackets being diamond,<br />
teardrop or round in<br />
shape, and each has<br />
its benefits, but for<br />
club level players my<br />
recommendation would<br />
be a round shaped<br />
racket.<br />
”<br />
36 thebandeja.com<br />
the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
37
health<br />
health<br />
Padel elbow<br />
by Neil Bilton<br />
Tennis elbow (or lateral epicondylitis to give it its medical<br />
name) is a common affliction for padel players.<br />
<strong>The</strong> BoblPadel boys...<br />
Richard (Bowles) and I were at school together, where we both fell<br />
in love with squash. We were lucky enough to live near <strong>The</strong> Triangle<br />
leisure centre in Burgess Hill when the padel court was built there<br />
and instantly fell in love with the game. We now split our time<br />
between <strong>The</strong> Triangle and the pop-up court at Withdean Sports<br />
Complex in Brighton. We play with friends and like to travel to other<br />
courts for coaching and to meet new players.<br />
We set up Boblpadel (www.boblpadel.com) to help spread the<br />
word about padel and give people a choice of the best rackets<br />
on the market teamed with excellent customer service. We’ve<br />
also established the Padel for School scheme to encourage more<br />
children into the game by providing rackets to them.<br />
It is both annoying and really<br />
painful, as Neil Bilton discovered<br />
when he developed the condition.<br />
Here he charts its onset, his<br />
recovery and gives his layman’s<br />
advice for dealing with it.<br />
Let’s start with a disclaimer. I am not<br />
a doctor or a physio or a faith healer<br />
but I have, and still do occasionally,<br />
suffer from tennis elbow. All advice<br />
below is from a layman and drawn<br />
from experience.<br />
If you haven’t suffered from tennis<br />
elbow you are one of the lucky ones.<br />
If you have, then you know all about<br />
that innocuous pain which isn’t really<br />
there until you pick up a scalding hot<br />
cup of coffee and your elbow screams<br />
so loud you spill it on yourself, or when<br />
turning the key in your front door hurts<br />
so much you think about living in the<br />
garden for the rest of your life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> onset is sudden, the pain is very,<br />
very nasty and the length of the<br />
healing process is just too long to<br />
be acceptable.<br />
Within the group of guys I play with,<br />
70% have experienced it at some point.<br />
We all come from different disciplines<br />
of racket sports so it’s not a specific<br />
sport that makes you susceptible.<br />
Both Richard and I have had it with<br />
differing levels of pain (but obviously<br />
mine was significantly worse than his).<br />
What is padel elbow?<br />
It’s basically inflammation of the tendon<br />
where the forearm muscle connects<br />
to the elbow joint. It normally happens<br />
because of an injury or overuse of<br />
the muscle which then won’t move<br />
properly and so the tendon needs to<br />
compensate (tendons aren’t really<br />
designed to stretch and move around<br />
like muscles). Eventually the tendon<br />
rubs the bone entry point and becomes<br />
inflamed. <strong>The</strong>n it just hurts. A lot.<br />
It can be caused by lots of different<br />
things. From shoulder mobility, tight<br />
forearm muscles, a wrist strain or<br />
even an impact injury to a finger.<br />
We have experienced the onset from<br />
a multitude of innocuous events.<br />
From scraping moss off a roof, trying<br />
to start garden equipment or just<br />
clipping a padel ball off the frame of a<br />
padel racket. You feel it, you hate it, you<br />
pray it will just go away and then you<br />
mentally cry a little.<br />
How we dealt with it<br />
Richard and I are different people,<br />
we behave differently, sometimes<br />
impatiently, sometimes aggressively<br />
and sometimes stupidly. We have both<br />
gone down the physio route, do this, do<br />
that and REST. We have gone down the<br />
YouTube self-heal route - do this, don’t<br />
do that and REST. And we have gone<br />
down the enforced lockdown route, do<br />
nothing (while getting fat) and being<br />
www.boblpadel.com<br />
“<br />
It’s the same thing as<br />
tennis elbow but just that<br />
”<br />
little bit cooler.<br />
forced to REST. To be fair the latter one<br />
did work somewhat but it’s not that<br />
practical on a long term basis.<br />
Rest definitely helps. And it gives you<br />
no idea of when to start playing again.<br />
Many a false start has occurred which<br />
immediately puts your 2-3 week rest<br />
period back to square one.<br />
What can you do when<br />
padel elbow strikes?<br />
Get some ice on it when you feel it or<br />
when you aggravate it. While that bag<br />
of peas is slowly defrosting, think about<br />
your rehab period because right now<br />
it’s a waiting game. When you decide<br />
to go back to padel you are probably<br />
going to need a pressure strap. We<br />
have tried several and we have found<br />
that the main thing is that it should be<br />
reasonably tight (but obviously don’t cut<br />
your blood supply off!) <strong>The</strong> cheaper ones<br />
will come loose quite often during play<br />
and will need to be tightened regularly<br />
but everyone has different budgets and<br />
that, obviously, will affect your choice.<br />
<strong>The</strong> strap effectively shortens the muscle<br />
and ‘locks off’ the point at which the<br />
tendon moves and hurts. Always<br />
follow the strap instructions. We found<br />
straps useful as a rehab tool after the<br />
REST period. We do not think a strap<br />
should be bought as an alternative<br />
to the REST period.<br />
38 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
39<br />
Warm-ups<br />
This is something we should all do but<br />
they generally seem to amount to the<br />
last 30 seconds before going on court,<br />
having arrived 30 seconds before that.<br />
Amongst our friends what seems to<br />
count as as a warm-up can be as<br />
short as a couple of (tight) hamstring<br />
stretches or maybe one knee-clicking<br />
squat. <strong>The</strong>n it’s straight onto court to<br />
smash balls at each other as hard as<br />
we can across the net.<br />
What does help?<br />
I now get to the court 15 minutes early<br />
and have made it part of my padel<br />
routine. I do some simple arm swings,<br />
shoulder rotations and then begin to<br />
mimic certain padel shots but without<br />
the racket. I then add the padel racket<br />
and repeat the process with the added<br />
weight and air resistance that the<br />
racket brings to the movements.<br />
Neil Bilton & Richard Bowles<br />
I lightly stretch my shoulders and wrists<br />
against a wall. All this takes me about<br />
5mins and since I started doing it I’ve<br />
had no issues with tennis elbow. Richard<br />
was doing this with me until his elbow<br />
got better and he stopped. He now has<br />
tennis elbow again and is into his two<br />
weeks off while he RESTS it.<br />
Ps: I think we need to claim the name<br />
for ourselves. Going forward I will say<br />
that I have previously suffered from<br />
‘Padel Elbow’. It’s the same thing as<br />
tennis elbow but just that little bit cooler.<br />
Kind of the same as Richard and me, we<br />
are both men of roughly the same age<br />
but I am just that little bit cooler!<br />
Here is what the NHS says about tennis<br />
elbow. Click here. Here is a useful<br />
Exercise PDF for stretches.<br />
Enjoying<br />
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www.thebandeja.com
<strong>The</strong> only way<br />
really is Essex<br />
Sam Jakes<br />
Centre manager<br />
Essex is famous for many things but<br />
perhaps not so well-known for being a<br />
padel hotspot; if you start in Chelmsford<br />
and travel in an easterly semi-circle there<br />
are more than 12 courts within a relaxed<br />
and fairly rural 30 to 45 minute drive.<br />
It’s fair to say that several of the<br />
locations wouldn’t fit the business<br />
model of operators needing a large<br />
population to support investment in<br />
new facilities. Padel United, for example,<br />
has a thriving four-court club in Maldon<br />
(population 22,000), and Prested Hall<br />
near Kelvedon (population under 5,000)<br />
has an established padel following.<br />
Building the padel brand further in<br />
the county is Padel4all, which neatly<br />
bagged itself Southend and a sizeable<br />
conurbation of just under 190,000.<br />
<strong>The</strong> newly-minted city has a strong<br />
history of tennis – the local newspaper<br />
reported it as once having so many<br />
tennis clubs ‘it was difficult to count<br />
them’, so there’s strong precedence for<br />
rackets sports (squash and badminton<br />
included) in the area.<br />
But this is not entirely what bought<br />
Padel4all to Southend, where it opened<br />
an impressive three covered and one<br />
show court centre last last year at<br />
sports hub Garon Park. Its interest in the<br />
location grew from Padel4all founder<br />
and chief executive Christopher<br />
Wilkinson’s connections with the trust<br />
running Garon Park and conversations<br />
about under-used tennis courts on site,<br />
which he suggested would be perfect<br />
for padel and generate income for<br />
the facility. “We started talking about<br />
putting padel into Garon Park in 2018,”<br />
said Christopher. “It had four indoor<br />
tennis courts plus the outdoor courts,<br />
which had fallen into disrepair. It was<br />
these that we discussed and agreed to<br />
lease long-term, allowing us to apply<br />
for planning permission.”<br />
He described this process as ‘tortuous’<br />
and the overall journey ‘very long’ but<br />
the end result is a brilliant community<br />
padel facility that Christopher hopes<br />
encourages players of all ages and<br />
abilities to take to the court.<br />
“We want to bring this fantastic new<br />
sport, which is social and fun for all<br />
the family, to the widest possible<br />
community,” he said. “We have been<br />
talking to the tennis clubs and they<br />
are very keen. We feel it complements<br />
rather than detracts from them,<br />
especially during the winter when they<br />
can play under cover with us.”<br />
Padel4all has funded its centres<br />
- it also operates in Basset Down,<br />
Swindon, and opens a new facility in<br />
Lockleaze, Bristol, in July - through<br />
family and friends, raising in excess<br />
of £3 million so far with another<br />
funding round planned. <strong>The</strong> aim is to<br />
open 20 centres in the next five years,<br />
each with an average of four courts<br />
achieving around 75% of revenue from<br />
court fees, 20% from membership and<br />
the remainder from retail. For Southend<br />
and Basset Down it has partnered<br />
with court supplier and installer Padel<br />
Tech to install AFP Courts.<br />
A key driver is to make the sport and<br />
its facilities accessible and the<br />
company is working hard to encourage<br />
as wide a range of users as possible.<br />
At Basset Down, manager and head<br />
coach Steve Yeardley has been<br />
welcoming school groups for regular<br />
training sessions and young people<br />
with Downs Syndrome play every<br />
Saturday morning. “Within 10 minutes<br />
of playing the sport, they were having<br />
rallies over the net. <strong>The</strong> excitement<br />
was a joy to watch,” said Chris.<br />
Paralympian tennis player Louise Hunt<br />
is also a regular at Basset Down and<br />
Garon Park hosted a group of adults<br />
from Pholk Care, which arranges<br />
activities to help build confidence,<br />
self-esteem, social skills and<br />
Technology plays a key role in court<br />
accessibility – Padel4all uses a code<br />
entry system to its sites and bookings<br />
automatically trigger floodlights to<br />
switch on and off as required. Some<br />
600m of armoured cabling at Garon<br />
Park supplies power for the lights, CCTV,<br />
access system and match cameras;<br />
Padel4all has installed GameCam which<br />
allows players to download and watch<br />
their matches back post-match.<br />
community inclusion for its clients.<br />
<strong>The</strong> club has quickly established itself<br />
as an integral part of the community,<br />
running tournaments, offering coaching<br />
courses for all ages and launching<br />
Miss Hits sessions for primary age<br />
girls during a Girl Power Hour.<br />
User numbers are impressive, with<br />
membership in excess of 250 players<br />
within six months of opening.<br />
<strong>The</strong> future<br />
Christopher and his team have<br />
identified 15 or so potential new sites<br />
and are currently in negotiations with<br />
landowners or going through planning<br />
for these. And, with so much of the<br />
country still without padel courts, there<br />
are plenty of locations to develop.<br />
www.padel4all.com<br />
40 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
41
coaching<br />
Coaching, coffee<br />
& competing<br />
Sports coach Nicky Horn is passionate about inspiring<br />
women of all ages into racket sports. She started with<br />
squash and racketball in her home county of Yorkshire and<br />
then found padel and has since encouraged more than<br />
150 women to take it up. Here she talks about her winning<br />
formula for getting females of all ages on to court (and<br />
yes, it does involve What’s App groups!)<br />
I<br />
can’t believe how many females are<br />
loving padel. It’s just so different to<br />
tennis and squash. Tennis is a great<br />
game to play and watch but it’s difficult<br />
to take up if you didn’t learn at school<br />
or as a junior. Squash is a smaller sport<br />
and not as accessible - and it’s tough<br />
to learn with the small ball. Padel is<br />
much easier and you can feel success<br />
so much sooner. Within minutes most<br />
people can hit the ball and start feeling<br />
like a tennis player and a sportswoman.<br />
I coach squash at Harrogate Sports<br />
& Fitness Centre, which also has a<br />
padel court. We set up a What’s App<br />
group for ladies that I met at the club<br />
and I started coaching them in padel.<br />
Within months we had six hours of<br />
coaching scheduled per week,<br />
70 ladies on What’s App and lots of<br />
social games followed by coffee.<br />
<strong>The</strong> next club - Rawdon Golf & Lawn<br />
Tennis Club - was slightly different.<br />
Tucked away behind houses, fewer<br />
people walked past and saw its padel<br />
court. We advertised and got our<br />
‘early followers’ and then we followed<br />
a similar pattern to Harrogate. Many<br />
tennis players tried it and, again, the<br />
What’s App group took off. This time<br />
we booked in six week coaching<br />
sessions to work around school<br />
terms and soon had 50 women on<br />
the group. To build on the coaching<br />
we organised a team match against<br />
the Harrogate club - 16 women in each<br />
team – with drinks, mince pies and<br />
laughs after. It was a great success<br />
and a big draw. <strong>The</strong> club has created<br />
mini leagues and social events which<br />
has resulted in great mixed padel<br />
events at the club.<br />
Last but definitely not least is the<br />
area’s newest padel facility and the<br />
UK’s largest indoor padel centre -<br />
Surge Padel in Harrogate. It has six<br />
indoor adidas courts on the first floor<br />
of a repurposed office building. It’s<br />
awesome. Some two months in and<br />
more than 50 female players have<br />
flocked to try this ‘new’ sport. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
immediately engaged in coaching<br />
to build their confidence, then in the<br />
social and then as a community<br />
building their own network of friends.<br />
We’ve had a 24 women tournament<br />
and what we believe to be the biggest<br />
inter-club padel match so far in the UK<br />
– a 24 strong squad against Rawdon<br />
(see page 48).<br />
By my reckoning that’s more than 150<br />
females loving padel in less than two<br />
years. <strong>The</strong> key points I take from this<br />
is are that we females engage with<br />
padel if we have a coach ready to<br />
help us improve, encourage the social<br />
element of the game and arrange<br />
matches as we progress.<br />
42 thebandeja.com
coaching<br />
feature<br />
Coaching<br />
Basics for beginners<br />
For <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>’s first coaching<br />
feature we are starting from the<br />
beginning, with padel coach<br />
Ewan Ramsden talking through eight<br />
fundamentals to help new players to<br />
win more games.<br />
1. Play with better players<br />
This works for all sports and padel is<br />
no different. If you play with stronger<br />
players your game will improve. You’ll<br />
be forced to work harder and have<br />
to contend with tougher balls, which<br />
means learning to cope and return the<br />
balls. And don’t give up when balls go<br />
past you – think about what you could<br />
have done differently.<br />
2. Take regular lessons<br />
Booking time with a decent coach<br />
will help improve your technique and<br />
make your shots more consistent,<br />
stronger and faster. It may also help<br />
avoid injuries, including the dreaded<br />
padel elbow.<br />
I’d advise a one-on-one session<br />
each week plus matches to put your<br />
learnings into practice.<br />
3. Learn the walls<br />
This is key to improving your game,<br />
If you don’t learn how to play balls<br />
off the wall and constantly volley you<br />
will improve but only to a point. <strong>The</strong><br />
wall can be your best friend, helping<br />
you defend and attack and making<br />
opponents easier to defeat. When<br />
faced with picking a ball off the wall<br />
stay relaxed, let the ball come in front<br />
of you and don’t take it too early.<br />
4. Learn positioning<br />
Two absolute basics are to avoid no<br />
man’s land (the area between the<br />
service line and the net) and get to<br />
the net at the right time. If you find<br />
yourself in no man’s land it will be<br />
difficult to volley and tricky to get a<br />
ball off the wall. Getting to the net at<br />
the right time (always after serving)<br />
will allow you to play winning volleys<br />
and overheads.<br />
5. Racket grip<br />
I advise using the continental grip<br />
for accuracy, control, power and<br />
technique. I demonstrate it in the<br />
video or you can find it by ‘shaking<br />
hands’ with your racket. Some players<br />
make marks on their racket handles<br />
to ensure their hand stays in position<br />
while they are learning this grip.<br />
6. Get the right racket for<br />
your game<br />
This is really important. A good coach<br />
or racket supplier will be able to<br />
advise, after which it does come down<br />
to personal preference.<br />
7. Play consistently with<br />
consistency<br />
If you play intermittently it will be<br />
difficult to improve, so set a target<br />
of consistently playing (at least once<br />
a week for example) and then aim to<br />
play the percentage game, so<br />
keeping the ball in play as much as<br />
possible rather than going for winners<br />
and missing. Let your opponents<br />
make the errors.<br />
Consistency - a good tactic is to<br />
hit the ball down the middle. If you<br />
get it wrong you still have a good<br />
chance of the ball going in. You<br />
will also find that if you constantly<br />
hit down the middle opponents<br />
will slowly move in and gaps in the<br />
corners and down the line will open<br />
up for finishing the point.<br />
8. Take the pace off your shots<br />
Don’t hit the ball too hard! It’s very<br />
tempting, particularly if you come<br />
from a tennis or squash background,<br />
but playing more slowly and hitting<br />
less hard but with consistency will win<br />
points. This is especially so if<br />
you play more experienced players<br />
- hitting hard balls that bounce off<br />
the glass will be an easy pick for them<br />
rather than a winner. Learn to play<br />
slow and soft and prioritise learning<br />
spin over power.<br />
As well as being a padel<br />
coach, Ewan has established<br />
EverythingPadel, an online padel<br />
racket and equipment store.<br />
Follow him on YouTube here<br />
10% off<br />
until 30 June 2022<br />
use code:<br />
PADEL10<br />
www.flanciactivewear.co.uk<br />
44 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine<br />
@flanci @flanciactive @flanciactivewear<br />
45
Growing Padel in the UK<br />
www.ipadel.co.uk<br />
07765 403769<br />
ian@ipadel.co.uk<br />
Photos: James Thorp<br />
iPadel winter<br />
league<br />
booked the sun<br />
at finals weekend<br />
Summer league<br />
<strong>The</strong> iPadel summer league season has already<br />
started, with some 20 clubs and 44 teams competing<br />
through to August, with the finals in September. <strong>The</strong><br />
season is being sponsored by @playtomic,<br />
@Royalpadel, @thebandeja.<br />
For more information and to get prepared for entering<br />
the 2022 winter league, visit www.ipadel.co.uk<br />
<strong>The</strong> iPadel winter league drew to<br />
a close with players from around<br />
the country gathering for the<br />
tournament finals at <strong>The</strong> Limpsfield<br />
Club in Surrey.<br />
<strong>The</strong> winter league is part of iPadel’s<br />
national club leagues which are open<br />
to club-level players (suggested<br />
ratings of between 3.0 and 5.0)<br />
wanting to play competitive matches<br />
against other local padel clubs with<br />
the draw of a national final. Fifteen<br />
clubs and 34 teams participated in five<br />
men’s and two women’s leagues.<br />
<strong>The</strong> finals weekend marked a thrilling<br />
ending to the season, with excellent<br />
play by all teams, including a number of<br />
players preparing to head off to Las Vegas<br />
for the Seniors World Padel Championship.<br />
Battling it out for the women’s teams<br />
were players from Rocks Lane Chiswick,<br />
David Lloyd Bushey, Esher and <strong>The</strong> Bourne<br />
Club, Farnham. <strong>The</strong> eventual winners<br />
were the Rocks Lane ladies with the<br />
runners-up David Lloyd Bushey.<br />
Powering through for the men were<br />
Solihull, Limpsfield, Jet Padel, Oxshott,<br />
Sutton Coldfield, Rocks Lane Chiswick,<br />
Roehampton and Middlesbrough.<br />
Champions were the Solihull Arden<br />
team, with Roehampton runners-up.<br />
<strong>The</strong> iPadel winter league was sponsored<br />
by @padelclub, @Royalpadel,<br />
@everythingpadel, @thebandeja.<br />
46 thebandeja.com<br />
47
club News<br />
club News<br />
Whats happening in padel<br />
clubs around the UK...<br />
Fede coaching<br />
success<br />
<strong>The</strong> Limpsfield Club, Surrey, played host to<br />
clinics with World Padel Tour coach Fede<br />
Vives Ribas, coaching director at Royal<br />
Padel Academy. Organised in conjunction<br />
with iPadel, some 40 players took part,<br />
training for 90 minutes with the pro on<br />
specific elements of their game.<br />
“We would like to thank <strong>The</strong> Limpsfield Club and iPadel<br />
for the opportunity to work with the local padel players.<br />
It was a huge pleasure to help develop their sports<br />
education,” said Fede.<br />
Ian Colligon, of iPadel, said it was a great chance for<br />
players to improve their game: “Fede is an amazing<br />
teacher and everyone went away having learnt new<br />
skills and techniques. It was a really brilliant weekend<br />
with participants travelling from other clubs to take<br />
part. Given its success we really hope to do it again.”<br />
Rawdon take the honours in mega match<br />
Was this the biggest inter-club padel match in the UK to<br />
date? Yorkshire’s padel tour de force Nicky Horn believes<br />
so. Rawdon Tennis Club travelled to Harrogate to take on<br />
Surge Padel on home turf. Surge’s newly opened facilities<br />
have set the standard for padel facilities in the UK, with six<br />
15 minutes<br />
of fame<br />
Two padel centres gained their 15 minutes<br />
of fame after being featured on regional TV.<br />
Padel United in Maldon started the ball rolling<br />
with BBC Look East. Sports reporter Jonathan Park<br />
spent several hours at the club talking to players<br />
and watching the action, including Padel Panther<br />
junior sessions. He interviewed club founder Richard<br />
Smith, coach Jake Bewley and junior players Ben<br />
and Lily, learning basic rules and finding out why<br />
padel is the fastest growing sport in Europe.<br />
indoor courts. Four men’s couples, four ladies couples and<br />
four mixed couples battled it out, with Rawdon eventually<br />
taking the honours. “What a fantastic achievement just<br />
eight weeks after Surge Padel opened. Great play from<br />
Rawdon, worthy winners,” said Nicky.<br />
Hot on Maldon’s heels was Game4Padel, which<br />
had a visit from ITV Anglia sports correspondent<br />
Donovan Blake to its newest padel facility and the<br />
first court in Suffolk - a pop-up at Ipswich Sports<br />
Club, which is planned as a ‘taster’ with hopes<br />
to install four permanent courts at the club later<br />
this year.<br />
48 thebandeja.com<br />
the UK padel magazine - May 2022<br />
49
on courts<br />
News<br />
It’s not you...<br />
How often have you gone to smash a lob<br />
and been momentarily blinded by the<br />
court’s floodlights, leaving you tripping the<br />
light fandango while play goes on around?<br />
It happens to the best of players<br />
(we hope!) so what can you<br />
do about it? James Sandwith,<br />
of Padel Plus, explains why it<br />
might not be you to blame for<br />
dropping that point.<br />
Lighting matters. And if padel is to<br />
thrive in the UK, courts must be lit<br />
so that play can be enjoyed from<br />
early morning until late in the evening<br />
all 12 months of the year. A good lighting<br />
scheme will enhance the playing<br />
characteristics of the court with no<br />
shadows or flicker and minimal glare<br />
as you look up to an over-head ball.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re will just be an even spread of light<br />
across the entire playing surface.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are courts in the UK without<br />
lighting - sometimes planning consent<br />
prevents it being included. In fairness<br />
to planning authorities, one reason for<br />
this is because outdoor sports facilities<br />
can result in light spillage into adjacent<br />
areas - including residential - giving<br />
lighting a bad reputation.<br />
Getting the symmetry right<br />
For outdoor courts, zero ‘light trespass’ is<br />
the aim. Asymmetric fittings enable all<br />
the light to be directed down onto the<br />
playing surface meaning surrounding<br />
houses, roads and infrastructure are<br />
all blissfully unaware of the fun you’re<br />
having. Optical reflectors built into<br />
asymmetric fittings concentrate the<br />
light beam with significantly lower<br />
energy costs. Light emission is not<br />
wasted on areas where it is not needed<br />
and courts can be lit with reduced<br />
wattage or a smaller number of light<br />
sources.<br />
Symmetrical light fittings distribute<br />
light evenly in all directions and are<br />
not intended for outdoor use. Not only<br />
does light fall on the intended area (the<br />
court) but horizontally and upwards as<br />
well. Symmetrical lighting is the main<br />
cause of light pollution to neighbouring<br />
structures and roadways; four courts<br />
with symmetrical lighting dramatically<br />
“<br />
...if padel is to thrive in the UK, courts must<br />
be lit so that play can be enjoyed from<br />
early morning until late in the evening...<br />
”<br />
increase skyglow. Unhappy neighbours<br />
can lead to clubs being closed down,<br />
or as mentioned, planning permission<br />
being denied in the first place.<br />
For indoor and canopy-covered<br />
courts, light trespass is less of an issue<br />
but it is still the case that your lighting<br />
should stay on court. In addition to<br />
asymmetrical fittings you also want to<br />
see diffusion lenses to soften the light<br />
and reduce glare.<br />
<strong>The</strong> flicker headache<br />
LED light fixtures are now widespread<br />
which is a good thing in terms of<br />
reduced operating costs and broader<br />
environmental concerns. If, however,<br />
the LED driver and chip are low quality<br />
then the lights will flicker. Even if the<br />
flicker is only just discernible it will tire<br />
your eyes, impair your tracking of the<br />
ball and perhaps cause a headache<br />
over the course of a long match. You<br />
may have attributed these symptoms<br />
to losing – more likely it’s poor lighting<br />
resulting in your eyes having to work<br />
harder than they should. And for players<br />
wishing to record games in the glorious<br />
slow-motion now afforded by camera<br />
systems, well they won’t be able to as<br />
the flicker of regular LEDs interferes with<br />
the high frame rate of the latest video<br />
systems. No bragging rights for you on<br />
social media after that epic victory.<br />
See the light<br />
Padel is a tremendous sport for<br />
inclusion: the bounce makes it easier<br />
to start playing than squash and the<br />
walls contain the ball providing much<br />
better potential for rallies than in<br />
tennis. We have all enjoyed playing on<br />
some courts more than others, and<br />
lighting can play a huge part in that.<br />
Better courts enable better padel and<br />
whether you’re an elite competitor or an<br />
enthusiast, the right lighting equates to<br />
more fun and a better environment.<br />
50 thebandeja.com the UK padel magazine<br />
51
ISSUE 1 MAY 2022<br />
TIA<br />
Norton<br />
GB’s shining star<br />
takes aim at the top 100<br />
Kevin Palmer<br />
on Jurgen Klopp’s<br />
winning weapon<br />
Padel elbow<br />
Cooler than tennis elbow<br />
but just as painful!<br />
iPadel league<br />
finals<br />
Padel Tribe UK<br />
talks NOX ML10 Pro Cup<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong><br />
<strong>Issue</strong> 2<br />
Playtomic Juniors<br />
Jo Buchanan-Smith talks<br />
to us about their brilliant new<br />
initiative to find the padel<br />
superstars of tomorrow<br />
Padel in the US<br />
Minter Dial reports from WPT<br />
Miami and we find out how the<br />
game is growing there<br />
Columnist<br />
Kevin Palmer<br />
Shares more on his passion<br />
for padel<br />
Travel<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Tourist heads south<br />
thebandeja.com 52