The Bandeja summer 2024 issue
71 pages packed with padel news, insights, coaching, views, features, new products and more, including a competition to win a £295 Wilson padel racket. Enjoy reading the online version? Then pop over to our web shop at www.thebandeja.com to buy the 60-page print version.
71 pages packed with padel news, insights, coaching, views, features, new products and more, including a competition to win a £295 Wilson padel racket.
Enjoy reading the online version? Then pop over to our web shop at www.thebandeja.com to buy the 60-page print version.
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ISSUE 3 / Summer <strong>2024</strong> £6<br />
From tennis<br />
to padel<br />
soft, patient, lob!<br />
Manchester<br />
a padel oasis<br />
padel at the<br />
Olympics<br />
when & where?<br />
WIN! A £295<br />
Wilson Racket<br />
Heads up<br />
it’s a BOA!
contents<br />
contents// Issue 3 / Summer <strong>2024</strong><br />
Basic rules<br />
of padel<br />
Tom Farquharson and Chris Salisbury.<br />
Image courtesy Home of Padel (HOP).<br />
7<br />
GB<br />
star’s<br />
padel plan<br />
41<br />
Manchester:<br />
a padel oasis<br />
Serving<br />
• All play begins with an underarm serve from<br />
the right service court into the opponent’s court<br />
diagonally opposite (like tennis)<br />
• <strong>The</strong> server must bounce the ball once before hitting<br />
it and the ball must be hit at or below waist level<br />
<strong>The</strong> court lines are only important during the serve.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are not a factor in determining the outcome of<br />
points once the serve goes in<br />
What’s out<br />
<strong>The</strong> opposition wins a point if:<br />
30<br />
Padel at the<br />
Olympics<br />
10<br />
Babolat’s<br />
junior signing<br />
• <strong>The</strong> server must keep at least one foot on the<br />
ground when hitting the serve<br />
• <strong>The</strong> server’s feet must not touch or cross the service<br />
line when serving<br />
• <strong>The</strong> serve must land in the opponent’s service box<br />
diagonally opposite<br />
• If the ball bounces in the service box and hits the<br />
glass (side or back) it is a valid serve and must be<br />
played by the opposing player.<br />
• If the ball hits the net then bounces in the service<br />
box and strikes the side or back wall, it is a let and<br />
must be replayed.<br />
• If the ball lands in the service box and hits the wire<br />
fencing, it is considered a fault.<br />
• If the ball hits the net then lands in the service box<br />
and hits the wire fencing, it is considered a fault.<br />
• In padel as in tennis, you get a second serve.<br />
What’s in<br />
Players are permitted to play a ball off any of the<br />
walls (glass and cage) on their side of the court<br />
(apart from return of serve. As above, if the serve<br />
clears the net and hits the wire cage it is out)<br />
• <strong>The</strong> ball bounces twice in any area on your side<br />
of the court<br />
• <strong>The</strong> ball hits you or your teammate while in play<br />
• <strong>The</strong> ball hits the wire fencing, posts or any other fixture<br />
before going over the net or landing on the opponent’s<br />
court (apart from playing a boast off the glass).<br />
• Once over the net, the ball hits the wire fence or walls<br />
before bouncing on the opponent’s side of the court.<br />
Volleys<br />
<strong>The</strong> ball can be taken out of the air by any player<br />
except on the initial serve and the return of serve.<br />
Scoring<br />
Scoring is the same as for tennis – so 15, 30, 40 and<br />
advantage. Some matches will involve golden points<br />
where you reach deuce and the next point wins the<br />
game (rather than going to advantage). Golden points<br />
are, generally, used to make matches shorter. If playing<br />
in a tournament it will be announced at the start that<br />
golden points are in play. Otherwise it is up to players<br />
to decide if they will be used before the game starts.<br />
With thanks to ipadel.co.uk<br />
53<br />
Head’s BOA<br />
constrictor<br />
20<br />
Playtomic’s<br />
map of the UK<br />
53<br />
Padel gear<br />
From tennis<br />
to padel<br />
66<br />
Padel racket<br />
developments<br />
62<br />
@the_bandeja<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Publishing Group Ltd: All content is copyright of <strong>The</strong> Padel Publishing Group Ltd. All rights reserved. Whilst we make every effort to ensure the factual content of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> is correct,<br />
we cannot take any responsibility nor be held accountable for any factual errors contained within. We make every effort to check quoted prices and product specifications with manufacturers<br />
prior to purchase. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or resold without prior consent of Padel Publishing. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> recognises all rights within this<br />
<strong>issue</strong>. Where possible we acknowledge the copyright holder. This digital <strong>issue</strong> may contain links to third party content, advertising or websites. We accept no legal responsibility for loss arising<br />
from information in this publication and do not endorse any advertising or products available from external sources. All rights reserved.<br />
26 Building<br />
Padium<br />
65<br />
WIN! A Wilson BELA<br />
Racket worth £295<br />
2 SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
3
editor’s comment<br />
editor’s comment<br />
Sweeping<br />
the globe<br />
Welcome to Issue 3 of <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Bandeja</strong>, the magazine & website<br />
dedicated to padel players in the<br />
UK and further afield.<br />
To date we’ve reached readers in 138<br />
countries, including the rather isolated<br />
Northern Mariana Islands, Congo, the<br />
Faroes and even one that is yet unnamed,<br />
according to Google Analytics.<br />
<strong>The</strong> extent to which padel is taking<br />
the world by storm was evident<br />
at the recent Padel World Summit<br />
in Malaga. This inaugural event<br />
attracted exhibitors and delegates<br />
from 66 countries and was a veritable<br />
who’s who of the padel industry.<br />
New padel products were launched,<br />
investors matched with start-ups,<br />
knowledge and experiences shared<br />
and new connections made. It was a<br />
tremendous three days and signifies<br />
even more clearly that there is no<br />
stopping the padel bandwagon as it<br />
rolls out worldwide.<br />
<strong>The</strong> UK is one of the countries at the<br />
forefront of this growth. And while<br />
courts are going up here at an ever<br />
increasing rate, there are still huge<br />
‘padel gaps’ throughout the country.<br />
We believe everyone should have<br />
the opportunity to at least try this<br />
brilliant game. And for this to happen<br />
we need local planning authorities to<br />
facilitate quicker decisions, allowing<br />
court building to progress, and local<br />
councils/leisure operators to see<br />
the value and benefits of padel and<br />
develop affordable facilities that build<br />
player communities.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are many reasons why padel<br />
has captured the hearts and minds<br />
of so many people. It’s easy to pick<br />
up (but difficult to master, so an<br />
ongoing challenge), the court is<br />
small so you feel close to those<br />
you are playing with, the ball rarely<br />
goes out so play can be fast, it<br />
appeals to all ages and is pretty<br />
social given four players are on<br />
court. <strong>The</strong>re’s a simple joy to hitting<br />
a ball and when you do it well it’s<br />
very satisfying. In short it’s a lot of<br />
fun and unites people of different<br />
ages and backgrounds in doing<br />
something healthy.<br />
In this <strong>issue</strong><br />
We delve into new court openings<br />
- a favourite is Hove Beach Park on<br />
the South Coast - as well as bring<br />
news of John Lewis embracing<br />
the padel party, speak to former<br />
GB tennis ace Abigail Tordoff and<br />
former world padel champion<br />
Mauri Andrini about the skills<br />
needed to make a successful<br />
switch from tennis to padel, sneak<br />
a tasty toasty at Rocket Padel’s new<br />
Ilford club, round-up padel news<br />
and padel products, look north to<br />
the burgeoning padel scene in<br />
Manchester, go behind the scenes<br />
of building London’s flagship padel<br />
centre Padium, in Canary Wharf,<br />
and find out why the sport is so<br />
addictive for ‘super senior’ players.<br />
Emma<br />
Emma Kimber<br />
Founding Editor<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> team<br />
Founding Editor<br />
Emma Kimber<br />
Consultant<br />
Catherine Larrad<br />
Designer<br />
Emma Devine<br />
Cover Image<br />
Chris Beyers, professional<br />
baseball player, model for<br />
Dubai-based BearFish Sports<br />
apparel and avid padel fan.<br />
Read previous <strong>issue</strong>s at<br />
thebandeja.com<br />
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4<br />
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5
news<br />
news<br />
Nadal<br />
partners with<br />
Playtomic<br />
Rafa Nadal and Playtomic have<br />
announced that the tennis great<br />
has invested in the padel/tennis<br />
court booking app.<br />
“I am very happy with this<br />
opportunity as it manages, in a<br />
social way, to unite a community<br />
interested in padel and tennis and<br />
makes these sports accessible<br />
to all types of people regardless<br />
of physical condition or level of<br />
play. I believe that bringing sport<br />
to everyone always has a positive<br />
impact on society,” said Rafa.<br />
Playtomic, understood to<br />
have more than 80% of the<br />
British market for padel bookings,<br />
operates in more than 50<br />
countries and has plans to<br />
expand into new territories<br />
this year.<br />
Racket exotica<br />
In a move that both companies described as ‘unexpected’, padel<br />
equipment manufacturer Babolat has teamed up with supercar<br />
manufacturer Lamborghini to develop a range of padel rackets -<br />
the limited edition BL001. Rumoured to cost around €5,000 each, the<br />
rackets are inspired by supercar chassis design and expected to<br />
become collector items.<br />
More details on our website www.thebandeja.com<br />
An eiffel<br />
of padel<br />
We’re used to seeing padel played<br />
in iconic locations but this is<br />
perhaps one of the best yet - an<br />
Instantpadel court at the foot of<br />
the Eiffel Tower in Paris. <strong>The</strong> Betclic<br />
Remontada Padel event concluded,<br />
after 10 stages, in the French<br />
capital. And it sounds like fun, with<br />
players participating in a range of<br />
interesting categories, for example<br />
pairs with a combined age of over<br />
80 years or those 20 years, kilos<br />
or tattoos apart - anything went<br />
according to organisers!<br />
Quick Ryde<br />
Has Ryde Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club set the record for<br />
the quickest padel courts planning approval yet?<br />
<strong>The</strong> club, on the Isle of Wight, submitted plans for two all-weather padel<br />
courts to its local council on March 25th and received approval on April<br />
29th, a timescale most padel operators can only dream about. <strong>The</strong> scheme,<br />
part funded by the LTA, is also interesting because the club plans to use<br />
revenue generated by padel to help fund construction of the island’s first<br />
purpose-built indoor tennis facility.<br />
GB player’s<br />
air dome padel<br />
plans revealed<br />
Two leading names in British padel are<br />
behind plans for what is being described as<br />
a ‘national hub’ for the game - and the first<br />
indoor padel facility in Surrey.<br />
Team GB player Nikhil Mohindra,<br />
through his company Daminis,<br />
is spearheading the six-court<br />
project which is planned to be the<br />
base for former GB player Sandy<br />
Farquharson’s <strong>The</strong> Padel School,<br />
an online coaching platform.<br />
<strong>The</strong> courts will be built within an 11m<br />
high air dome next to Leatherhead<br />
Leisure Centre, with plans for the<br />
centre to host training camps for the<br />
GB squad, national and international<br />
competitions plus provide outreach<br />
for local organisations and schools.<br />
<strong>The</strong> LTA - padel’s governing body<br />
in Britain - has given its backing<br />
to the scheme as has Sport England,<br />
which described it as<br />
‘a major new sports facility’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> green air dome will occupy a<br />
site previously approved for tennis<br />
courts. Mole Valley District Council<br />
recently passed the plans, describing<br />
the facility as a ‘unique proposal’ with<br />
‘a number of community benefits’,<br />
including stimulating tourism in the<br />
area and improving the health and<br />
wellbeing of the wider community.<br />
Robert<br />
Mitchell<br />
This <strong>issue</strong> of <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Bandeja</strong> is dedicated<br />
to Robert (RJ) Mitchell,<br />
our Chief Writer who<br />
tragically passed away<br />
in April following a<br />
short illness.<br />
Robert (known to many as Bert)<br />
was a passionate advocate for<br />
padel and particularly enjoyed<br />
reporting on the performance<br />
side of the sport, a job he did<br />
with relish, a great turn of<br />
phrase and top notch contacts.<br />
He was instrumental in<br />
providing content for the<br />
launch of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> website<br />
last year and his writing is<br />
throughout this <strong>issue</strong>. His cando<br />
attitude, journalism and big<br />
personality are sorely missed.<br />
No words can express what<br />
a loss his passing represents<br />
and we once again extend our<br />
heartfelt condolences to his<br />
wife Arlene and daughter Ava.<br />
Robert was also a published<br />
crime writer, basing a series of<br />
books on his time as a police<br />
officer with Strathclyde police.<br />
It’s fair to say that he lives on in<br />
his published words.<br />
WORLD CLASS PADEL TRAINING & FACILITIES.<br />
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6 SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
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7
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Smashing it<br />
out of the<br />
podcast park<br />
If you want to delve deeper into<br />
your favourite sport let Minter<br />
Dial & Dennis Timar assist.<br />
Both have established their own padel<br />
podcasts - <strong>The</strong> Joy of Padel (Minter)<br />
and the aptly-named <strong>The</strong> Padel Podcast<br />
(Dennis). We love them both (and not<br />
just because both have featured <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Bandeja</strong> Editor Emma Kimber!).<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Podacst<br />
Minter Dial<br />
Minter, an American<br />
in London, hails<br />
from a padel family<br />
with direct links back<br />
to the game’s<br />
founder Enrique<br />
Corcuera. Dennis<br />
is a self-confessed<br />
padel nut who digs<br />
out padel movers,<br />
shakers and players<br />
to speak with.<br />
High five to residents living near<br />
Hartford Golf Club in Northwich, Cheshire,<br />
who have thrown their support behind the<br />
club’s plans for padel courts. No moans<br />
about traffic, noisy balls or even noisier<br />
players for these neighbours. Instead they<br />
can’t wait for the courts to open, describing<br />
padel as ‘thrilling’, ‘excellent’ and ‘brilliant’<br />
in comments to planners. Our favourite<br />
comment is just eight words:<br />
“Unsure to why this would be a debate.”<br />
Spot on!<br />
Some of the members of the JMW specialist<br />
padel team on court at Club de Padel in Manchester.<br />
Pictured (from left) Simon Gerrard, Rebecca Young, Mike Blood,<br />
Marc Yaffe, Daniel Clark, Bernard Ralph, Jemma Fleetwood,<br />
Gill Alexander, Thomas Pearson.<br />
Lawyers court padel<br />
with UK first<br />
Legal eagles are combining their love of law with a<br />
passion for padel in what is believed to be the UK’s first<br />
dedicated one-stop-shop legal team for the game.<br />
Law firm JMW, which has offices in London, Manchester and Liverpool,<br />
has united specialists from its real estate, IP, corporate, commercial<br />
and employment sectors to form an expert padel team dedicated<br />
to assisting clients keen to build courts and open clubs.<br />
<strong>The</strong> move was the brainchild of JMW managing partner (and padel<br />
fanatic) Marc Yaffe who, after discussing the exponential growth of<br />
the sport with a business colleague post-match, identified the need<br />
for an integrated approach to advising padel clients.<br />
Already the team has almost 40 projects on its books, with particular<br />
demand for guidance on real estate <strong>issue</strong>s.<br />
Marc said: “<strong>The</strong> key element of our offering isn’t just legal expertise<br />
but our determination and desire to work together across multiple<br />
specialisms with the aim of delivering a fast, effective and<br />
specialised service.”<br />
What lies beneath...<br />
Ever wondered what’s under your<br />
padel court? <strong>The</strong>n here’s the answer<br />
- a super strong concrete ring beam<br />
that holds the structure in place (the<br />
glass alone can weigh a massive 3.2<br />
tonnes). Thanks to Gareth Evans, of<br />
Padel Ventures, for this pictorial insight.<br />
We love a good constrution pic!<br />
xxxx<br />
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thebandeja.com | SPRING <strong>2024</strong><br />
9
At the PRO-AM (from left) John Terry,<br />
Maria Picio, James Argent, Jake Bewley.<br />
Padel Aid’s<br />
new PRO-AM<br />
fundraiser<br />
Former Chelsea FC captain and<br />
now avid padel fan John Terry led<br />
the celeb charge at Padel Aid’s first<br />
PRO-AM tournament.<br />
A host of well-known names, including rugby<br />
player Jason Leonard, Beta Squad’s Sharky<br />
and Sky Sports’ Sarah Stirk, joined GB padel<br />
players including Christian Murphy, Sam<br />
Jones and Nikhil Mohindra at the event,<br />
which raised money for UNICEF.<br />
Padel Aid is the brainchild of GB pro padel<br />
players Frankie Langan and Nikhil. Frankie<br />
told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>: “In setting up Padel Aid<br />
we hope to raise the profile of padel in the<br />
UK and around the world, and in the process<br />
raise funds for an incredibly worthy cause,<br />
UNICEF. We want to encourage as many<br />
people as possible to try padel, especially<br />
the younger generations as it can have a<br />
huge positive impact on their physical and<br />
mental well-being.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> event was set to raise in excess<br />
of £15,000 thanks to Padel Galis’s donation<br />
of a state-of-the-art padel court for<br />
a silent auction.<br />
Babolat’s<br />
first junior<br />
signing<br />
Babolat has announced sponsorship of Oliver<br />
Hayday, a multi-lingual young player who took up<br />
padel when Covid restrictions were lifted in Spain.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 16-year-old, born and raised in<br />
Malaga to a Swedish mother and<br />
English father, relocated with his<br />
family to the UK (Tiptree, Essex) just<br />
under two years ago and has been<br />
making his mark on the GB game<br />
ever since.<br />
So far he has clinched junior titles<br />
as well as Grade 3 & 4 wins and<br />
a quarter final loss in a Grade<br />
2 tournament despite being in<br />
recovery from a badly broken<br />
collarbone sustained just before<br />
moving to the UK. He’s also on the<br />
LTA youth development radar.<br />
“I had never played any racket<br />
sports previously but quickly loved<br />
the speed, energy and skill of padel.<br />
It wasn’t long before I was hooked,”<br />
said Oliver, who trains weekly at<br />
Stratford Padel Club in East London<br />
and plays at Padel United<br />
in Maldon.<br />
He described feeling ‘pleased<br />
and privileged’ to be partnering<br />
with Babolat, especially given his<br />
racket of choice is the Babolat<br />
Technical Viper: “I started using<br />
Babolat in Spain when my coach<br />
at the time recommended the<br />
Technical Viper would suit my<br />
game. Ever since it is the only<br />
racket I feel comfortable playing<br />
with,” he said.<br />
Jake Whalley, UK Sport & Trade<br />
Marketing Manager for Babolat<br />
said sponsoring junior players was<br />
‘vital’ for the brand. “By supporting<br />
young athletes like Oliver we can<br />
help invest in the future of the<br />
sport. We are really excited to be<br />
working with him and look forward<br />
to his future success.”<br />
Rocks Lane Padel development pathway<br />
Rocks Lane Padel Academy<br />
Nursery – Reception<br />
Mini multi sports<br />
<strong>The</strong> foundation of Rocks Lane’s growth enabling<br />
even the youngest participants to develop a positive<br />
and healthy association with sport. Mini multi sports<br />
combine free flow games and physical development<br />
activities with an introduction to other sports.<br />
School years 1–12 to adults<br />
Former World Padel Tour player turned<br />
professional coach Álex Grilo has<br />
established the Rocks Lane Padel Academy<br />
with a firm commitment to developing<br />
the skills of beginners through to top<br />
class players of all ages and abilities.<br />
All academy lessons follow the<br />
‘Progressive Teaching Method’, a<br />
standardised coaching system to ensure<br />
that players receive high levels of tuition<br />
delivered with a consistent approach.<br />
Rocks Lane Padel Team - Quadruple<br />
National Padel Champions!<br />
Rocks Lane Padel Performance Pathway<br />
supports UK No 1s & top players of<br />
all ages from Juniors - Seniors -<br />
UK Adaptive Padel players.<br />
Padel competition pathway<br />
School tournaments<br />
<br />
LTA Padel<br />
Youth Tournaments<br />
U12s and U16s<br />
<br />
Rocks Lane Padel socials<br />
<br />
Playtomic matches<br />
<br />
LTA Padel local and national<br />
tournaments<br />
<br />
Euro Padel League (EPL)<br />
<br />
International padel tournaments<br />
10<br />
Calling all padel coaches looking for a new<br />
challenge... Sol Padel NEEDS YOU!<br />
“Australia is at a really exciting moment in the growth of padel and<br />
our club is really moving forward,” said Sol Padel founder Erin Purtle.<br />
“We are looking for someone who is keen to teach padel and help us<br />
grow this amazing sport not only in our club but in Australia.”<br />
Interested... Contact Erin: erin@solpadel.com.au<br />
Buy <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> print copies at www.thebandeja.com<br />
Rocks Lane Padel Chiswick and Barnes information and bookings<br />
via the Playtomic App – Adult Padel Academy courses (Academy),<br />
book a court/join a match (Book), book onto a padel social or intensive<br />
(Competitions) and purchase a membership (Memberships).<br />
Rocks Lane Padel<br />
Chiswick, Barnes, Dyrham Park Golf & Country Club in Barnet, Trevose Country Club and <strong>The</strong> Point, Polzeath in Cornwall.<br />
General padel enquiries: padel@rockslane.co.uk. Corporate, sponsorship, community, media & press enquiries: emma@rockslane.co.uk<br />
rockslane.co.uk<br />
Follow us on Instagram @rockslanepadel.<br />
Junior Padel<br />
Academy Courses<br />
Scan to view and<br />
book online.
Smash & Grab<br />
Grade 5<br />
with Padel Pussy...<br />
an anonymous viewpoint<br />
Enter they said. It’ll be fun they said.<br />
So we did...<br />
My playing partner and I signed up for our<br />
first proper padel competition, an LTA Grade<br />
5 tournament. We were both quite excited,<br />
a chance to let rip with our best shots<br />
(mediocre at best, to be fair). We’d even<br />
discussed how we would celebrate a win so<br />
that we didn’t look too excitable or totally<br />
surprised at coming first.<br />
According to the LTA, Grade 5s are ‘more local<br />
based competitions providing players with<br />
their first experience of the LTA Padel Tour<br />
and an opportunity to build up ranking points<br />
in order to gain acceptance into Grade 3<br />
competitions if they so wish’.<br />
We had a good breakfast because we knew<br />
there could well be more skilled opponents<br />
across the net playing for points to gain them<br />
access to (for us elusive) Grade 3 events.<br />
We even warmed up before going on court<br />
and had our energy drinks very close by. We<br />
were ready for those Grade 3 interlopers with<br />
our one metre kick smashes and enthusiastic<br />
but often uneventful boasts. And then we had<br />
to sit and wait for our first match. Two minutes<br />
in and we were ready to go home. <strong>The</strong> padel<br />
was, for us, just short of slightly insane. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
were a couple of teams at our level and those<br />
matches were great. Fun even. But the rest<br />
was Masters of the Universe V Noddy and<br />
Big Ears.<br />
Admittedly <strong>The</strong> Masters weren’t really Masters<br />
standard as in playing for their country or<br />
even on course for a Grade 1 tournament but<br />
they were head and shoulders above us and<br />
must, we thought, have been truly bored and<br />
wondering what they’d turned up to.<br />
Over a beer we discovered our slayers,<br />
neither local nor eyeing up Grade 3<br />
tournaments, knew what they’d let themselves<br />
in for - LTA ranking points. By ‘playing down’<br />
they were assured of going home with a<br />
pocketful of points. No rules were broken, no<br />
animals harmed but we left feeling it wasn’t<br />
really in the spirit of the game, and we won’t<br />
be saying yes again for a while.<br />
Bull(padel)<br />
in a china shop<br />
Is this a sure sign that padel has<br />
properly hit the spot for Brits?<br />
John Lewis has agreed a deal<br />
to sell Bullpadel rackets, the first<br />
major UK retailer outside the sports<br />
sector to bring a mainstream<br />
padel brand on board.<br />
Eighteen models of Bullpadel<br />
rackets, ranging in price from<br />
£79.99 to £264.99, are available<br />
via the retailer’s online store, with<br />
a number already sold out.<br />
<strong>The</strong>o & Victoria’s<br />
Soul mate<br />
Ambitious padel operator Soul Padel<br />
has signed up two of Great Britain’s<br />
top players - <strong>The</strong>o Garton and Victoria<br />
Nicholas, as brand ambassadors.<br />
Bullpadel UK and Ireland<br />
distributor MRH Sport brokered<br />
the deal. MRH founder Maximillian<br />
Holloway said: “This agreement is<br />
a huge endorsement for padel<br />
as it continues to take the UK by<br />
storm. Being stocked at a highly<br />
credible and established retailer<br />
such as John Lewis just shows<br />
where padel is right now and will<br />
only help to elevate the sport.”<br />
<strong>The</strong>o, aged 20 and ranked eighth in the LTA Men’s rankings, and<br />
30-year-old Victoria, currently fourth in the LTA’s Women’s rankings, will<br />
support Soul Padel’s drive to inspire the next generation of players and<br />
perhaps find a future GB world champion.<br />
Mark Hewlett, co-founder and CEO of Soul Padel, said: “We’re excited to<br />
be partnering with <strong>The</strong>o and Victoria. <strong>The</strong>o is not only a talented young<br />
player, he’s well positioned to relate to kids aspiring to get into padel.<br />
“Victoria also has a huge role to play in encouraging the next<br />
generation of young girls to take up this amazing sport and become the<br />
padel stars of the future. With their help we hope to create<br />
a future world champion.”<br />
Jersey boys<br />
back in business<br />
Just 10 weeks after Storm Ciaran devastated Island Padel, Jersey, the club was back<br />
up and running with three outdoor courts open to players - and by the end of April it<br />
had reinstated all five courts with just covers to follow.<br />
<strong>The</strong> club - three covered and two<br />
outdoor courts - was all but blown<br />
apart by the November storm which<br />
battered many parts of the UK<br />
but was especially strong across<br />
the Channel Islands, with Jersey<br />
experiencing storm force 10 winds.<br />
the devastation<br />
caused by Storm Ciaran.<br />
Padel Island founders Scott Clayton<br />
and Morgan Jubb saw years of hard<br />
work wiped out in hours, with daylight<br />
revealing broken glass, twisted metal<br />
and shredded covers across the<br />
£1.2m facility, which had only opened<br />
eight months earlier.<br />
However, despite the utter<br />
devastation, within days Scott<br />
vowed that the club would come<br />
back ‘bigger and better’ and, true<br />
to his word, that’s just what’s<br />
happened at the St Clement site.<br />
With a huge effort from insurers,<br />
court suppliers/installers Padel Tech<br />
and a passionate padel community,<br />
action was swift and the club was<br />
able to open three outdoor courts<br />
by mid January.<br />
Scott told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>: “It’s definitely<br />
been a test of character and will.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was a massive deconstruction<br />
project that had to take place to get<br />
it down to ground level. <strong>The</strong> weather<br />
was still quite bad during that<br />
period and it took maybe a little bit<br />
longer than we’d liked but the team<br />
(PadelTech) here in Jersey that dealt<br />
with it were absolutely fantastic. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
Hitting the spot<br />
really prioritised our job and worked<br />
really hard through all hours and all<br />
conditions. We owe a lot to them for<br />
the speed that they worked at given<br />
the conditions.”<br />
Within a month of re-opening Island<br />
Padel hosted a busy half-term kids<br />
camp and started a new league.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second stage of rebuilding the<br />
club, which hosted almost 100 players<br />
from across Europe for a prestigious<br />
Grade 1 LTA Padel National Tour event<br />
last year, added two more courts to<br />
take it back up to five. <strong>The</strong> final stage<br />
see’s covers installed over three<br />
of the courts. “I think considering the<br />
damage and looking at other areas of<br />
the island we’ve been very fortunate<br />
as to how quickly we’ve managed to<br />
turn it around,” added Scott.<br />
Island Padel is hosting its second<br />
LTA Grade 1 tournament in<br />
September. Details on its website<br />
www.islandpadel.com<br />
Meet <strong>The</strong> Hook Club, the newest venue to grace the padel scene<br />
in the North West of England. Inspired by the ‘El Gancho’ padel shot<br />
(‘the hook’ in English), the four court venue opens this <strong>summer</strong><br />
within the grounds of Champneys Mottram Hall Hotel and Spa in<br />
Macclesfield.With expansion plans for courts and canopies already<br />
in the works, <strong>The</strong> Hook aims to provide an unmatched atmosphere<br />
for players.“Inspired by luxury design, we’re creating an environment<br />
where people will not only play padel but enjoy the entire<br />
experience,” said CEO Jordan Ingoe.<br />
www.thehookclub.co.uk<br />
12 SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
13
news<br />
Boys U12 winners Noah Morgan<br />
and Charlie Stevenson.<br />
Stan and Sholto<br />
in action.<br />
GB junior<br />
talent<br />
shines at HOP<br />
<strong>The</strong> next crop of talented British juniors have<br />
been in action at the adidas Hop Tournament<br />
at the Padel Hub, Slough.<br />
<strong>The</strong> youth tournament, which<br />
featured three categories, ran<br />
alongside the Pro and Tour events.<br />
Nicholas Warner but fell 6-0 6-0 in<br />
the second round to third seeds<br />
Ethan Bardo and Willy Slayrd.<br />
Tia & Louie<br />
US bound<br />
GB padel stars Tia Norton and Louie<br />
Harris are competing in the US Pro<br />
Padel League, which wraps up in New<br />
York later this year.<br />
<strong>The</strong> PPL is the only professional padel<br />
league to feature team-based<br />
competition in a city-based franchise<br />
format. <strong>The</strong> competition debuted last<br />
year with British No 1 Tia Norton part of<br />
the Las Vegas Smash team that lifted<br />
the inaugural title.<br />
Tia has made a return to the team<br />
to defend the title; Louie is making<br />
his debut in the competition having<br />
been selected to represent the San<br />
Diego Stingrays.<br />
“America is known for having<br />
massive sporting competitions so to<br />
be able to compete in a tournament<br />
on such a big scale is huge. <strong>The</strong> level<br />
is so high in my team and all the<br />
other teams too, so it’s going to be<br />
very special,” said 21-year-old Louie.<br />
This year’s PPL has expanded from<br />
seven to 10 teams and is being<br />
played over four qualifying events<br />
(two in Miami in April, two in Los<br />
Louie (second from left).<br />
Angeles in August) with<br />
the final in New York in November.<br />
www.propadelleague.com<br />
Tia Norton.<br />
Boys U16<br />
winners Stan<br />
Hunt and<br />
Sholto Sen.<br />
Girls U16 winners Rosie Quirk<br />
and Chloe de la Mare.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Boys U16 event was a highly<br />
competitive affair with nine pairs<br />
chasing glory. Victory was claimed<br />
by top seeds Stan Hunt and Sholto<br />
Sen in a closely fought final against<br />
second seeds Harley Dixon and<br />
Andrew Dunn. After sharing a set<br />
apiece (7-6 3-6), Stan and Sholto<br />
won 10-3 in the tie-break. <strong>The</strong> win<br />
was especially sweet for the pairing,<br />
who met for the first time on the day<br />
of the tournament.<br />
Sholto told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>: “It was an<br />
amazingly competitive tournament,<br />
but also great fun. I enjoyed playing<br />
with Stan - we complemented each<br />
other well and kept<br />
our heads during the<br />
crucial points.”<br />
On their way to the finals<br />
Stan and Sholto beat Jesse<br />
Warren and Max Warner<br />
in the semis - notable<br />
because Jesse (11) is already<br />
competing in U16 events.<br />
Stan also competed in<br />
the Grade 2 men’s draw<br />
alongside fellow teen and<br />
Essex club-mate Ben Welsford.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pair won their first round<br />
match 6-1 6-2 against Max and<br />
<strong>The</strong> Girls’ U16 tournament saw<br />
Chloe de la Mare and Rosie Quirk<br />
lift another trophy together, with<br />
a comfortable 6-0 6-0 win over<br />
sisters Naomi and Natalie Aldaz.<br />
Chloe and Rosie also competed in<br />
the Women’s Grade 2 event and<br />
came within a whisker of winning<br />
their opening match against Alicia<br />
Hazzard and Roxy Keshavarz, but<br />
ultimately went down 4-6 6-4 8-10.<br />
In the Boys U12 round robin<br />
competition, Noah Morgan and<br />
Charlie Stevenson finished top of<br />
the standings with two wins from<br />
two. <strong>The</strong> outcome was decided by<br />
a decisive 4-6 7-6 10-6 win over<br />
Luka Cerdena Porath Petersen<br />
(who also played in the 12&U &<br />
16&U) and Jude Jasinski.<br />
Matt Stanforth, LTA Padel<br />
Performance Manager, praised the<br />
players’ ‘great performances’.<br />
A number of them are on the LTA’s<br />
GB youth radar. It is expected<br />
selections for the GB U14 and U18<br />
age groups will be made following<br />
this month’s youth camp at Rocket<br />
Padel, Bristol, taking into account<br />
those juniors who were seen at<br />
We Are Padel, Derby, in December.<br />
Femme Open<br />
in Australia<br />
Femme Open, the sports network for<br />
women, has landed in Australia!<br />
Three tournaments have been held so<br />
far, including one at Sol Padel in Albury,<br />
New South Wales. Club founder Erin<br />
Purtle described it as a ‘huge success’,<br />
with 34 women playing across beginner,<br />
intermediate and advanced levels.<br />
“It was a hot <strong>summer</strong> night but that<br />
did not stop some good padel! It was a<br />
fantastic event and so good to see so<br />
many women playing padel,” said Erin,<br />
who has been working with Femme<br />
Open UK founder (and fellow Australian)<br />
Pep Stonor as well as Swedes Johanna<br />
Livijn and Johanna Aybar who started<br />
the movement.<br />
hexagon returns<br />
Organisers of <strong>The</strong> Hexagon Cup have announced it will be back in<br />
2025 after the ‘overwhelming success’ of the inaugural team event<br />
earlier this year, the first to be live-streamed on UK TV.<br />
Celebrities, sports stars and business ‘names’ headed each of the<br />
six teams, with tennis star Andy Murray’s Team Ad/Vantage winning<br />
the overall tournament and a chunk of the €1 million prize pot.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cup was one of the most watched padel events globally, with<br />
live coverage in more than 190 international markets. In the UK,<br />
ITVX streamed matches. With great camera angles and English<br />
commentary (including from <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> coach and former World<br />
No 1 Mauri Andrini plus ITV sports journalist Ned Boulting), it was a<br />
good opportunity to watch top level men’s and women’s padel.<br />
Next year’s event is expected to take place from January 29 to<br />
February 2, again at Madrid Arena, Spain.<br />
Watch <strong>The</strong> Hexagon Cup via its YouTube channel.<br />
Hexagon Cup team owner Eva<br />
Longoria with legendary padel pro<br />
Fernando Belagestuín.<br />
14<br />
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thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
15
festival of padel<br />
Co-organiser Jan Spence (centre)<br />
with a group of players.<br />
Festival of Padel<br />
goes with a swing<br />
<strong>The</strong> first <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> Festival of Padel was held at Surge, Harrogate, with the<br />
idea of bringing together ladies wanting to play different people in a relaxed<br />
environment, perhaps as a precursor to entering LTA and other more competitive<br />
events. Here Nicky Horn, one of the organisers, gives a low down on the day.<br />
Co-organiser Nicky Horn (front right) with players.<br />
‘Wouldn’t it be great to bring some<br />
of our Facebook friends together<br />
for a fun festival of padel?’ said Jan<br />
Spence, founder of Facebook group<br />
Padel Women UK. <strong>The</strong> idea of a<br />
Festival of Padel was created.<br />
Emma Kimber, founding editor of<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> magazine, loved the<br />
idea and sought to ask sponsors if<br />
they’d like to support such an event.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was no hesitation - Bas3line<br />
founder Wesley Teixeira was quick<br />
to offer rackets for the winners;<br />
NamethatBall’s Chloe Hughes<br />
snapped up the chance to provide<br />
bespoke printed balls for the day and<br />
VibePadel founder Geoff Woodman<br />
was only too keen to let each of the<br />
players have top class grips for their<br />
goody bags. And Harrogate’s very<br />
own gin distillery, Slingsby, thought<br />
1st: Michelle Eldrige &<br />
Rachel Hanlon<br />
2nd: Cheryl Mitchell &<br />
Sue Stent<br />
3rd: Jayne Dixon &<br />
Joyce Watkins Jo Geary<br />
& Jules Richardson<br />
Ilkley<br />
Ilkley &<br />
Chapel A<br />
Chapel A<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> Festival of Padel winners<br />
Michelle Eldrige & Rachel Hanlon.<br />
a spot of gin at the end of the event<br />
would round it off nicely (it was right!).<br />
Designed for women who don’t want<br />
to enter an LTA event yet, the first<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> Festival of Padel took<br />
place at Surge with 26 players. Each<br />
couple played five matches with the<br />
emphasis on playing new people.<br />
<strong>The</strong> morning session was won by Jo<br />
Lupton and Sandra Wiggins of HSFC,<br />
Harrogate, who went through to the<br />
afternoon session, which was of a<br />
great standard (they need to enter<br />
some LTA events).<br />
Everyone so enjoyed the day, we had<br />
some great feedback. Thank you<br />
players, sponsors, Emma and Jan –<br />
let’s do another one soon!<br />
With thanks to our<br />
sponsors:<br />
“<strong>The</strong> ladies were a fantastic<br />
bunch and made for a<br />
supportive (yet competitive)<br />
atmosphere with chat and<br />
laughs in between matches.<br />
I hope it is something that<br />
continues to grow and opens<br />
the doors to many more<br />
women who want to increase<br />
their confidence in padel and<br />
padel competitions.”<br />
Jan Spence - Founder, Padel<br />
Women UK Facebook page<br />
“Huge thanks to Nicky and Jan<br />
for organising such a brilliant<br />
day with fabulous feedback<br />
from the players. <strong>The</strong> idea<br />
of a padel festival to bring<br />
women together to experience<br />
gentle competition, perhaps<br />
for the first time, absolutely hit<br />
the spot. Padel is for all and<br />
everyone and encouraging<br />
players on their padel journey<br />
is so important.”<br />
Emma Kimber - Founding<br />
Editor, <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong><br />
16 SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
17
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> met these lovely ladies at the opening of Rocket<br />
Padel in Bristol. Admittedly it’s a while ago now but they were<br />
having a great time, having travelled from Wales for the event, so<br />
we think it’s worth giving them a shout-out and a wave.<br />
Padel in<br />
pictures<br />
Rocks Lane founder Chris Warren launched the European Padel<br />
League (EPL), a tournament contested by teams from five<br />
countries (GB, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and France) and hosted in<br />
each location. It’s coming to Rocks Lane, Chiswick, on July 4-7th.<br />
She’s a Barbie girl, he’s Kenough! (aka Sean<br />
and Pennie from Padel United in Maldon).<br />
An inspired choice - a Stars & Stripes pop-up at RacketX<br />
in Miami. Round of appaluse to Padel Courts Deluxe &<br />
Act Sports for this all-American custom court. Adds new<br />
meaning to hit the ball down the line!<br />
<strong>The</strong> winning Gloucestershire men’s<br />
team: Stuart Beattie, Kingsley Harris<br />
(Captain), Robert Elvidge, Ian<br />
Bloomfield, Keith Frith, Nick Baker.<br />
…and this is why we<br />
don’t play pickleball!<br />
UK Padel’s Over 50s County Championship at Rocket<br />
Padel saw Gloucestershire (above) reign supreme in<br />
the men’s (beating Surrey) and the mixed (beating<br />
Yorkshire). Yorkshire (below) took the women’s title<br />
against Gloucestershire.<br />
We LOVE<br />
Welsh Padel’s<br />
social media<br />
An inspired move - newlaunch<br />
club operator Soul<br />
Padel (founder Mark Hewlett<br />
is pictured) has opened courts<br />
at two Decathlons (Stockport<br />
and Glasgow) for three<br />
months over <strong>summer</strong>. Book<br />
via www.soulpadel.co.uk<br />
<strong>The</strong> victorious Yorkshire ladies (from<br />
left) Helen Cowlrick, Sally Bickerton,<br />
Nicky Horn, Sally Fisher (Captain),<br />
Audrey Henderson, Gilly Smail.<br />
Game4Padel’s Edinburgh Park hosted a<br />
delegation from Sport Scotland’s Fit For Girls<br />
programme to find out more about padel. A<br />
partnership between Sport Scotland and the<br />
Youth Sport Trust, Fit for Girls is aimed at driving<br />
engagement with sport for 11-18-year-olds.<br />
18 Buy <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> print copies at www.thebandeja.com<br />
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feature<br />
Photo credit: Femme Open UK.<br />
<strong>The</strong> UK’s<br />
padel<br />
obsession<br />
laid bare<br />
A country<br />
obsessed!<br />
Each pin drop represents<br />
where players were when they<br />
booked courts via Playtomic<br />
in 2023. <strong>The</strong> darker the red, the<br />
more the bookings, with some<br />
London pins representing<br />
45,000 bookings each.<br />
If you needed any convincing that padel is becoming a national<br />
obsession then check out this map from court booking app Playtomic.<br />
Each red pin represents where<br />
players were when they made<br />
court bookings in 2023 - the<br />
darker the pin the higher the<br />
number of bookings, with some of<br />
the London pins representing 45,000<br />
court reservations.<br />
It’s clear that people nationwide have<br />
taken padel to their hearts and are<br />
often willing to travel long distances<br />
to play. It’s also reasonably easy to<br />
pick out the National Parks (we had<br />
wanted to superimpose sheep on<br />
these areas but the nice man from<br />
Playtomic pulled a face). That said,<br />
there are definitely padel players<br />
enjoying a day out on the moors, in<br />
the mountains and on the lakes while<br />
booking their court time. Respect!<br />
<strong>The</strong> stats are a fascinating insight<br />
into just how popular padel has<br />
become – and we are constantly<br />
being told this is just the start of its<br />
journey, so with the co-operation of<br />
the nice man from Playtomic we’ll<br />
hope to revisit this map at the end<br />
of the year, when we expect it to<br />
look less Sweet Embrace (Dulux<br />
Colour of the Year) and more Deep<br />
Purple as padel rocks its way to<br />
sporting domination.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is every chance our green and<br />
pleasant land will turn the colour<br />
purple; Playtomic stats also revealed<br />
that year-on-year growth from<br />
January 2023 saw participation all but<br />
triple from almost 12,700 hours of play<br />
in January 2023 to just over 37,000<br />
hours in January <strong>2024</strong>. Playtomic’s<br />
average marketshare for these<br />
months was 85%. <strong>The</strong> total UK market<br />
value for court bookings quadrupled<br />
in the same period.<br />
Interestingly the UK is leading<br />
the way in female participation -<br />
the Playtomic data shows 23% of<br />
players are female compared to<br />
a worldwide figure of 19%.<br />
<strong>The</strong> nice man from Playtomic<br />
(aka UK & Ireland regional manager<br />
Alan Douglas) said the data<br />
confirmed the ‘amazing growth’ of<br />
padel, with new clubs, bigger clubs<br />
and expanding chains delivering<br />
much needed court availability:<br />
“<strong>The</strong> UK is still an emerging<br />
market for padel but all the signs<br />
are that the sport will continue to<br />
grow for perhaps another five years,<br />
as it did in more mature markets<br />
such as Spain. <strong>The</strong>re is no doubt<br />
that there is player demand as<br />
every club opening results in a swift<br />
increase in matches being booked<br />
around it,” he said. •<br />
20<br />
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21
feature<br />
rocket<br />
fuel<br />
Two words spring to mind when<br />
describing my brother - creative<br />
and contagious. This may sound<br />
like sisterly bias, but everyone who<br />
meets him feels the same. Creativity<br />
is key when it comes to creating food<br />
people love but it is his contagiously<br />
positive attitude that keeps<br />
customers coming back for more!<br />
“I have always loved the freedom of<br />
cooking – each time it is different,”<br />
said Jamie, who is excited about<br />
merging café culture with padel.<br />
“It’s the same with serving, you<br />
have to react to the energy of your<br />
consumers and their needs.<br />
“Nutrition has always been at the<br />
forefront of my creative cooking<br />
process and I strongly believe that<br />
healthy can mean delicious. And<br />
padel players need yummy and<br />
nutritious food to allow them to play<br />
their best padel,” he added.<br />
Cheffing<br />
After leaving school Jamie, 22, opted<br />
out of the conventional route of<br />
university and channelled his love for<br />
Jamie Thomas<br />
Rocket Padel has touched down in Ilford, London, delivering the<br />
capital’s biggest padel centre yet with 12 courts - and a food and<br />
drink team headed up by chef Jamie Thomas, who has a passion<br />
for great taste, nutrition and padel! His sister Emily popped in to<br />
catch up with her brother to find out more.<br />
food into a career of private cheffing<br />
around the UK and managing<br />
Michelin Bib Gourmand Restaurant<br />
Queen of Cups nestled in the heart<br />
of Glastonbury, pocketing invaluable<br />
experience of the hospitality trade<br />
along the way.<br />
Growing up in a sport mad family<br />
(mum Sarah represented GB as<br />
a tennis junior and more recently<br />
played in the GB Seniors padel team),<br />
Jamie was exposed to all sorts of<br />
sport, playing to a competitive level<br />
in tennis, hockey and most notably<br />
show jumping. Despite years of<br />
playing padel in the Spanish sun<br />
on family holidays, it was not until<br />
the <strong>summer</strong> of 2023 that his love for<br />
padel blossomed while working as<br />
a host at Rocket’s hugely successful<br />
pop-up court at Battersea Power<br />
Station, London.<br />
Game on<br />
Armed with an eye for quality,<br />
knowledge of food seasonality and<br />
a passion for building a community<br />
through food, Jamie was ready for his<br />
next challenge and the opportunity to<br />
lead the F&B team at Ilford.<br />
He said: “I have always enjoyed how<br />
food makes people feel. It changes<br />
people’s moods, brings people<br />
together and I love the social aspect<br />
that the food and padel hybrid<br />
brings. It is great to see so many<br />
visitors giving padel a go for the first<br />
time and inevitability as the game is<br />
so addictive, they just keep coming<br />
back. And not least for the Avo Attack<br />
Smoothie – a firm club favourite!”<br />
As well as heading up Rocket’s<br />
catering, Jamie is also a part-time<br />
padel coach, getting to know players<br />
on and off the court and helping to<br />
develop the facility’s all-important<br />
‘club’ feel. <strong>The</strong> centre encourages<br />
people to treat it like a home-awayfrom-home<br />
– it has a gym, business<br />
meeting rooms, work from home<br />
stations and, of course, the café.<br />
During my visit Jamie and I took to a<br />
court and let our competitive spirits<br />
run riot. Despite a handful of bickers<br />
about me hitting the ball too hard<br />
and Jamie repeatedly explaining<br />
that ‘placement of the ball is more<br />
important than power’ we just about<br />
remained friends and I managed to<br />
knab a free coffee, salad, and even<br />
some cake. Winner!<br />
Curated<br />
It is the first time Jamie has had full<br />
creative cooking freedom and he has<br />
carefully curated a café menu for<br />
easy fuel and refuel options, including<br />
Joe and the Juice-style sandwiches,<br />
staying on-brand with Rocket’s<br />
Scandi roots. From club classics to<br />
salads, cakes and smoothies, there is<br />
something for everyone.<br />
With Jamie are head coach Tom<br />
Charnock (centre) and club<br />
manager Oskar Wynne.<br />
Rocket Padel, Ilford, will have 12 courts (nine doubles, three singles) when<br />
completed imminently. <strong>The</strong> main building, housing four double courts,<br />
two singles, the cafe, etc. opened first. <strong>The</strong> remaining seven courts are<br />
housed within an adjacent building with retractable sides connected<br />
to the main building via an Ibiza-style courtyard area. Ilford is Rocket<br />
Padel’ls second UK site. Its first, in Bristol, is the UK’s largest centre with 14<br />
indoor courts. A third - adjacent Battersea Power Station - opens in<br />
a few months with four courts. Bookings are via Playtomic.<br />
“We are a pescetarian and alcoholfree<br />
centre, which was always<br />
important when we were planning<br />
our café lift off,” said Jamie. “And for<br />
all our dishes we try to use similar<br />
ingredients to reduce waste.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> café also serves Clifton Coffee,<br />
paying homage to Rocket’s first UK<br />
site in Bristol. And the most popular<br />
dish so far, putting aside the Ava<br />
Attack Smoothie [editor’s note: I’ve<br />
tried Avo Attack, it’s great.]<br />
“Our Mature Cheddar and Mexican<br />
Cheese Melt with pickled red onion<br />
and chilli jam panini has been the<br />
real crowd pleaser,” said Jamie.<br />
“However our vision is constantly<br />
evolving with our clientele, we have<br />
lots more exciting foody plans up<br />
our sleeves.<br />
“This is just the beginning of Rocket<br />
Padel, Ilford’s journey and I am keen<br />
to see the centre thrive and grow<br />
and see more people joining the<br />
padel party in the UK. On a personal<br />
level, it has allowed me to follow my<br />
passions for cooking and padel under<br />
one roof.” •<br />
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23
news<br />
news<br />
Women &<br />
children first<br />
the LTA’s strategy to 2027<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), padel’s<br />
governing body in Britain, has a new strategy to take the game<br />
through to the end of 2026. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> spoke to Tom Murray,<br />
LTA Head of Padel, to find out more.<br />
Tom Murray<br />
<strong>The</strong> turn of <strong>2024</strong> marked a pivotal<br />
moment for padel in Britain - the<br />
number of courts hit 350, the<br />
magic number that Tom Murray needed<br />
to press ahead with phase two of<br />
developing the game.<br />
“It is exciting because we have finally<br />
got the sport to the place where we<br />
can justify greater investment and<br />
be specific about our strategy,” said<br />
Tom. “You could argue there is still not<br />
enough infrastructure (courts) and there<br />
isn’t, we are playing catch up with the<br />
rest of Europe, but there needs to be<br />
enough places to play so that marketing<br />
actions don’t fall on deaf ears.”<br />
It’s widely accepted that court numbers<br />
have now broken through the 400 mark<br />
and are heading towards 500 thanks to<br />
a flurry of new openings in the last few<br />
months, with many more planned for the<br />
rest of the year. <strong>The</strong>se growing numbers<br />
feed into the LTA’s Padel Strategy <strong>2024</strong>-<br />
2026, which forecasts 500 courts by the<br />
end of <strong>2024</strong>, 700 by the end of next year<br />
and 1,000 by the end of 2026.<br />
This exponential growth is being<br />
delivered, in the main, by the private<br />
sector. Since 2020 the LTA has provided<br />
35 tennis clubs with £3.9 million of<br />
‘Quick Access Loans’ funding for 67<br />
padel courts. In the same timescale<br />
the association’s total investment into<br />
padel has been around £5 million.<br />
(Note: Quick Access Loans have to be<br />
re-paid within 10 years).<br />
Player numbers are also on the rise.<br />
A recent LTA survey of venues put<br />
participation at between 139,000 and<br />
151,000, up from the association’s<br />
previously quoted figure of 89,000.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> next three years we are going to<br />
see padel really grow and that is when<br />
we are going to start to see changes,”<br />
said Tom. “It is a huge opportunity for<br />
everyone in the UK. Padel is growing,<br />
it’s great for the LTA, it’s great for the<br />
private sector and we are just there<br />
to facilitate that.<br />
“It (padel) is in a really good place and<br />
these next three years we will be able<br />
to show what the LTA is there for and<br />
what we can do with the sport,” added<br />
Tom, who denied critics’ claims that the<br />
organisation wishes to control padel to<br />
protect tennis. “It’s not let’s control padel,<br />
it is just about helping grow the sport in<br />
the right way,” he said.<br />
Strategy<br />
A key LTA focus is growing the sport in<br />
the right way, particularly in encouraging<br />
more women and children on to court.<br />
This will be delivered via the LTA’s<br />
updated padel strategy, which is split<br />
into six key actions:<br />
Invest in the visibility of padel and<br />
its infrastructure to increase padel<br />
awareness, for example through<br />
content creation, strategic marketing<br />
and commercial partnerships.<br />
Diversify event space/focus on<br />
commercial partnerships and ensure<br />
padel is safe, inclusive and sustainable.<br />
In practice this includes a medium/long<br />
term major event strategy that supports<br />
British players and drives visibility.<br />
Grow the player base by making<br />
programmes and the competition<br />
landscape more accessible. <strong>The</strong> LTA<br />
will developing competitions to improve<br />
accessibility and increase participation<br />
with a focus on local, county and<br />
regional level.<br />
Perform: build a pathway that supports<br />
and future current players, for example<br />
through youth activation sessions/<br />
player identification opportunities.<br />
Support the padel workforce, for<br />
example through an education and<br />
qualification pathway.<br />
Lead padel in Britain to the highest<br />
standards to ensure it is safe, inclusive<br />
and sustainable.<br />
County network<br />
Tom explained that they are looking<br />
to the LTA’s network of regional and<br />
county teams to support national<br />
efforts. “Counties can play a huge role<br />
in this, as they do with tennis, from<br />
county competitions to grassroots<br />
programmes,” he said. With all counties<br />
now having LTA padel ambassadors, all<br />
but a few having courts and LTA funding<br />
in place to support them, there’s a<br />
real opportunity to supercharge padel<br />
activations at grassroots level<br />
So what is he most excited about?<br />
“Growing padel participation. That<br />
might sound pretty plain but for me<br />
that is huge,” he said. “<strong>The</strong> <strong>issue</strong> was<br />
infrastructure, there just weren’t enough<br />
courts to be able to do all the things I<br />
wanted to do. We are turning the corner<br />
but still we have a long way to go.”<br />
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25
padium<br />
“I have never seen this degree of complexity<br />
on any other site and there will probably never<br />
be another site like it,”<br />
Paul Ross, director and founder at Edinbrugh-based Padel Tech<br />
Padium<br />
the most complex<br />
padel build EVER?<br />
Just two minutes’ walk from the<br />
top of the huge escalator that<br />
rises out of Canary Wharf tube<br />
station, Padium is not hard to spot<br />
with its three-arched roof and brightly<br />
coloured frontage nestled amongst<br />
30 and 40-storey skyscrapers.<br />
But what visitors to the club won’t<br />
see is the engineering ingenuity<br />
hidden deep beneath the building.<br />
For Padium was constructed on a<br />
15m high scaffold sitting deep inside<br />
a basement constructed in readiness<br />
for a future skyscraper.<br />
“I have never seen this degree of<br />
complexity on any other site and<br />
there will probably never be another<br />
site like it,” said Paul Ross, director and<br />
founder at Edinbrugh-based Padel<br />
Tech, which constructed Padium’s<br />
structure and courts.<br />
extensive coordination and teamwork<br />
from a large cast of companies.<br />
From Canary Wharf’s designers and<br />
designated contractors, to Padium,<br />
Padel Tech and canopy supplier<br />
Okatent, to the people who look after<br />
the everyday safety, security and<br />
logistics of London’s leading financial<br />
district, there were many <strong>issue</strong>s and<br />
interfaces to juggle.<br />
customer experience - how it<br />
feels when you step into the club,<br />
the interior design, changing rooms,<br />
courts, even the smell.”<br />
Having considered warehouse<br />
locations on the outskirts of the<br />
capital he realised that he needed<br />
a more flagship location. Canary<br />
Wharf was high on his hit-list.<br />
Padium. It’s London’s flagship padel<br />
club, an eight court oasis slotted<br />
between the towering skyscrapers of<br />
Canary Wharf. Within six months of<br />
opening 5,000 people had streamed<br />
through its doors and plans are afoot<br />
to add another court and roll out the<br />
Padium brand - backed by Spotify<br />
co-founder Martin Lorentzon - to a<br />
second location. But building the club<br />
wasn’t just a challenge, it was an<br />
audacious plan requiring heavyweight<br />
engineering par excellence, as<br />
Kristina Smith reports.<br />
It’s quite a statement from a<br />
company which has built padel<br />
courts in some rather unusual places,<br />
from onboard a ship to a remote<br />
Caribbean island for a celebrity client.<br />
It has also constructed around 50% of<br />
the UK’s 400 or so padel courts and<br />
draws on the experience of adidas’s<br />
AFP Court installers around the world<br />
as AFP’s only UK partner.<br />
Aside from the weight of the<br />
Padium building itself, the<br />
connection between structure and<br />
scaffold at the Canary Wharf Bank<br />
Street site had to take the uplift forces<br />
of the winds that blow through the<br />
former London docklands area. With<br />
the corridor effect created by the tall<br />
buildings these can be substantial<br />
and capricious.<br />
Designing and constructing this<br />
most unique padel facility required<br />
Padium founder<br />
Houman Ashrafzadeh.<br />
“It needed lots of eyes, lots of brain<br />
and lots of brain power,” said Paul.<br />
“It was a real team effort that<br />
delivered this project.”<br />
Vision<br />
Padium is the brainchild of serial<br />
entrepreneur Houman Ashrafzadeh,<br />
already a tenant at Canary Wharf<br />
with one of his healthy fast-food<br />
restaurants Urban Greens. Inspired by<br />
clubs in Sweden, where he grew up,<br />
Houman was keen to create a highend<br />
padel experience in the UK.<br />
“Back in 2019 there were only a<br />
few courts in the UK and we didn’t<br />
have premium facilities like the<br />
ones we have in Sweden,” said<br />
Houman. “I wanted to elevate the<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re were four or five other<br />
operators bidding for the same site<br />
but we wanted to do something quite<br />
different,” said Houman. “Canary<br />
Wharf already knew me as a tenant<br />
through Urban Greens so they knew<br />
that I am detail oriented, brand<br />
oriented and a good tenant.”<br />
Another happy coincidence was<br />
that the wife of Canary Wharf’s CEO<br />
Shobi Khan was already a keen padel<br />
player. And now Shobi is a fan too,<br />
enjoying games with Houman.<br />
Engineering ingenuity<br />
Originally Padium was to be built on<br />
a site in Wood Wharf, a good location<br />
but further from Canary Wharf tube<br />
station. <strong>The</strong> basement structure there<br />
26<br />
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27
padium<br />
padium<br />
had been constructed but, with a<br />
tenant earmarked for the level below<br />
ground, there were <strong>issue</strong>s that would<br />
have complicated the structure and<br />
layout of Padium. And so Canary<br />
Wharf proposed the Bank Street site.<br />
This required an even more complex<br />
build but Houman welcomed the idea<br />
with open arms - and a vision for an<br />
even more premium club.<br />
For Padel Tech, the shift in location<br />
meant ripping up the designs it had<br />
been working on for Wood Wharf<br />
and addressing the challenge of<br />
how to build on top of that scaffold.<br />
Fortunately, they had the expertise<br />
of Dr Mark Richards, director of NESTA<br />
Consulting Engineers, who advises<br />
Canary Wharf on structural <strong>issue</strong>s.<br />
“That scaffolding was not intended<br />
to have a building on top of it,”<br />
explained Mark. “It was designed to<br />
take loadings from an area being<br />
used for various sports but not a<br />
facility like Padium. I had to do a<br />
feasibility study to look at whether<br />
the scaffold could take the facility.”<br />
Working with Padel Tech, Okatent,<br />
Canary Wharf-approved specialist<br />
contractors ProPlant which built<br />
the scaffold and ConCast, which<br />
constructed the concrete slab on<br />
which Padium sits, Mark helped guide<br />
a bespoke design by the specialist<br />
contractors which safely transfers<br />
building and wind loads.<br />
Under the arches<br />
But the challenges didn’t end there.<br />
In a different location Padium’s roof<br />
would have been one arched canopy,<br />
spanning from one edge of the plot<br />
to the other. However, this would have<br />
put too much force onto the edges of<br />
the scaffolding.<br />
<strong>The</strong> solution was to install four<br />
specialist trusses running from<br />
the front to the back of the site<br />
– which is one city block in size –<br />
with three arches spanning the<br />
smaller distances between trusses.<br />
Positioning of the arches allowed<br />
the courts to be located perfectly<br />
between them.<br />
“We needed to increase the number<br />
of point loads to spread the load<br />
across the surface,” said Padel Tech<br />
design and estimating manager Andy<br />
Ponton. “<strong>The</strong> trusses are bolted to the<br />
scaffolding and have built-in points<br />
to which the canopy is anchored. <strong>The</strong><br />
concrete slab was initially cast up to<br />
the trusses and then the trusses were<br />
infilled afterwards.”<br />
Some parts of the scaffolding had to<br />
be beefed up too to resist wind uplift<br />
forces from the roof structure, as Mark<br />
explained: “<strong>The</strong> scaffolding had to be<br />
strengthened along the truss lines.<br />
We married that up with the forces<br />
coming from the roof.”<br />
It wasn’t just the final loadings that<br />
had to be considered. With input<br />
from Mark, Padel Tech planned every<br />
move of the construction sequence<br />
carefully so that the scaffolding was<br />
not overloaded, from the weight<br />
and position of construction<br />
equipment used to deliveries of<br />
steel and materials and where they<br />
would be placed.<br />
Delivering the project safely and<br />
with minimum impacts on Canary<br />
Wharf’s tenants and the environment<br />
were key, said Paul: “<strong>The</strong>ir tenants<br />
pay a premium to know they are in<br />
a safe environment. That’s part of<br />
the USP of being in Canary Wharf.<br />
We had weekly meetings with<br />
multiple parties at Canary Wharf.”<br />
Work to install the trusses and<br />
concrete slab began in October 2022,<br />
with Padel Tech starting on site in<br />
February 2023. Towards the end of the<br />
build Padel Tech liaised with Padium’s<br />
fit-out contractor S&G Shopfitters<br />
which constructed the mezzanine<br />
level within the club from where<br />
players can view the facility’s seven<br />
internal courts.<br />
Lux<br />
For engineers the ‘wow’ factor for<br />
Padium lies hidden, but for players it<br />
begins as soon as they enter<br />
the building. Walking through the<br />
front door, with the showcase<br />
centre court ahead, it feels like<br />
you might be about to play in a<br />
major tournament.<br />
With an internal roof height of over<br />
10m and details including acoustic<br />
dampening, elegant, curved lighting<br />
poles, pro shop and changing<br />
rooms complete with matt-black<br />
toilets and Dyson hair dryers,<br />
Houman has worked to create his<br />
perfect club and the attention to<br />
detail from Padium’s design team<br />
is evident everywhere.<br />
Since opening in September,<br />
Houman has added heating and air<br />
conditioning to the mezzanine floor<br />
which overlooks the indoor courts,<br />
and is now looking to heat the whole<br />
club. Players can also look forward<br />
to a bar on the mezzanine and<br />
perhaps a second outdoor court.<br />
Oasis<br />
For Canary Wharf’s tenants the<br />
timing of Padium couldn’t have<br />
been better. It opened as big<br />
corporates were searching for<br />
ways to lure employees back to<br />
the office from home working. And<br />
its location is about to get even<br />
better. Canary Wharf has started<br />
work on its ambitious Middle Dock<br />
project to create an outdoor<br />
oasis centred around the dock,<br />
with trees and gardens, floating<br />
boardwalks, water sports and<br />
spaces for arts and culture right<br />
on Padium’s doorstep.<br />
Meanwhile, Houman is plotting the<br />
next location for a second club.<br />
Padium Factfile<br />
Courts: 7 indoors, one outdoors<br />
Head Coach: Jorge Martinez<br />
Booking: via Playtomic app<br />
(pay-and-play or membership)<br />
Opening hours: 6am-10pm<br />
Cost: From £80/hr/court<br />
Address: 10 Bank Street, E14 4DE<br />
<strong>The</strong> complexity of this build, alongside<br />
challenges linked to the disruption of<br />
material deliveries and rising costs<br />
has not deterred him in his mission to<br />
make Padium the biggest and most<br />
premium brand in the UK.<br />
“I know that challenges are coming<br />
and I know that I will tackle them<br />
somehow,” he said. “With five years’<br />
experience of building a brand and<br />
a business with Urban Greens I had a<br />
lot of things in my toolbox I could<br />
reach for.”<br />
Padel Tech’s Paul echoed the<br />
sentiment. His team’s experience on<br />
major construction projects means<br />
that he too relishes the intricacies<br />
and demands of a complex build.<br />
“We thrive on difficult projects,” he<br />
said. “We are really looking forward<br />
to the next one.” •<br />
28<br />
SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
29
Photo credit: IOC Greg Martin.<br />
to padel’s Olympic dreams?<br />
If breakdancing can make it to the Olympics surely there’s<br />
a place for padel? Duncan Mackay reports on how it could<br />
be who you know and how big your socials are that count<br />
on the path to Olympic glory.<br />
For a sport to be added to the<br />
Olympic programme there used<br />
to be a well-defined process.<br />
Become a member of SportAccord,<br />
now the Global Association of<br />
International Sports Federations,<br />
demonstrate that you had signed<br />
up to the World Anti-Doping<br />
code, get International Olympic<br />
Committee recognition and then try<br />
to persuade them to vote for you to<br />
join the Games.<br />
Some, like rugby sevens, taekwondo<br />
and triathlon, were successful. Others,<br />
like squash, were not.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n Thomas Bach was elected<br />
President of the IOC in 2013 and this<br />
system was ripped up. His mantra<br />
of ‘change or be changed’ and<br />
Could padel be celebrating Olympic inclusion any time<br />
soon? (Photo courtesy Premier Padel)<br />
‘getting the couch potatoes off the<br />
couch’ was designed to ensure<br />
the Olympics appealed to a new<br />
generation of youngsters.<br />
AI & Esports<br />
<strong>The</strong> Olympic Games have endured<br />
the test of time, evolving from<br />
their ancient origins, through the<br />
19th century, flourishing in the 20th<br />
century and now trying to redefine<br />
themselves in the 21st century. While<br />
television ratings may be shifting,<br />
this change signifies an opportunity<br />
to diversify viewership platforms<br />
and engage younger audiences<br />
while emphasising the essence of<br />
unity that the Olympics represent.<br />
Indeed, Bach’s references to the<br />
use of artificial intelligence and<br />
exploration of Olympic Esports<br />
Games represent a visionary step<br />
towards the future.<br />
New sports<br />
With the implementation of Olympic<br />
Agenda 2020, adopted in December<br />
2014, ‘the process of establishing<br />
the Olympic programme changed<br />
to enhance the popularity of the<br />
Games while ensuring that the<br />
numbers of athletes, and the cost<br />
International Olympic Committee President<br />
Thomas Bach.<br />
and complexity of the event, remain<br />
manageable’, according to the IOC.<br />
As part of this new process the<br />
Organising Committee of a specific<br />
edition of the Olympic Games may<br />
propose to the IOC the inclusion for<br />
such edition only of one or more<br />
additional sports.<br />
For Tokyo 2020 the IOC voted to<br />
add baseball / softball, karate, sport<br />
climbing, surfing, and skateboarding<br />
as optional sports. For Paris <strong>2024</strong>, the<br />
Organising Committee proposed<br />
the inclusion of breaking (break<br />
dancing), skateboarding, sport<br />
climbing and surfing.<br />
But it is the process for Los Angeles<br />
2028 that offers real hope for<br />
padel’s Olympic ambitions. Baseball/<br />
softball was an obvious addition<br />
due to its importance in American<br />
society, but cricket, flag football,<br />
lacrosse and squash probably all<br />
owed more to the fact that they<br />
each had powerful backers able to<br />
put the case for their sport.<br />
Premier Padel connection<br />
If connections are to be the driving<br />
force then surely few are better<br />
placed than Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, head<br />
of Qatar Sports Investments, which<br />
last August bought out the World<br />
Padel Tour, encompassing it within his<br />
worldwide Premier Padel tour. Among<br />
the many hats worn by Al-Khelaïfi<br />
are chairman of beIN Media Group,<br />
President of Paris Saint-Germain FC<br />
and the Qatar Tennis Federation.<br />
Social Media<br />
Is the previously held notion that<br />
Olympic acceptance is all about how<br />
many countries a sport is played in<br />
now being replaced by social media<br />
following? Cricket, for example,<br />
may be played in relatively few<br />
countries but the International Cricket<br />
Council consistently comes top of<br />
international federation social media<br />
rankings. In the latest list published<br />
in January, the ICC had a total of<br />
106,519,541 followers on Facebook,<br />
Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok,<br />
YouTube and X. That’s nearly 50<br />
million more than FIFA.<br />
<strong>The</strong> International Padel Federation<br />
(FIP) currently has, according to<br />
my calculations, just over 200,000<br />
followers on its social media channels.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sport needs to take a lesson from<br />
cricket and get its numbers up into<br />
the tens of millions otherwise the IOC<br />
may not even consider it.<br />
<strong>The</strong> next opportunity padel will<br />
have to bid to be on the Olympic<br />
programme is for Brisbane 2032.<br />
Perhaps a better chance may be<br />
2036 when it is widely expected the<br />
Games will be heading to Doha. If<br />
they do, then Al-Khelaïfi is certain<br />
to have a say in which sports Qatar<br />
adds to the Olympic programme.<br />
And that could be very good news<br />
for padel. •<br />
Duncan Mackay has been covering<br />
the Olympic movement for more<br />
than 30 years. He was the founder<br />
of insidethegames, a leading<br />
independent source for news on the<br />
Olympic Games, and is a former<br />
winner of the UK Sports Journalist<br />
of the Year and UK Internet Sports<br />
Journalist of the Year awards.<br />
30<br />
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31
heading<br />
for 550?<br />
Rocket Padel at Battersea Power Station<br />
Counting padel court numbers in Britain is increasingly like herding cats;<br />
with so many new courts going up it’s become an almost impossible task<br />
to keep track.<br />
At the end of 2023 the LTA put<br />
a figure on court numbers<br />
of around 350, a little shy of<br />
its stated aim of 400 but it’s widely<br />
accepted that that number has now<br />
been reached and surpassed, with<br />
many more new courts and clubs in<br />
the pipeline.<br />
High profile projects planned include<br />
Rocket Padel/Battersea Power Station;<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Club/TraffordCity; the<br />
Padel Social Club/London’s O2 arena;<br />
Game4Padel/Hove Beach Park and<br />
Rocks Lane’s continued expansion.<br />
club in Canary Wharf, London), the<br />
audacious and brilliant four-court<br />
Club de Padel in Manchester city<br />
centre and the sport’s northern<br />
Mecca that is True Padel (nine indoor<br />
courts). Padel United (PDL) is also<br />
worth a mention, it’s quietly going<br />
about its business opening courts<br />
around the country (Colchester and<br />
Torbay are new launches on the<br />
horizon) and, as mentioned earlier,<br />
Rocks Lane (based in Chiswick,<br />
London) has just opened new courts<br />
at its centre in Barnes and has<br />
planning in for Barnet, north London.<br />
these problems will ease. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
is understandable hesitance<br />
from councils and committees who are<br />
yet to understand the benefits of padel<br />
to their community or club,” he said.<br />
Love all<br />
Tennis continues to embrace the sport;<br />
according to Tom Murray, Head of<br />
Padel at the LTA, 50% of British courts<br />
are located at tennis clubs. Golf, rugby,<br />
hockey and cricket are also getting<br />
in on the act, as are leisure operators<br />
(including some of the Better and<br />
Everyone Active sites).<br />
PadelStars is fairly new out of the<br />
traps with its first club having<br />
recently opened in Reading (one<br />
court) but it has ambitious plans<br />
and the financial backing of<br />
leisure specialist Dwellcourt, which<br />
has taken a major stake in the<br />
company, founded by Andy Knee<br />
and Jamie Brooke. Many of its<br />
future sites (Basildon, Chigwell,<br />
St Albans, Bournemouth and<br />
Bracknell particularly) are in<br />
locations with other padel facilities<br />
within striking distance.<br />
Smash Padel opened with three<br />
courts in Bicester and recently<br />
acquired MVP in Oxford. Its next<br />
move is three covered courts in<br />
partnership with Whitstable RUFC<br />
(east Kent is a virtual padel desert<br />
at present) and courts in Cardiff,<br />
another area that is padel deprived.<br />
Pure Padel’s first venue has three<br />
courts in Alderley Park, Manchester,<br />
but company founders Sammy<br />
Amora and Fraser Higson now have<br />
planning in for two additional sites,<br />
including an indoor venue.<br />
So where’s next for padel to pop?<br />
Birmingham is looking a good bet.<br />
It has a handful of clubs, some<br />
private. CorteSport has just opened<br />
three courts at <strong>The</strong> Hayes, home<br />
to Alvechurch FC in Kings Norton,<br />
and Powerleague is moving in too.<br />
And where would we like the next<br />
hotspot to be? Exeter - it’s the place<br />
we get most messages about re<br />
playing padel.<br />
Game4Padel<br />
pushes ahead with<br />
court roll-out<br />
Brighton & Hove padel players are in for a<br />
treat after Game4Padel, working with the city<br />
council, announced it will be opening four<br />
padel courts on the seafront.<br />
<strong>The</strong> courts (plus six tennis courts) form part of the new Hove Beach Park,<br />
which includes bowls, croquet, a skatepark, pump track and roller area, and<br />
are due to open this <strong>summer</strong>.<br />
Game4Padel, which has tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray, Annabel Croft<br />
and Andrew Castle as investors, is also opening a permanent three-court<br />
covered floodlit facility at Withdean Sports Complex in Brighton this <strong>summer</strong>.<br />
A temporary court it’s operated there since October 2022 has proved<br />
extremely popular with ‘excellent’ court occupancy. With significant demand<br />
in the city for more padel facilities the new courts are sure to hit the spot.<br />
Green Quarter<br />
Game4Padel has also scored a first with the opening of courts at Parkside<br />
Padel Club in West London. <strong>The</strong> three-court facility at Berkeley Homes’<br />
new Green Quarter development in Southall represents the first time a<br />
residential developer has planned padel into a scheme. “This is a<br />
game-changing partnership for Game4Padel”, said CEO Michael Gradon.<br />
“This first project with the Berkeley Group is exciting because the potential<br />
to introduce padel across their residential developments could mean a<br />
much faster roll out of the sport, helping us achieve our goal of nearly<br />
400 padel courts in the UK by 2027.”<br />
James Purton, Operations Director at Berkeley Group, added: “Padel has<br />
proven to be more than just a sport; it’s a catalyst for creating vibrant<br />
communities and fostering social connections. As an avid player myself I<br />
have seen first-hand how it brings people together and it will provide an<br />
opportunity for a new generation of padel players.”<br />
Game4Padel currently has 59 courts across some 25 venues plus clubs in<br />
Spain, Australia and New Zealand.<br />
Big names are also seeing the<br />
potential - David Lloyd Clubs are<br />
installing courts around the country,<br />
with plans for 33 in 14 UK clubs by<br />
the end of the year. And five-a-side<br />
football specialist Powerleague is<br />
developing padel facilities in London,<br />
Birmingham and, most notably<br />
Gateshead, where it wants to install<br />
courts on top of the Metro Centre.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se add to padel’s recent ‘big wins’<br />
of Padium (a gorgeous eight-court<br />
Ian Colligon, founder of iPadel, said<br />
the overall outlook is ‘really positive’<br />
in terms of organisations wanting<br />
to build padel courts, adding: “But it<br />
is still extremely frustrating at how<br />
difficult it is to actually get them built.<br />
So many have finance, planning<br />
or club committee <strong>issue</strong>s, so many<br />
obstacles that make the process<br />
difficult and long.<br />
“However, as padel becomes<br />
more well-known and mainstream<br />
Fancy a weekend break with padel<br />
thrown in? <strong>The</strong>n check out the Manor<br />
and Ashbury resorts in Devon, which<br />
boast their own indoor courts. And we<br />
don’t know if Ryan Reynolds or Rob<br />
McElhenney play padel but good news<br />
if they do - Wrexham Lawn Tennis<br />
Club has gained permission for three<br />
covered courts.<br />
Looking ahead, keep your eyes<br />
on PadelStars, Smash Padel and<br />
Pure Padel.<br />
Padel is Us<br />
Gloucester is to get 9 courts<br />
following Cheshire-based <strong>The</strong><br />
Padel Club’s announcement that<br />
it is turning the city’s former Toys<br />
R Us store into an indoor padel<br />
centre. Work has already started<br />
on the project, which is hoped to<br />
be open by Autumn. Bookings will<br />
be via Playtomic.<br />
An artist’s impression of the<br />
new Hove Beach Park<br />
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33
Padel Social<br />
Club to score<br />
a first?<br />
Rooftop padel is coming to Wandsworth,<br />
London, after the Padel Social Club gained<br />
planning permission to build six covered<br />
courts above Southside Shopping Centre.<br />
sport powerhouses<br />
set to drive padel<br />
expansion<br />
<strong>The</strong> two-level, 30,000ft2 club, is scheduled<br />
to open at the end of the year and could<br />
be the UK’s first rooftop padel venue if<br />
Powerleague doesn’t achieve it first with<br />
its plans for courts on top of a car park at<br />
Gateshead’s Metrocentre.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Wandsworth project includes<br />
changing rooms, wellness area, food<br />
and drink kiosks, social spaces (including<br />
co-working spaces overlooking the padel<br />
courts), seating and an outdoor area with<br />
views over Wandsworth.<br />
“We’re delighted to see this project<br />
coming to life and to be able to bring<br />
our all-encompassing padel experience<br />
to Wandsworth”, said Padel Social Club<br />
CEO Kristian Hunter.<br />
Rebecca Ruddle, Centre Director at<br />
Southside Shopping Centre, said: “We’re<br />
confident that this new facility will bring<br />
something new and exciting for our<br />
community and create a vibrant space<br />
that fosters connections whilst introducing<br />
a sport that is becoming increasingly<br />
popular throughout the UK.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Social Club has already opened<br />
five outdoor courts in Empress Place, Earls<br />
Court, London, and has plans for an indoor<br />
centre on the banks of the River Thames<br />
at the 02.<br />
bringing padel<br />
home to Durham<br />
To paraphrase the Hollywood<br />
movie Field of Dreams – if you<br />
build it they will come - and the<br />
baseball-themed film could<br />
have been describing the impact<br />
of True Padel, which has seen<br />
massive interest since opening<br />
in January.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Durham venue is the ‘field<br />
of dreams’ for brothers Alex and<br />
Adam Carr, who quit jobs overseas<br />
to return home and build what is<br />
one of the largest indoor centres<br />
in the UK, with nine indoor courts.<br />
<strong>The</strong> club, which has quickly<br />
become a padel Mecca in the<br />
North East, has gone into the<br />
former Soccarena football centre<br />
in Belmont Industrial Estate,<br />
New Ferens Park. A key feature<br />
of the venue is roof height – at<br />
its maximum it offers 14m of<br />
clearance, making it one of -<br />
if not the - highest indoor padel<br />
centre in the UK.<br />
Plans<br />
<strong>The</strong> centre has been a big hit,<br />
attracting players from Durham<br />
County Cricket Club, Newcastle<br />
United FC and Sunderland FC,<br />
a small but significant Spanish<br />
community and students from<br />
the city’s university.<br />
And even with nine courts,<br />
demand for peak times means<br />
booking days in advance, with the<br />
real masterstroke in attracting<br />
people to padel being its ‘mix-in’<br />
events and ‘introduction to padel’<br />
sessions, as Alex explained: “It’s<br />
just been crazy. It’s a massive<br />
relief, but also exciting to see<br />
people walk through the doors<br />
and enjoy the game for the first<br />
time. I think the biggest thing for<br />
us is a lot of the introduction to<br />
padel sessions. <strong>The</strong>y’ve been<br />
really key as we put them on<br />
extremely cheaply over weekends<br />
and through the week. <strong>The</strong>y’re<br />
very, very popular and pretty<br />
much every one gets fully booked.<br />
It’s a good way for people to get<br />
used to the rules, get used to the<br />
court and meet people.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>se sessions lead straight into<br />
our mix-in events, which have<br />
also been extremely successful.<br />
We put three or four on every<br />
week. People turn up on their own<br />
or with a partner and by the end<br />
they have met another 20 or so<br />
players that are a similar level.<br />
Straight away communities are<br />
starting to be built.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> club has built on this early<br />
enthusiasm by hiring a full-time<br />
coach - Spaniard Suso - and<br />
developing an academy, leagues<br />
and tournaments. Plans are<br />
already afoot to open a second<br />
True Padel venue.<br />
Sporting giants Powerleague and David Lloyd<br />
are both accelerating their efforts to drive padel<br />
forward in the UK.<br />
Five-a-side football specialists<br />
Powerleague announced its<br />
intentions to diversify into padel<br />
last <strong>summer</strong> with plans for a<br />
rooftop facility in Gateshead.<br />
However, sites in Birmingham<br />
and London have leapt ahead of<br />
Gateshead and are set to be the<br />
company’s first facilities to open,<br />
according to Powerleague head<br />
of padel Freya Tringham.<br />
Work has just got underway at the<br />
Birmingham venue, located in the<br />
Aston area of the city. It will have<br />
three covered courts. Shoreditch<br />
will have four courts.<br />
“We’re hoping to launch in<br />
Manchester (Manchester Nicholls<br />
site) before the end of the year<br />
and I would say at least another<br />
two clubs,” said Freya. “We’ve got<br />
ambitious plans for the next two<br />
years. <strong>The</strong>re’s plenty more in the<br />
planning pipeline that we should<br />
hear back on imminently.”<br />
David Lloyd<br />
It is a similar picture with David<br />
Lloyd, which has ambitions to be<br />
the UK’s largest padel operator with<br />
plans for 33 courts in 14 UK clubs<br />
by the end of the year. This is in<br />
addition to almost 90 courts across<br />
133 clubs in nine other countries, and<br />
further plans for expansion.<br />
expanding<br />
its reach<br />
Rocks Lane is continuing to expand its padel<br />
provision, this time with the addition of four courts<br />
at its centre in Barnes Common, London.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new courts bring the organisation’s total court<br />
count in the capital to 16 (its Rocks Lane Chiswick<br />
HQ has four covered and eight outdoor, including<br />
a singles). It also has four courts in Cornwall and<br />
plans for four courts at Dyrham Park Golf & Country<br />
Club in Barnet, North London, bringing its total to 24.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> understands that Rocks Lane founder<br />
Chris Warren is looking to add another six courts<br />
to the portfolio at a location yet to be revealed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> operator currently offers<br />
padel in eight UK Clubs - Chigwell,<br />
Bushey, Raynes Park, Bicester,<br />
Cheadle, Harbour Club Chelsea,<br />
as well as new clubs Rugby and<br />
Shawfair, Edinburgh.<br />
David Lloyd spokesperson Liz<br />
Bartlett said: “<strong>The</strong> aim is to have<br />
about 170 courts across 133 clubs<br />
by the middle of next year. Spain<br />
already had a good share of courts,<br />
but we’re spreading. We’re building<br />
them in other countries, but a big<br />
focus on the UK. We’re expanding<br />
at pace and it’s an area where we<br />
are seriously investing in. Where<br />
it’s possible, where it’s practical,<br />
we’re introducing it.”<br />
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35
Move over<br />
football...<br />
<strong>The</strong> Social Sports Society has opened its first venue<br />
- three courts close to Wembley Stadium in North London.<br />
Wembley Padel is the<br />
neighbourhood’s first padel venue<br />
and bookings have been rolling in<br />
via Playtomic. A series of events<br />
and coaching programmes will be<br />
announced for <strong>summer</strong>.<br />
A Social Sports Society spokesperson<br />
said: “<strong>The</strong> venue will be welcomed<br />
by local padel fans, among whom<br />
there’s a high demand for courts.<br />
With an on-site snack bar and comfy<br />
seating, players will enjoy a space<br />
to socialise before and after matches.<br />
It boasts a central location close to<br />
Wembley BOXPARK, London Designer<br />
Outlet and, of course, Wembley<br />
Stadium itself.”<br />
After securing the site from<br />
developers Quintain Living last year,<br />
the company worked with courts<br />
manufacturer MejorSet to prepare<br />
for opening.<br />
Hayling Island life<br />
Life on Hayling Island may soon be<br />
boosted by the addition of padel if<br />
Seacourt Tennis Club gets plans for<br />
two floodlit courts past planners at<br />
Havant Borough Council.<br />
<strong>The</strong> club is unusual in that it already<br />
offers padel, but on a rackets court<br />
that is slightly shorter and narrower.<br />
Despite this, the Seacourt Padel<br />
Group has been running for several<br />
years, with ‘upwards of 100 people<br />
playing’ according to comments on the<br />
borough council’s planning portal.<br />
<strong>The</strong> scheme has attracted strong<br />
feelings for and against. One<br />
supporter said: “<strong>The</strong> current makeshift<br />
padel court at Seacourt is the<br />
wrong size and has the wrong wall and<br />
floor playing surfaces. It floods when<br />
it rains and is insufferably hot and<br />
airless when the sun shines. Despite<br />
these drawbacks the demand to play<br />
Social Sports Society founder Jesper<br />
Konstantinov, a London-based<br />
entrepreneur, said: “Padel is one of<br />
the most fun, accessible sports. It can<br />
be played at any level, it’s easy to<br />
learn and has a unique ability to bring<br />
together a cross-section of society.”<br />
* To read more about the Social Sports<br />
Society and Jesper’s padel plans for<br />
the UK visit www.thebandeja.com<br />
and search ‘Jesper’<br />
is ever-increasing and, as word gets<br />
around, will soon outgrow even these<br />
very much sub-standard facilities.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> plan also has the support of the<br />
council’s leisure officer, who said the<br />
courts had ‘the potential to impact<br />
positively on the borough’s poor<br />
physical activity levels and health<br />
inequalities by providing a new<br />
sporting offer to the borough’.<br />
A decision on the scheme is awaited.<br />
PadelStars<br />
shoots onto the<br />
club scene<br />
PadelStars is a new name with big<br />
ambitions - eight new padel clubs<br />
and 27 courts to be precise - with its<br />
first (one court at Berkshire County<br />
Sports Club in Reading) already<br />
up and running.<br />
Founders Andy Knee and Jamie<br />
Brooke are working with sports clubs<br />
and leisure facilities to introduce padel<br />
to their sites, with five more venues<br />
planned to open this year - Golfplex,<br />
Bracknell (four courts); Trojans Hockey<br />
Club, Southampton (six courts);<br />
Ferndown, Bournemouth (two courts<br />
plus pickleball); Batchwood Golf and<br />
Sports Centre, Harpenden (two courts)<br />
and Old Loughtonians Hockey Club,<br />
Chigwell (four courts). <strong>The</strong> company<br />
is using its own app - PadelStars<br />
- for court bookings.<br />
PadelStars is sponsoring Southampton’s Trojans Hockey Club<br />
U16 boys team, which had an amazing 2022-3 season (English<br />
Hockey Tier 1 Championship & English Hockey Tier 1 Supra<br />
League Championship winners).<br />
PadelStars’ Jamie<br />
Brooke, Jeevan<br />
Gill (Director of<br />
Operations) and<br />
Andy Knee.<br />
In addition, it has plans to develop<br />
padel at Basildon Sporting Village in<br />
Essex (four courts) and <strong>The</strong> Three Hills<br />
Sports Park in Folkestone (three courts).<br />
PadelStars recently announced<br />
major investment in the business by<br />
leisure specialist the Dwellcourt<br />
Group. Jeff Hilliard, Dwellcourt<br />
Chairman, said they’d ‘had several’<br />
approaches by padel operators hoping<br />
to build courts on their sites. “Andy<br />
and Jamie stood apart for their vision,<br />
dynamism and professionalism,”<br />
he said. “With a pipeline of strong new<br />
sites being secured, we have decided<br />
to once again back impressive<br />
people and see how we might offer<br />
our operational experience as well as<br />
our investment to help them scale<br />
their business.”<br />
10 court<br />
plan<br />
An ambitious scheme to build<br />
indoor padel courts could score<br />
two UK firsts - the first listed<br />
building to be turned into a padel<br />
centre and the first to have two<br />
floors of courts. Owners of the<br />
Grade II*-listed Machine Shop<br />
No 8, at Chatham Dockside, Kent,<br />
have gained consent to install 10<br />
padel courts - two floors of five<br />
- into the historic building, built<br />
in 1840 and believed to be one of<br />
the oldest surviving iron-framed<br />
dry dock covers. <strong>The</strong> building<br />
will be restored and partially<br />
clad in aluminium to protect the<br />
skeleton structure.<br />
Padel<br />
Enable-d<br />
Four popup padel courts have<br />
opened for the <strong>summer</strong> in<br />
Battersea Park’s Millennium<br />
Arena thanks to an initiative<br />
by not-for-profit organisation<br />
Enable, which manages facilities<br />
for Wandsworth Council.<br />
Enable has also turned the popup<br />
court it installed at Battersea<br />
Sports Centre last September<br />
into a permanent court, with<br />
hopes that it may be able to do<br />
the same at Battersea Park.<br />
All courts are bookable through<br />
the Padel Mates app.<br />
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37
feature<br />
padium<br />
Pinpointing<br />
padel nirvana<br />
On the road - Paul Lloyd<br />
38<br />
What makes a great padel club? It’s a question with a lot of answers<br />
- and to nail them down Soul Padel went on a road trip visiting UK<br />
venues ahead of opening its own. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> reports.<br />
With facilities popping up quicker than<br />
daffodils in spring, ensuring you have<br />
all the right elements to be a success<br />
is essential.<br />
So what better way to find out than<br />
go to those that have already trodden<br />
this path, which is exactly what Mark<br />
Hewlett, founder of Soul Padel, and his<br />
business partner Paul Lloyd, did.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y chalked up more than 1,400<br />
miles, visiting eight venues in pursuit<br />
of perfection, calling in to Bristol’s<br />
Rocket Padel and Surge Padel, plus<br />
Surge Padel in Harrogate. <strong>The</strong>re was<br />
a double date in the north-east<br />
going to the newly opened True<br />
Padel in Durham and Middlesbrough<br />
Padel Club (one of the UK’s longest<br />
running clubs). <strong>The</strong> final destinations<br />
were Chiswick’s Rocks Lane, Club de<br />
Padel in Manchester and Alderley<br />
Park in Cheshire.<br />
Mark shares why he and Paul decided<br />
to embark on such an extensive<br />
research mission, what he has learned<br />
about the padel scene in the UK.<br />
What gave you the idea to<br />
visit other venues?<br />
We wanted to make friends in the<br />
padel world and learn from those that<br />
have travelled the path we are taking.<br />
What did you want to learn?<br />
Firstly, how to play padel better! And<br />
ultimately what is the ‘secret sauce’<br />
that makes a great venue.<br />
Mark Hewlett<br />
What did you learn?<br />
<strong>The</strong> venue has to be about much<br />
more than playing padel. Successful<br />
clubs are also places where people<br />
want to be. Meeting friends, playing<br />
padel and making new connections.<br />
Competitive socialising is what we are<br />
calling it.<br />
What do these venues do well?<br />
• <strong>The</strong> quality of the courts really<br />
matters. Players are looking for<br />
consistency of conditions to help<br />
improve their games.<br />
• Access to good quality coaching<br />
is vital to enhance development<br />
and encourage new players to take<br />
up the sport.<br />
• A welcoming and friendly<br />
atmosphere is a must.<br />
• A good mix of events, competitions,<br />
leagues and corporate hosting<br />
all make for a great club<br />
environment too.<br />
Who did you meet on<br />
your travels?<br />
At Rock’s Lane we met club owner<br />
Chris Warren and longtime friend<br />
and iPadel guru Ian Colligon.<br />
At Middlesborough Padel Centre<br />
we met owner and padel<br />
pioneer Nigel Garton alongside his<br />
son <strong>The</strong>o, ranked in the top eight<br />
GB men. We also had the pleasure<br />
of hitting with Libby Fletcher, coach<br />
of the GB ladies padel team. At<br />
Surge Padel we met owner Stuart<br />
Perrin and got resoundingly<br />
beaten by him and his operations<br />
manager 6-0 6-0 6-0!<br />
Did you play padel at<br />
each venue?<br />
Almost. We wanted to get a<br />
real customer experience -<br />
experiencing playing indoors vs<br />
outdoors, different lighting systems,<br />
alternate turf colours, the quality<br />
and price of rental gear, the<br />
showers and changing facilities.<br />
Which brands had they partnered<br />
with and why? What was the proshop<br />
like? Could we park easily and<br />
find the venue quickly - basically<br />
we looked at absolutely everything.<br />
Soul Padel has partnered<br />
with Decathlon to open two<br />
courts each at Decathlon<br />
Stockport and Glasgow for the<br />
<strong>summer</strong>. Book via its website<br />
www.soulpadel.co.uk<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel & Pickleball Club Builder is a<br />
new-launch B2B supplier directory for<br />
organisations and companies supporting<br />
the development of padel and pickleball<br />
clubs and venues.<br />
It is brought to you by the team behind<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>.<br />
If you are a court manufacturer, court<br />
builder, canopy supplier, manufacturer of<br />
portable buildings, acoustic curtains, or<br />
provide F&B services, planning assistance,<br />
legal support, security solutions, turf, nets,<br />
equipment, rackets and apparel for pro<br />
shops etc get in touch for more information.<br />
emma@thebandeja.com<br />
To order print copies<br />
of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> head over<br />
to our web shop<br />
www.thebandeja.com<br />
/buy-gear/<br />
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39<br />
ISSUE 3 / Summer <strong>2024</strong> £6<br />
From tennis<br />
to padel<br />
soft, patient, lob!<br />
Manchester<br />
a padel oasis<br />
padel at the<br />
Olympics<br />
when & where?<br />
WIN! A £295<br />
Wilson Racket<br />
Heads up<br />
it’s a BOA!
Club de Padel, Manchester.<br />
Image courtesy of JPDrone.<br />
Manchester<br />
A padel oasis<br />
In the last <strong>issue</strong> we threw a spotlight on padel’s takeover of Bristol. But<br />
while it was basking in the glory of being the UK’s padel hero with 35<br />
courts, Manchester and its surrounds were making plans to claim the<br />
crown, with 24 courts now open and 38 planned. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> reports.<br />
First we need to start with a<br />
disclaimer. Wilmslow is actually<br />
in Cheshire but for the purposes<br />
of this piece we’re bringing it into<br />
the Manchester/Greater Manchester<br />
fold because conversation about<br />
the city’s padel scene really needs to<br />
start with <strong>The</strong> Padel Club in Wilmslow.<br />
This is where padel’s ascent in the<br />
North West began, with two ‘concept<br />
courts’ growing into a thriving fourcourt<br />
padel hub with expansion plans<br />
for four new - and covered - courts<br />
on an adjacent site. <strong>The</strong> Padel Club<br />
is also behind £2 million plans for 11<br />
courts (nine of which will be covered)<br />
at TraffordCity, a scheme hoped to be<br />
open by the end of the year.<br />
In less than two years the club has<br />
established a strong and committed<br />
player base; founder and CEO Kris<br />
Ball recently stated that it’s had<br />
more than 10,000 players through the<br />
doors at Wilmslow, and more than<br />
1,000 ‘unique’ players each month.<br />
Included in these numbers are a fair<br />
few celebs, including former England<br />
cricket captains Michael Vaughan<br />
and Jos Butler, actors, footballers and<br />
even Strictly stars (Katya Jones is a<br />
big fan, as is her friend and former<br />
40 SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
41
<strong>The</strong> Padel Club, Wilmslow.<br />
Aimee Fuller and Scott Thomas at <strong>The</strong> Padel Club.<br />
An impression of how <strong>The</strong> Padel Club<br />
at TraffordCity will look.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team at Manchester Padel Club (from left) Director of Padel<br />
Leo Padovani, coach Rachel Thomas and co-founder David Thomas.<br />
Olympic snowboarder turned<br />
media personality/HOP tournament<br />
compere Aimee Fuller).<br />
Football - and padel’s popularity<br />
with its high-profile players - has no<br />
doubt been a driver in the game’s<br />
development, as Kris explained: “It<br />
has been very good for the growth<br />
of the sport in general,” he said. And<br />
Manchester in particular? “A lot of<br />
footballers are playing and that<br />
brings a lot of exposure in social<br />
media. That is a big factor, and<br />
including cricket and rugby players,<br />
it undoubtedly helps.”<br />
Manchester Padel Club<br />
David Thomas, co-founder of<br />
Manchester Padel Club in Heald<br />
Green, credits <strong>The</strong> Padel Club for<br />
getting the ball rolling and he too<br />
believes that football has been<br />
integral to padel gaining a strong<br />
foothold in and around the city.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> football connection to padel<br />
is strong, the two sports work well<br />
together,” David told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>.<br />
“Padel really took off in the region<br />
with the opening of the Padel Club.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team there did a great job of<br />
marketing the sport. Since then Club<br />
de Padel has opened as well as our<br />
own club, Manchester Padel Club.”<br />
But, as is the case for most padel<br />
facility operators, the route to<br />
opening new courts has not been<br />
quick, as David explained: “While it<br />
may seem like padel is just gaining<br />
traction in the city, the journey to<br />
this point spans at least 15 years.<br />
Initially the only court in Greater<br />
Manchester was tucked away in a<br />
warehouse in Bury. Frustrated by the<br />
lack of accessibility, players often<br />
travelled to Yorkshire to play.<br />
“From there, Manchester City<br />
Football Club built a private court<br />
at its training facility. Some local<br />
players were lucky enough to be<br />
invited to play there but there was<br />
still unmet demand for courts,”<br />
added David, who was keen to<br />
develop his own padel facility.<br />
“However at this point we were well<br />
aware that not that many people<br />
knew what padel was. An indoor<br />
club in Birmingham had also gone<br />
bust so as a business opportunity it<br />
was seen as a risk,” he said.<br />
Fast forward a few years and David<br />
was given a helping hand by former<br />
world No 1 Fernando Belasteguin’s<br />
agent and former Deportivo de<br />
La Coruña player Francisco (Fran)<br />
González Pérez, leading to a<br />
meeting with Leo Padovani, a former<br />
international padel champion. He had<br />
been scouting for his own location<br />
and the pair joined forces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> result is Manchester Padel Club,<br />
with Leo in place as Director of Padel.<br />
His elite standing - he’s a former<br />
world top 10 player and coach to<br />
many of the world’s leading players<br />
including former No 1 Juan Martin Diaz<br />
who recently featured in the ITVtelevised<br />
Hexagon Cup.<br />
Leo said: “We’re establishing a worldclass<br />
padel academy in Greater<br />
Manchester. Having played alongside<br />
and coached some of the world’s<br />
best players, I’m confident that, with<br />
the benefits of our unique training<br />
facilities and our team’s experience<br />
in padel, we can introduce a<br />
whole new level of padel sporting<br />
excellence to the region.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> pay-to-play club opened last<br />
July with one court and now has<br />
three, including a game-changer<br />
tech-enabled covered show court<br />
with stadium seating, making it a<br />
perfect location for tournaments.<br />
David described it as ‘one of<br />
Manchester’s best kept sporting<br />
secrets’ - but it’s now stepped into<br />
the spotlight and is rolling out a<br />
programme of initiatives, including<br />
padel for schools and hopes for a<br />
disability/adaptive padel scheme in<br />
collaboration with specialist advisors<br />
(including Paul Kelly from Manchester<br />
City’s City in the Community disability<br />
programme and the LTA’s Sue<br />
Morrison).<br />
“We want to establish our club -<br />
and the region - as the place where<br />
people from elite level all the way<br />
through to beginners can come to<br />
learn the game, improve their skills<br />
and ultimately have fun,” said David.<br />
Manchester Padel Club.<br />
And when he talks elite he means<br />
elite, even if the sport is not padel;<br />
Usain Bolt has been training and<br />
playing at the club when in town<br />
and a number of well-known names<br />
have also enjoyed honing their skills<br />
in what has until now been a relatively<br />
private setting.<br />
Club de Padel<br />
One of the most exciting padel<br />
developments in Manchester is<br />
Club de Padel in the city centre. <strong>The</strong><br />
brainwave of three friends with a<br />
Olympic sprinter<br />
Usain Bolt on court at<br />
Manchester Padel Club.<br />
passion for padel - David Blake,<br />
Matt McKinlay and James<br />
Wigglesworth - the club has proved<br />
hugely popular, with thousands<br />
of players streaming through its<br />
doors since it opened just before<br />
Christmas. <strong>The</strong> location is an<br />
inspired choice; Club de Padel<br />
nestles beneath the tallest towers<br />
in Manchester in the city’s emerging<br />
New Jackson on Deansgate area.<br />
Exposure for the sport is guaranteed,<br />
with thousands of people living and<br />
working in the area.<br />
42<br />
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43
feature<br />
Pure Padel founders Sammy Amora<br />
& Fraser Higson.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Pure Padel courts<br />
at Alderley Park.<br />
<strong>The</strong> courts may serve a city centre<br />
population of 80,000 but its founders<br />
didn’t take it as red that ‘build<br />
and they will come’ would apply,<br />
with David Blake explaining that<br />
organising a variety of sessions,<br />
including coaching, has been key to<br />
building a padel community - and<br />
an occupancy rate that rarely drops<br />
below 90%.<br />
“We were always quite confident that<br />
a new padel club in Manchester city<br />
centre would be popular, but to be<br />
honest even we’ve been surprised by<br />
how busy it’s been,” he said. “We’ve<br />
hosted more than 6,000 matches in<br />
our first four months and coached<br />
close to 1,000 players - many of<br />
whom were completely new to the<br />
sport and are now regular players,<br />
which is really rewarding to see.<br />
“Community and experience<br />
are absolutely key for us. We’re<br />
an experience-led club - the<br />
service, music, merchandise and<br />
community are at the forefront of<br />
our minds. Anyone can buy great<br />
courts and maintain them. It’s all in<br />
the extras for us. We’ve created a<br />
third space for city dwellers and<br />
the resident workforce alike,<br />
hosting first dates, meetings, hens<br />
& birthday parties, global sporting<br />
brands and world class athletes<br />
in their downtime.<br />
Pure Padel, Alderley Park.<br />
“Our Padel 101 sessions - teaching the<br />
basics to new players - continue to<br />
be some of the most popular, which<br />
is great, as it means we’re welcoming<br />
dozens of new players into our<br />
community every week. Equally our<br />
new ‘Improver & Intermediate Socials’<br />
are selling out well in advance.<br />
We’re proud to be at the vanguard<br />
of padel in Manchester, which is<br />
being driven in no small part by our<br />
active, experience-seeking and social<br />
media-savvy community. Manchester<br />
is one of the most famous sporting<br />
cities in the world so it’s no surprise<br />
the world’s fastest growing sport has<br />
exploded here.”<br />
Meanwhile<br />
Club de Padel is also interesting<br />
because it’s a ‘meanwhile project’,<br />
making use of a site earmarked for<br />
development but with no date for<br />
that yet in the calendar. It’s a growing<br />
trend - Padium in Canary Wharf,<br />
London, is another example and<br />
more applications are being made<br />
for padel facilities citing ‘temporary<br />
change of use’ or ‘temporary<br />
permission’. Given the level of<br />
investment that goes into developing<br />
these projects there is very little<br />
temporary about them. Savvy<br />
building owners and commercial<br />
property agents are increasingly<br />
seeing the value in a padel tenant,<br />
Club de Padel founders David Blake,<br />
James Wigglesworth, Matt McKinlay.<br />
which is a real positive for those<br />
searching for sites.<br />
Pure Padel<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Club in Wilmslow is<br />
not the only operator looking to<br />
branch out with new sites. Pure<br />
Padel, which opened three courts<br />
in Alderley Park last October has<br />
planning applications currently under<br />
consideration for six indoor courts<br />
in Cheetham Hill and five courts at<br />
Manchester Maccabi Community<br />
and Sports Club in Prestwich. <strong>The</strong><br />
Cheetham Hill scheme, if successful,<br />
will be the first indoor padel club in<br />
the region, a huge feather in the cap<br />
of Fraser Higson and Sammy Amora,<br />
the team behind Pure Padel.<br />
<strong>The</strong> number of players it’s welcomed<br />
runs into the thousands, something<br />
Sammy puts down to using court<br />
booking platform Playtomic: “It really<br />
helped us achieve those numbers<br />
in such a short space of time as we<br />
could really tap into a huge customer<br />
base that other padel clubs in the<br />
area generated beforehand! We are<br />
operating at high court occupancy,<br />
the key to operate successful padel<br />
clubs is to drive occupancy during<br />
the off peak hours of the day.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> venue also works hard to raise<br />
awareness of the sport and, as<br />
Sammy put it, ‘get as many rackets<br />
in hands’ as possible. Pure Padel hosts<br />
regular intro to padel sessions and<br />
beginner socials, plus private events<br />
- think birthday parties, team<br />
bonding, networking days etc -<br />
and has a keen focus on coaching.<br />
“We place a huge impetus on<br />
delivering great coaching. It not only<br />
drives occupancy during the off peak<br />
hours but it is also great for customer<br />
retention when people see their level<br />
and ability improve,” added Sammy.<br />
Northern’s rock<br />
At the Northern Lawn Tennis Club,<br />
its two covered padel courts have<br />
generated significant income for the<br />
private club, with peak hours and<br />
weekends generally fully booked<br />
since the courts opened in November.<br />
Managing director Jonathan Kinsella<br />
described their introduction as<br />
‘transformative’ in bringing the club<br />
together: “It has allowed people to<br />
find common ground, have a bit<br />
of a laugh and a joke and given us<br />
an opportunity for growth. It’s been<br />
massive for the club,” he said.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> money generated from<br />
padel is astounding.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> courts - opened by Stockport’s<br />
Wimbledon ace Liam Broady - are<br />
open to non-members (who pay<br />
more) and the club has seen interest<br />
from its health and fitness members<br />
too, including those who have never<br />
played a racket sport, as well as<br />
tennis and squash players. “It has<br />
been something that has really<br />
bought the club together and we are<br />
glad that we made a leap of faith<br />
with it,” added Jonathan.<br />
However, the road to gaining planning<br />
for the courts was ‘brutal’ according<br />
to Jonathan, with fierce local<br />
opposition to the scheme and the<br />
involvement of MPs. But, despite the<br />
two courts replacing championship<br />
level grass tennis courts, the scheme<br />
gained the backing of planners<br />
and pressed ahead with the help<br />
of funding from the LTA (the tennis<br />
courts were replaced with three<br />
synthetic courts).<br />
Courts Open<br />
Manchester Padel Club 3 courts Heald Green<br />
Soul Padel 2 courts Stockport Decathlon (3 months only)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Club 4 courts Wilmslow<br />
Pure Padel 3 courts Alderly Park<br />
Club de Padel 4 courts Deansgate<br />
David Lloyd 3 courts Manchester TraffordCity<br />
2 courts Cheadle<br />
Hale Country Club 2 courts Altrincham<br />
Courts Planned<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Club<br />
4 covered Wilmslow<br />
11 courts TraffordCity<br />
Pure Padel 6 indoor Cheetham Hill<br />
5 courts Manchester Maccabi Community<br />
& Sports Club, Prestwich<br />
Powerleague 6 courts Manchester Nicholls site<br />
Dunham Forest Golf Club 2 courts Altrincham<br />
Manchester Padel Club 2 courts Heald Green<br />
Discussions are now underway to add<br />
a third - and possibly fourth - padel<br />
court. Just don’t tell the neighbours!<br />
Let’s get social<br />
Manchester’s court count had been<br />
heading for 64 but the Social Sports<br />
Society’s plans for nine covered<br />
courts in Peary Street were withdrawn.<br />
Let’s hope they return to the table -<br />
the scheme for temporary use of a<br />
former industrial site included multiuse<br />
courts, boule/pétanque courts,<br />
a bouldering wall and kids’ obstacle<br />
course, would no doubt have been a<br />
valuable addition to the area. •<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hook Club 4 courts Champneys Mottram Hall Hotel<br />
44<br />
SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
45
Jack’s<br />
blockbuster<br />
year of<br />
padel<br />
By Robert Mitchell<br />
By any account Jack Binstead has<br />
packed a lot into his 27 years.<br />
But before we even roll the<br />
highlights reel it’s important to<br />
note that everything Jack has<br />
achieved must be prefixed by the fact<br />
that he suffers from Osteogenesis<br />
Imperfecta or Brittle Bone disease,<br />
which has seen him suffer more<br />
100 broken bones as a result of this<br />
debilitating and potentially lifethreatening<br />
condition.<br />
Yet Jack is a special character and<br />
despite this ‘challenging condition’<br />
by the age of nine he was already<br />
wheelchair racing before going on<br />
to represent the disabled England<br />
pool team in his early 20s. <strong>The</strong>n of<br />
course there was his starring role as<br />
Rem Dog in BBC 3’s Bad Education<br />
which spawned a part in the Disney<br />
production of 101 Dalmatians.<br />
Jack & Alessandro<br />
But now Jack’s love of padel is looking<br />
to make <strong>2024</strong> his blockbuster year.<br />
He’s already represented the newly<br />
founded GB Adaptive Padel Team in<br />
international competition in Dubai,<br />
Milan and Barcelona, at the behest<br />
of the legendary Alessandro Ossola,<br />
founder of the Inclusive Padel Tour<br />
(padel played by a disabled player<br />
partnering a non-disabled partner).<br />
<strong>The</strong>n there is the small matter of<br />
Jack lobbying for padel to become a<br />
paralympic sport!<br />
“Alessandro is one of the loveliest<br />
guys I’ve met and he is so passionate<br />
about what he does. He made<br />
contact with me back in October<br />
about coming out to Dubai and<br />
being part of the IPT association. So<br />
I’ve now played alongside him and I<br />
know he has big plans to expand over<br />
the next couple of years and there is<br />
a chance I will play a part in that and<br />
that is very exciting,” said Jack, who<br />
is supported by, Rocks Lane padel<br />
centre in Chiswick, West London.<br />
“I’m in Rome in June under the IPT<br />
with Alessandro, it will be slightly<br />
different as I won’t have Luke<br />
(Dolphin) as my doubles partner<br />
there due to an injury he suffered,<br />
so another coach from Rocks Lane<br />
will hopefully fill in. <strong>The</strong>re will also be<br />
a few more tournaments over the<br />
year with the biggest one in Nigeria<br />
in December. I will be attending that<br />
one and that is exciting. I am also in<br />
conversation with a few international<br />
padel clubs about hosting with us<br />
from an England Adaptive Padel<br />
Team perspective – so a lot going<br />
on really!”<br />
GB aspirations<br />
Jack’s horizons are, however, far<br />
from limited by the calendar year:<br />
“Because padel is not a paralympic<br />
sport there isn’t a paralympic<br />
GB team. I am looking to have<br />
conversations with the right people<br />
so we can officially have a GB<br />
padel team for wheelchairs and<br />
disabilities as there is, of course, a<br />
Team GB for able-bodied people.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re is great potential for<br />
collaboration with them at some<br />
point but when I came into padel<br />
I was made aware that I was one<br />
of the only people in a wheelchair<br />
playing padel, so we were already<br />
late to the game compared with<br />
Europe. What I don’t want to find<br />
is that they approve padel for the<br />
Olympics and we don’t have a<br />
team until it’s too late.”<br />
LTA support<br />
With Jack now a ‘veteran’ of three<br />
international padel tournaments<br />
at which his form has steadily<br />
Jack is now Padel Site Supervisor for<br />
the Social Sports Society’s new padel<br />
centre in Wembley, North London.<br />
improved, his prospects have been<br />
given a huge boost by the donation<br />
of a ‘quickie’ wheelchair from the<br />
LTA, which helped propel him to his<br />
best padel yet at an international<br />
tournament in Barcelona.<br />
When it comes to the benefits of<br />
a new set of wheels, Jack admits<br />
it has been a game-changer:<br />
“Although I don’t actually have the<br />
upgraded chair I’d like at this point<br />
(weighing 6kg and costing around<br />
£5,000) through training with the<br />
LTA I was given an upgraded tennis<br />
chair to use and this is pretty<br />
significant compared to what I<br />
used out in Dubai.<br />
“I have made contact with RGK<br />
wheelchairs, which provides chairs<br />
for all the top disability player in<br />
tennis like Alfie Hewitt and Gordon<br />
Reid, so I’ve been sized up for<br />
a chair and I have a quote but<br />
at this point I can’t afford it all<br />
myself and I’m looking to get<br />
sponsorship to cover it. <strong>The</strong>re is a<br />
fair amount I can provide in return<br />
for sponsorship,” added Jack.<br />
His determination to make a<br />
difference by making padel<br />
accessible to people like him is<br />
impressive: “I am looking to find<br />
as many people with disabilities<br />
as possible and get them onto<br />
a court and give them a racket<br />
and I am sure they will fall in love<br />
with padel just like I did the first<br />
time I played it. So far it’s me and<br />
Rob Teague, who was originally a<br />
wheelchair tennis player and who<br />
Jack<br />
with Luke<br />
Dolphin.<br />
made the final 16 in Milan and he<br />
is very strong and powerful and<br />
just a good player.<br />
“I have managed to get two<br />
others along with wheelchairs to<br />
Rocks Lane and they will come<br />
back whenever they can and I<br />
am in conversations with a few<br />
different padel companies and<br />
clubs about them helping me in<br />
growing the team and getting<br />
more people to join us.”<br />
If you are interested in<br />
supporting Jack’s ambitions for<br />
adaptive padel, helping sponsor<br />
his new wheelchair or want to<br />
know more about joining Jack’s<br />
adaptive padel squad email:<br />
luke@rockslane.co.uk. •<br />
46 Buy <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> print copies at www.thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
47
ireland<br />
the most inclusive<br />
Padel club in the<br />
world?<br />
When Padel Tennis Ireland threw open its doors in November<br />
it was less an ‘opening’ and more a crashing onto the padel<br />
scene, with it quickly scooping up scores of new players and<br />
a raft of awards. Lee McLaughlan reports.<br />
It’s fair to say that Padel Tennis<br />
Ireland founder Mark White is<br />
a man on a mission - and that<br />
mission is very clear.“Our ethos is<br />
all about inclusivity and we want to<br />
do everything possible - and give<br />
back as much as we can - to the<br />
amazing Cork organisations that are<br />
doing so much for so many,” he said.<br />
That the club is a shining beacon of<br />
inclusivity is driven by Mark’s personal<br />
experience: “I was bullied the whole<br />
way through secondary school. From<br />
the age of 13 to 18 I went to school<br />
every day with a knot in my stomach,<br />
not wanting to talk about it – so I<br />
know what it’s like to be different.<br />
At several times in my life I’ve been<br />
excluded from things - so for me it<br />
feels very rewarding to have a facility<br />
where everyone feels welcome and<br />
nobody is excluded,” he added.<br />
It’s therefore no surprise that the<br />
latest award making its way into the<br />
already groaning Padel Tennis Ireland<br />
trophy cabinet is for inclusivity and<br />
diversity, with the judges of <strong>The</strong> Pride<br />
of Cork Awards <strong>2024</strong> recognising<br />
the impact the facility has had<br />
in making padel accessible to the<br />
whole community. <strong>The</strong> award joins<br />
the trophy for Cork’s New Business<br />
of the Year 2023, scooped just three<br />
weeks after opening. <br />
This was further cemented in<br />
March when Mark and his partner<br />
Jeremy Coyle announced a new<br />
Sports Partnership Programme<br />
working with 300 businesses to<br />
deliver tangible impacts for 300<br />
voluntary, social, civic, charitable<br />
and non-profit organisations in the<br />
county.Mark, an experienced tennis<br />
coach, has been working in inclusive<br />
sports for a decade, leading<br />
programmes for blind and visually<br />
impaired children, <strong>summer</strong> camps<br />
for children with neurological and<br />
physical disabilities and those with<br />
dyspraxia and autism.<br />
He said: “I used to get dozens of<br />
heartfelt messages from people<br />
saying you really don’t appreciate<br />
how that one hour is the highlight<br />
of the week for those children and<br />
their families. I don’t do it for the<br />
money, it’s not for a moral<br />
compass either, I do that because<br />
I enjoy it.”<br />
Bougie<br />
<strong>The</strong> idea of opening a padel facility<br />
began on a tennis trip to La Manga<br />
in May 2022. Mark and Jeremy, a<br />
wine maker from Sydney, had taken<br />
a group of Mark’s tennis playing<br />
clients on a tennis and wine trip<br />
to Spain. After the tennis sessions<br />
everyone would indulge in game<br />
of padel and feedback from the trip<br />
was nothing short of a holiday of a<br />
lifetime – with padel being the star of<br />
the show, which set Mark and Jeremy<br />
off on their padel adventure.Having<br />
competed in provincial and national<br />
level tennis tournaments in Cork for<br />
most of his childhood, Mark knew it<br />
had all the right ingredients for their<br />
foray into padel, particularly given<br />
the Cork population’s love of sport. <br />
<strong>The</strong>y drafted a business plan, found<br />
a location and their passion for<br />
the project, mixed with inclusivity<br />
at the core, secured them silent<br />
investors.Mark said: “We got the<br />
funding on a Monday, purchased the<br />
courts on a Tuesday and the<br />
fit-out started in the middle of August.<br />
We opened the doors on November<br />
4th - so it all came together very<br />
quickly! We have created is an<br />
incredible sports facility for everyone.<br />
<strong>The</strong> word bougie is only in my<br />
vocabulary since we opened, but<br />
people say the facility is very bougie<br />
with a slick and eye-catching blue,<br />
black and grey colour scheme.”<strong>The</strong><br />
inclusivity theme continues in how the<br />
facility operates, with no joining fee<br />
or membership structure, so reduced<br />
economic barriers to participation. <br />
Rebels<br />
Padel Tennis Ireland founder Mark White (fifth from left).<br />
“It was amazing that the<br />
narrative of what we’re trying<br />
to get across has been so read,<br />
so received, even at the highest<br />
level of Irish government.”<br />
To generate interest in their new<br />
business Mark contacted more than<br />
100 schools and put on a range of<br />
activities for clubs and associations<br />
across Cork. Users have included<br />
the Rebel Wheelers, a group of<br />
youngsters using wheelchairs who<br />
tried padel for the first time, the<br />
Sundays Well Rebels, a mixed<br />
ability rugby team, and the Bloom<br />
Youth Group, for children aged<br />
eight to 16 years who have<br />
neurological disabilities.<br />
While the club’s inclusivity<br />
programmes have been a smash<br />
hit, the centre has proved hugely<br />
popular with the wider Cork sportsloving<br />
community, with more than<br />
11,000 players passing through its<br />
Mark White, founder, Padel Tennis Ireland<br />
doors in under five months.It<br />
also welcomed Irish government<br />
Minister Simon Coveney to officially<br />
open the courts.<br />
A second community opening<br />
was broadcast on local TV and<br />
attended by Speaker of the Irish<br />
Senate, Senator Jerry Buttimer,<br />
David Stanton TD (equivalent of<br />
a UK MP) and Coun Anthony Barry.<br />
Blind padel player Anna Nora took<br />
a starring role at the event,<br />
stepping up to cut the ribbon.<br />
All VIPs were forthcoming in their<br />
praise of Mark and Jeremy. “<strong>The</strong>re<br />
was such flattery, and I don’t know<br />
how many times the word inclusion<br />
was used,” Mark said. “It was<br />
amazing to hear that the narrative<br />
of what we’re trying to get across<br />
has been so read, so received,<br />
even at the highest level of<br />
Irish government.” •<br />
Tennis Ireland<br />
Factfile<br />
Courts<br />
4 indoors with plans for 4 more<br />
Head Coach<br />
Laia Raigal<br />
Booking<br />
via TPC-Matchpoint on<br />
the website<br />
Opening hours<br />
9am-10pm<br />
Cost<br />
From €43.60/hr/court<br />
Address<br />
Fota Junction Retail Park,<br />
Carrigtwohill, Co Cork<br />
48<br />
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49
Friends Anne Wodhams<br />
& Diane Caulkett.<br />
Anne & Diane entered last December’s Super Seniors Padel Festival at<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel Hub, Slough, coming second in the Phoenix Cup for females<br />
aged 69 years+. <strong>The</strong>y lost out to Rosie Connell and Louise Dalgleish.<br />
Pictured with them is <strong>The</strong> Padel Hub’s Charles Winterton.<br />
you’re never too<br />
old... for padel<br />
Certainly the first part of<br />
Kassem’s claim could have<br />
been penned specifically<br />
to sum up Diane Caulkett and<br />
Anne Wodhams, who play at Padel<br />
United in Maldon, Essex. Respectively<br />
septuagenarian and octogenarian,<br />
the ladies took up padel some 18<br />
months ago and haven’t looked<br />
back. But don’t think they are on<br />
court for a gentle game (or even<br />
worse say it out loud!) for the friends<br />
are fiercely competitive and most<br />
definitely in it to win it.<br />
And neither do they expect<br />
concessions because of their<br />
age, as Diane, who plays up to four<br />
times a week, explained: “I’m quite<br />
competitive and the thing about<br />
padel is you are always involved,<br />
it’s just so fast but it’s also tactical<br />
and I like the challenge of working<br />
out the tactics.<br />
“I still play tennis and sometimes<br />
that is a bad thing as some padel<br />
players don’t like tennis players as<br />
we can hit the ball too hard!”<br />
laughed Diane. “Fortunately I’ve<br />
learned to temper that but also a<br />
long while ago I played squash so<br />
the back wall isn’t too much of<br />
a problem.<br />
“We have ‘mix-ins’ at the club<br />
and so I play with a wide variety<br />
of people but because Anne and<br />
I joined together we tend to play<br />
together if there is a competition.”<br />
Social<br />
When it comes to the benefits<br />
of belting a padel ball Diane -<br />
who has amazingly used padel<br />
as part of her rehab from a knee<br />
replacement - was in no doubt:<br />
“Socially I get an awful lot. <strong>The</strong><br />
club is really sociable and the<br />
people really friendly and activity<br />
wise it’s great.<br />
Robert Mitchell<br />
reports.<br />
<strong>The</strong> American writer/artist Suzy Kassem famously said ‘you are never<br />
too old to learn something new or too young to learn too much’.<br />
“I think padel is an addictive sport<br />
as you know you can do it, so you<br />
want to keep doing it and keep<br />
practising difficult serves and taking<br />
the ball off the back wall, and we’ve<br />
had lessons.<br />
“In fact our best lesson was with<br />
Aimee (Gibson, GB No 2) and she<br />
gave us one very useful tip which<br />
was to send balls down the middle<br />
and we’ve just built on that and it’s<br />
such fun, I just love it.”<br />
Next into bat is Diane’s padel<br />
partner in crime Anne, who has little<br />
doubt about the type of attitude<br />
that is required to make a success<br />
of a sporting pursuit found later<br />
in life: “<strong>The</strong>re seem to be a couple<br />
of attitudes to playing any sport.<br />
One: you just play for fun and tootle<br />
around. Two: you are competitive<br />
and you want to improve and Diane<br />
and I have a similar attitude in that<br />
we want to improve.<br />
“As with tennis you play every point<br />
to win as otherwise there is no<br />
point in playing but as to the actual<br />
outcome that is not the be all and<br />
end all. That said I’m just keen<br />
to get better as I don’t like doing<br />
things badly.”<br />
Structure<br />
When it comes to the benefits that<br />
most appeal to her about padel, Anne<br />
said: “<strong>The</strong> pluses are enormous. We<br />
both play tennis so we are still clearly<br />
active anyway. We thoroughly enjoy<br />
padel because there are different<br />
challenges with it and our club in<br />
Maldon is full of nice, friendly and kind<br />
people and it works really well.”<br />
“Sport gives you a structure to your<br />
life and it’s a huge benefit. Obviously<br />
I am not particularly young and the<br />
smaller area in terms of the court is a<br />
blessing in terms of charging around.”<br />
For both of the ladies there is one<br />
huge plus which elevates padel<br />
above other activities, as Anne<br />
explained: “Everyone is younger than I<br />
am and it’s absolutely magic to play<br />
with them. That is perhaps the most<br />
special thing about padel, despite<br />
the disparity in age I am accepted<br />
and welcomed to play with them no<br />
matter their age.” •<br />
Sally Bickerton & Rosie Connell winning<br />
their team match against Italy.<br />
GB ASpirations<br />
Put a racket in Rosie Connell’s hand<br />
and it’s likely you’ll get a winning<br />
shot back, whether the sport is<br />
racketball, tennis, squash or more<br />
recently padel, her new love of some<br />
three years standing.<br />
For Rosie, who’s in her seventies, has<br />
notched up a host of achievements<br />
in the first three sports, including<br />
playing up to national standard.<br />
But it’s padel that delivered her first<br />
taste of representing her country -<br />
and she’s delighted.<br />
“I could never have dreamt that<br />
within two years (of starting to play<br />
padel) I would have been training<br />
to represent the country,” said Rosie,<br />
who plays mostly at Rawdon and<br />
Chapel Allerton clubs in Yorkshire. “I<br />
am very proud, I am the first one in<br />
my family to play for my country.”<br />
Libby Horn with her<br />
daughter Nicola.<br />
racket sport number 4!<br />
Racket sports have been a huge part<br />
of Libby Horn’s life for decades - and<br />
she’s determined not to give up her<br />
love of hitting a ball despite injuries<br />
that have ruled out tennis and squash.<br />
Four years ago, as she was heading<br />
towards her 80th year, Libby<br />
discovered a new love thanks to<br />
daughter Nicola, a GB padel senior<br />
player, Yorkshire padel force of<br />
nature and champion for female<br />
participation in the game.<br />
Libby said: “Nicola started playing<br />
padel about four years ago and then<br />
coaching it. I joined in and enjoyed<br />
it immensely. It is fabulous. I play 2/3<br />
times a week and with ladies quite a<br />
lot younger than I am. I am the eldest<br />
in the club by about five or six years<br />
but they all treat me very kindly.”<br />
Padel has filled a potential rackets<br />
void for Libby, who had to give<br />
up squash some 30 years ago<br />
following a hip replacement, and<br />
tennis after breaking a wrist. “I<br />
found it difficult to hit the (tennis)<br />
ball back as I wanted,” said Libby.<br />
“Tennis is very different to padel<br />
because you have a much bigger<br />
court and more court to cover. With<br />
padel you have the walls, and the<br />
ball can’t get any further.”<br />
Libby’s ‘home’ club is Harrogate<br />
Sports & Fitness but she also plays<br />
at the North Yorkshire town’s sixcourt<br />
Surge and admits to being<br />
spoilt for choice with courts at<br />
Harrogate Spa Tennis and Ripon<br />
Tennis Centre, adding to those<br />
already at Huddersfield Lawn<br />
Tennis & Squash Club and Rawdon<br />
Golf & Lawn Tennis.<br />
Given that she captained the<br />
Yorkshire lacrosse team at one<br />
point, was squash county No 2,<br />
played in the tennis vets team and<br />
has coached all three sports, it’s fair<br />
to assume she’s no push over on a<br />
padel court. But she’s modest about<br />
her padel aspirations, despite<br />
continuing to play tournaments:<br />
“Padel just means that I can get<br />
out a lot more; I have got a ‘thing’<br />
apart from dog walking!”<br />
Her introduction to padel, which she<br />
described as a ‘wonderful’ game,<br />
came when Rawdon added two<br />
padel courts to its golf and tennis<br />
facilities and she hasn’t looked back<br />
since. She was soon trialling for the<br />
GB senior squad, securing her place<br />
and going on to help the team claim<br />
a raft of impressive wins at home<br />
and abroad.<br />
Rosie firmly believes that you are<br />
never too old for padel, which she<br />
likened to a game of chess, working<br />
out the strength and weaknesses<br />
of opponents, and advised other<br />
players to just keep playing for as<br />
long as possible. •<br />
50<br />
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thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
51
feature<br />
products<br />
Paul Jenkins (far right) was the non-playing captain of the Welsh team<br />
at the recent Four Nations Super Seniors at Rocket Padel, Bristol.<br />
Decathlon KUIKMA<br />
RRP: From £109.99<br />
www.decathlon.co.uk<br />
Padel’s<br />
senior service<br />
Paul Jenkins’ padel odyssey, which began in the picturesque southern<br />
Costa Blanca village of Dehesa de Campoamor when he was aged 57,<br />
is still going strong some 15 years later and is perhaps a prime example<br />
of the senior service padel can provide. Robert Mitchell reports.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Welshman, who has twice<br />
skippered the Welsh super<br />
seniors at the now annual<br />
Four Nations tournament (playing<br />
in 2023) was, by his own admission,<br />
topping the scales at 20st when<br />
he was offered the chance to try a<br />
sport he’d never heard of – and the<br />
rest, as those who know the popular<br />
Welshman will agree, is history!<br />
“I took up padel in 2008 in Spain after<br />
we had moved there to live,” said<br />
Paul. “Someone said to me come and<br />
have a game of padel and I said ‘it<br />
must be rubbish, I’m a quizmaster<br />
and know every sport going but<br />
haven’t heard of padel!’”.<br />
“I was 20st and they gave me a crap<br />
bat and I stood in the corner and all<br />
these guys who had been going to<br />
coaching were going nuts. All my<br />
years of squash and table tennis<br />
came flooding back and that was<br />
it – I was gripped!”<br />
“I also ended up at one point<br />
captaining the team at the<br />
Montepiedra club, which was full<br />
of much younger Spanish boys<br />
– not because I was the best but<br />
because I was older and they<br />
wouldn’t argue with me! I still head<br />
over now for a game or two and<br />
they call me Capitano because<br />
they feel like they owe me that<br />
loyalty, which is very nice.”<br />
By his own admission Paul is<br />
still learning, even at 73. He is<br />
now an LTA Level One qualified<br />
coach and his finest moment<br />
in padel arrived last year when<br />
he donned the Welsh colours to<br />
captain the national team for the<br />
Super Seniors at We Are Padel,<br />
Derby, which he described as a<br />
‘very proud moment’.<br />
Paul said: “I don’t go for many<br />
winners and I like to dink and<br />
make my opponent play one more<br />
shot. For me the best game of the<br />
tournament (Super Seniors 2023)<br />
was John Byrne for Scotland playing<br />
lovely cultured slow padel and<br />
beating the guys younger than him<br />
who wanted to play hard and fast.<br />
That showed just what you can still<br />
achieve on a padel court well into<br />
your 50s and beyond.” •<br />
Decathlon has released two new padel racket ranges with a focus<br />
on performance and durability. <strong>The</strong>re are three rackets in each<br />
range (round-shaped Control, diamond-shaped Power and Hybrid),<br />
all with rough faces and longer, thinner handles. Decathlon has<br />
added two technologies from its Pro racket range - the Shock Block<br />
system (elastomer inside handles to reduce impact vibrations) and<br />
Air Foam Frame (a double-tube frame to enhance rigidity and<br />
power, with EVA foam inside the tubes in the racket head to<br />
reinforce the frame and increase durability).<br />
<strong>The</strong> Metal range uses medium-density EVA foam and incorporates<br />
Decathlon’s Metal Biaxial Core, a metal mesh intertwined with<br />
fiberglass in the core of the racket to provide improved resistance<br />
to bending. It is ideal for players wanting control, versatility or power<br />
and is the collection with the softest touch, ideal for players looking for<br />
lightness and flexibility in the racket face. Racket weight is 365g.<strong>The</strong><br />
Carbon ranges uses high-density EVA foam with a 12K carbon face. Its<br />
rackets are slightly heavier, at up to 372g, and designed for precision<br />
and power, with weight shifted towards the handle.<br />
objects<br />
of desire<br />
Joma<br />
RRP: From £135.99<br />
www.joma-sport.com<br />
Joma is a relatively new padel brand in the<br />
UK but it comes with an established reputation<br />
for performance and value for money across<br />
its range, which includes shoes, apparel and<br />
rackets. <strong>The</strong> new Joma Pro rackets are<br />
made from high density Black Eva foam<br />
for power and control and a 100%<br />
carbon frame for durability and rigidity.<br />
And, thanks to what Joma describes<br />
as its Vibra-Out Gold system, racket<br />
vibrations are reduced by 40%.<strong>The</strong><br />
Pro range comprises the Gold Pro,<br />
Tournament Pro and Slam Pro. All have<br />
high balance, weigh 350-350g and<br />
are geared to experienced players.<br />
Heads up, it’s a BOA!<br />
www.head.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> innovation boffins at Head<br />
are at it again with more industry<br />
firsts - this time they’ve taken their<br />
Motion Pro shoes and added the<br />
BOA lacing system, delivering super<br />
quick and easy lacing with great fit.<br />
And that’s not all, they’ve matched<br />
their ‘hole-less’ racket technology<br />
(see page 50) with the lightest<br />
materials and secret know-how<br />
to develop the first 300g racket,<br />
shaving some 30g off the lightest<br />
yet. Both innovations were revealed<br />
at the Padel World Summit in<br />
Malaga recently. Keep your eyes on<br />
the ‘Gear’ section of our website<br />
(www.thebandeja.com) for news of<br />
the launches, where to buy etc.<br />
52<br />
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53
products<br />
products<br />
padel products<br />
Cuera<br />
RRP: from £19.99 for socks<br />
www.cuera.co<br />
Named in tribute to padel’s inventor Enrique<br />
Corcuera, Danish apparel brand Cuera fuses<br />
sustainability, performance and quality to produce<br />
sportswear for on and off court. <strong>The</strong> range, in muted<br />
colourways of grey, black, brown, beige and offwhite<br />
(with some orange thrown in) includes socks,<br />
shorts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps and skorts made<br />
from recycled polyester and organic cotton.<br />
Snauwaert<br />
RRP: from €79<br />
www.snauwaert.com<br />
Snauwaert is an established name in tennis<br />
(established 1928, re-launched in 2018) and now<br />
you can take advantage of its expertise channelled<br />
into padel. Rackets start from €79, rising to<br />
€399.00 for the Vitas Tour 3D, its most advanced<br />
and powerful racket with 3D braid carbon, EVA 10<br />
foam, large sweetspot, hybrid shape and built-in<br />
dampening system.<br />
Babolat new Ace padel ball has been<br />
developed specifically for competition and is<br />
approved by the International Padel Federation<br />
(FIP). Compared to ‘regular’ balls it is made of<br />
firmer rubber and with a more tightly woven<br />
felt, making it more reactive and slightly less<br />
cushioned than recreational padel balls.<br />
RRP: £6.49 per tube of 3<br />
Ace it!<br />
<strong>The</strong> Roger Clubhouse Pro is the latest addition<br />
to On’s almost cult-like shoe collection.<br />
Designed in conjunction with tennis giant<br />
Roger Federer (who has been spotted playing<br />
padel), the Clubhouse Pro is being marketed to<br />
‘everyday tennis’ fans and padel players, likely<br />
because it has a herringbone sole. <strong>The</strong> shoes<br />
have more cushioning than the standard<br />
Roger Pro, with a combination of soft foam<br />
and the award-winning CloudTec® sole.<br />
RRP: £150<br />
www.on.com<br />
THE Roger Clubhouse Pro<br />
Perfect Pete<br />
www.originalpenguin.co.uk<br />
We’re loving Original Penguin, both for men and<br />
women. <strong>The</strong> men’s piped blade collar performance<br />
shirt (£45, in bright white, quarry or turquoise) is a new<br />
release made from 35% recycled polyester. <strong>The</strong> wicking<br />
fabric is slightly stretchy and the shirt is finished with a<br />
cute Pete the Penguin logo on the chest. <strong>The</strong> women’s<br />
16” asymmetrical golf skort (£70) is, quite frankly,<br />
wasted on golf! <strong>The</strong> Black Iris colour way is dark navy<br />
with pink pleats hidden behind a zip. You can choose<br />
how much - or how little - pink you want on show.<br />
Babolat Veron<br />
RRP: from £209.99<br />
Babolat’s new Veron rackets have an integrated shockabsorbing<br />
elastomer to absorb vibrations, a bonus for players<br />
concerned with (or recovering from) arm/elbow injuries.<br />
Babolat has worked with materials/damping specialist SMAC<br />
to develop the range, which is suitable for players of all levels<br />
wanting power and control. It also features the manufacturer’s<br />
Carbonflex surface, a weave of two racket face materials<br />
combining carbon and fiberglass for strength and durability.<br />
54<br />
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thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
55
products<br />
products<br />
nox<br />
RRP: apparel from €32.23<br />
Luxury Genius rackets from €247.89<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>summer</strong> Nox Pro apparel has landed,<br />
featuring navy blue, purple and pink across the<br />
men’s and ladies’ ranges of tops, shorts and<br />
skirts. And once dressed like a pro why not try<br />
and emulate their play with a racket from Nox’s<br />
sponsored player Augustin Tapia? <strong>The</strong> AT Luxury<br />
Genius range has three variants, including Tapia’s<br />
weapon of choice, the 18K Alum <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
WIN!<br />
Lion’s mane tea<br />
RRP: From £4.99<br />
Various outlets<br />
We’re big fans of a cuppa at <strong>Bandeja</strong> HQ so were super<br />
intrigued when a box of Cheerful Buddha Lion’s Mane<br />
mushroom green tea dropped onto our desk. A little bit of<br />
research and we’re hooked - the Lion’s Mane mushroom (a<br />
shaggy little thing that’s protected in the UK) is packed with<br />
health benefits (supporting mental wellness, brain function, gut<br />
bacteria and a good night’s sleep). Combined with Sencha<br />
green tea, which brings inflammation reduction to the tea<br />
party, and Cheerful Buddha is a powerhouse of goodness.<br />
We have a Bela V2.5 Pro (worth £295)<br />
to give away - see page 53.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bela V2.5 is an updated version of the V2, with<br />
a new look, new protective ‘bumper’ strip for better<br />
durability and what Wilson describes as ‘C2 tubular<br />
construction’ for enhanced durability and great<br />
shot control. <strong>The</strong> range comprises three versions -<br />
the Pro (firm EVA foam, 370g), Elite (soft EVA foam,<br />
365g) and the LT (soft EVA foam, 355g).<br />
Bullpadel’s Vertex range continues to dominate the<br />
brand’s sales. Seven months after launch the Vertex<br />
04 range accounts for 26% of Bullpadel UK sales, with<br />
the Vertex 04 model alone taking a 10% share. Of the<br />
Bullpadel performance rackets launched for <strong>2024</strong>,<br />
the Vertex range accounts for 55% of sales. In Spain<br />
it is regarded as the best-selling performance racket<br />
of all-time, according to Bullpadel. Expect stability,<br />
reduced torsion and great power/control from a<br />
Vertex racket. <strong>The</strong> 12K carbon used in the Vertex 04<br />
(diamond shape) and Vertex 04 Hybrid (hybrid-round<br />
shape) delivers feel and power. <strong>The</strong> carbon and<br />
fibreglass Vertex 04 Comfort is softer and lighter and<br />
the Vertex 04 Woman lighter with a carbon/fibreglass<br />
composition for performance and comfort.<br />
RRP: from £195<br />
BULLpadel<br />
TUYO<br />
RRP: from €79.95<br />
www.tuyopadel.co.uk<br />
Unsure what padel racket to go for? Help is<br />
at hand from Tuyo, a new Spanish/Dutch<br />
brand which has a handy racket selector on<br />
its website. Just select your style of play, skill<br />
level and other racket sport experience and<br />
it will come up with suggestions. Tuyo has<br />
rackets for novices through to advanced<br />
players, all developed in collaboration with<br />
padel professionals.<br />
RRP: from £200<br />
www.wilson.com<br />
Bela V2.5 Pro<br />
Starting out on your padel<br />
journey and not sure you have<br />
the right grip? <strong>The</strong>n check-out<br />
Gripfixer, a teaching aid that fits<br />
on racket handles to guide your<br />
fingers into the correct position.<br />
According to developer Morten<br />
Dannerfjord, Gripfixer helps<br />
achieve the correct grip from<br />
day one.<br />
RRP: £16.00<br />
www.amazon.co.uk<br />
gripfixer<br />
padel intelligent<br />
RRP: from €3<br />
www.padelintelligent.com<br />
Check out two products from Padel<br />
Intelligent - the Comfort Bracelet and<br />
the Closing Ball. <strong>The</strong> silicone Comfort<br />
Bracelet slips over racket safety<br />
straps to make them a bit more funky,<br />
reduce friction between the strap<br />
and your wrist and slack in the strap.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Closing Ball reduces slack in wrist<br />
straps that don’t have a sliding knot<br />
closure, ensuring a snug fit.<br />
Head<br />
Alfonso Hohenlohe<br />
RRP: from £44<br />
www.head.com<br />
We’re loving the new campaign<br />
from Head promoting its<br />
collaboration with the<br />
Alfonso Hohenlohe Padel<br />
Club in Italy in tribute to<br />
‘the pioneering prince who<br />
fell in love with the game’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> range has men’s and<br />
women’s apparel plus a<br />
Speed Motion padel racket<br />
kitted out with cactus motifs.<br />
56 SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
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57
Padel Court<br />
Construction<br />
Free, independent consultancy<br />
service for installing padel courts.<br />
Why use iPadel<br />
<strong>The</strong> only UK company to offer an<br />
independent advisory service<br />
All courts supplied by leading manufacturers<br />
in Spain, Sweden and Italy<br />
A variety of options to give you choice<br />
depending on your requirements<br />
Finance and investment solutions available<br />
We have done the research for you<br />
“Ian is one of the industry leaders when it comes<br />
to the padel industry. A pioneer in padel, who has<br />
amassed an amazing knowledge and expertise in<br />
this field. If you have an interest in developing padel<br />
at your club or facility, speaking with Ian is a must!<br />
I can’t thank him enough for all the help, support<br />
and encouragement he has given me. It has been<br />
invaluable in building may first padel venture.”<br />
BORN<br />
IN SPAIN<br />
Gordon Watson<br />
Padel Verse<br />
07765 403 769<br />
Email: ian@ipadel.co.uk | www.ipadel.co.uk<br />
Lane End, Little Common Lane, Bletchingley, Surrey RH1 4QF<br />
Conquering the world since 2020. TUYO, the Dutch padel brand<br />
that was conceived and born in Spain. Check out our rackets &<br />
gear and get TUYO! WWW.TUYOPADEL.CO.UK<br />
SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
59<br />
SPECIAL OFFER 20% OFF - USE CODE BANDEJA20
entrepreneurs<br />
Wesley Teixeira<br />
no shocks<br />
Amy & Hannah, Pokita founders.<br />
Stuck on you<br />
<strong>The</strong> Pickpad is an ingenious piece of kit<br />
specifically designed to fit padel rackets and<br />
help players collect balls from the ground<br />
without fully bending their knees or back.<br />
<strong>The</strong> hook-and-loop accessory sticks to the<br />
top rim of rackets to pick balls off the floor<br />
- just position your racket head on the ball,<br />
twist and pick up.<br />
Inventor is padel player (and architect)<br />
David Dionísio, who came up with the<br />
idea in response to a player’s difficulty in<br />
bending over repeatedly: “In the games<br />
and tournaments we played, one of our<br />
partners had difficulty bending down to pick<br />
up the balls due to an old hip injury. That’s<br />
when i had the idea of attaching a light and<br />
practical accessory to the top of the racket<br />
to hold the ball,” said David.<br />
Get a grip!<br />
Perk up your padel racket with<br />
Vibepadel’s colourful overgrips,<br />
which come in a range of colours<br />
and patterns. Its Grip ‘n’ Rip Overgrip<br />
features three-layer technology<br />
for a great tacky grip, comfort and<br />
sweat absorption. And, because<br />
they are specifically designed for<br />
padel rackets, they are just the right<br />
size so no cutting and no waste.<br />
entrepreneurs<br />
<strong>The</strong> grips are the brainchild of Geoff Woodman, who is intent on<br />
improving players’ padel experience with high-quality, stylish and<br />
affordable equipment which strikes a balance between performance<br />
and good looks. <strong>The</strong>re’s a range of rackets coming soon too, keep an<br />
eye on Vibepadel’s website for details.<br />
RRP: From £9.99 for three<br />
www.vibepadel.co<br />
Wesley Teixeira is uniquely placed to talk<br />
about padel rackets and injuries, being an<br />
experienced physiotherapist with his own<br />
racket range geared to injury prevention.<br />
<strong>The</strong> specialist physio noticed a surge in<br />
padel-related injuries at his practice in the<br />
Queen’s Club, London, setting him off on a<br />
journey of investigation which culminated<br />
in the formation of his racket brand Bas3line,<br />
founded on evidence-based research and<br />
cutting-edge technology to ensure players’<br />
safety and performance.<br />
<strong>The</strong> design of Bas3line rackets incorporates<br />
ergonomic features coupled with high-grade<br />
Japanese carbonfibre and super soft EVA foam,<br />
combining to deliver great weight distribution<br />
and shock absorption to help players to reduce<br />
the risk of injury and improve their gameplay.<br />
Racket design also includes new technologies,<br />
including Vibrasorb technology for greater air<br />
flow in the handle to reduce the risk of wrist<br />
injuries, and the Shockwave Flex system to<br />
absorb vibrations, further guarding against<br />
tennis elbow and other arm injuries.<br />
“Bas3line rackets are designed with a balance<br />
between power and control, ensuring players<br />
can strike the ball accurately and effectively<br />
without overexerting themselves,” said Wesley.<br />
BAS3LINE DYNAMO<br />
RRP: £100<br />
www.bas3line.com<br />
Pocketing<br />
Pokita<br />
Padel playing friends Amy and<br />
Hannah took the search for good<br />
quality, well-fitting, sustainable<br />
sportswear into their own hands when<br />
they couldn’t find kit that hit the spot<br />
and wasn’t too short - and their brand<br />
Pokita was born.<br />
Pokita is characterised by bold animal-inspired prints, great<br />
colours and well-designed tops and bottoms. <strong>The</strong> leggings, skorts<br />
and skeggings (skirt/leggings combo) are blessed with well-sized<br />
pockets for phones and balls. Sustainability is key, with the brand<br />
championing ‘regenerated’ fabric made from leftover material<br />
and waste garments to make new, high quality activewear fibres<br />
that are soft and wicking.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> first encountered Amy and Hannah at <strong>The</strong> Padel<br />
Club in Slough, where Pokita is stocked, along with other clubs<br />
and padel facilities across the south east. You may even has<br />
spotted their red and white combo being rocked by super<br />
snowboarder and Strictly star Aimee Fuller, who loves the<br />
colourway despite it not quite being ‘Wimpy Whites’!<br />
Navy leopard embossed skirt is high-waisted with<br />
silicone dots to keep the shorts in place.<br />
RRP: £58 (check website for offers)<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> asked player Jane, from<br />
Padel United in Maldon, to test out Pickpad<br />
after she returned to padel following a hip<br />
replacement. Her verdict? “It is useful and<br />
does help to pick up balls without bending<br />
right down. It did take me a few attempts<br />
before I got the knack of doing it properly.<br />
It think it is a great idea, especially for the<br />
older generation.”<br />
Pickpad<br />
RRP: £9<br />
www.thebandeja.com/buy-gear/<br />
If you’ve plans to visit Dubai then make a note to check out<br />
BearFish sports caps, the brainwave of former Emirates airline<br />
executive Roger Duthie, who was fed up ruining caps when<br />
travelling so decided to design his own.<br />
Lightweight and in bright colours (one of Roger’s goals is to make<br />
sportswear more colourful), the caps come with a crush-proof<br />
carry case to keep them pristine when not in use.<br />
“When I was travelling and playing golf or tennis I used to purchase<br />
caps in golf pro or local shops. When I came back to Dubai the caps<br />
were smashed or ruined so I thought of developing a small carry case<br />
that could clip to the side of a golf bag or sports bag,” said Roger.<br />
<strong>The</strong> boutique Dubai brand, a spin-off of Roger’s sport marketing<br />
consultancy, takes its name from his wife’s nicknames for their<br />
children - Ollie is OllieBear and Isabella IssyFish. With plans afoot to<br />
develop shirts and hoodies and a desire to go global, BearFish could<br />
well be coming to a court near you!<br />
RRP: $70<br />
www.bearfishsportsmarketing.com<br />
Is it a fish? Is it a bear?<br />
No, it’s a cap!<br />
60<br />
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61
products<br />
products<br />
All holes<br />
barred<br />
Padel rackets are round (ish) with<br />
approximately 55 holes, right? Er. wrong,<br />
according to racket manufacturers Head,<br />
Stiga and Siux, which have pushed the<br />
boundaries of design. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> finds<br />
out more.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Head Extreme One is extreme for one reason<br />
- there’s just one hole in the racket face. But why?<br />
And how? We’ve spoken to Head’s R&D boffins to<br />
find out more.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Head Extreme One is a good<br />
looking racket that attracts<br />
attention even before other<br />
players realise it has no holes - then<br />
there’s a double take and questions,<br />
usually about weight, wind resistance<br />
and having a go with it! Court time is<br />
precious so generally the answer is<br />
short - light, no major difference and<br />
of course.<br />
Yes, light. <strong>The</strong> design experts at Head<br />
have managed to create a solid<br />
racket that is extremely light at just<br />
345g. Compare this with standard<br />
bats which can be up to 380g and<br />
‘light’ rackets which are generally less<br />
than 355g (even with a grip added the<br />
Extreme One is still sub 355g).<br />
Lightness doesn’t mean a compromise<br />
on power though. <strong>The</strong> diamondshaped<br />
racket is aimed at higher level<br />
players and in tests was a hit with those<br />
playing tournaments. Head recognises<br />
it may not have enough ‘mass’ for some<br />
but considers that its key advantages<br />
will hit the sweetspot for a wide range<br />
of people.<br />
Better without<br />
Head returned to the design drawing<br />
board for what it considers to be one<br />
very good reason - that padel rackets<br />
without holes make more sense than<br />
padel rackets with holes, delivering<br />
potential for improved manoeuvrability,<br />
durability, aerodynamics and a<br />
consistent spin.<br />
Pasquale Ruzicka, Head Global Business<br />
Manager for padel, explained further:<br />
“We always had doubts with regards to<br />
the holes. We had limitations because<br />
there were holes in rackets and holes<br />
weaken the construction. It was<br />
therefore an ongoing process to think<br />
‘let’s wait a second, do we really need<br />
the holes?’ Always the answer was the<br />
best thing would be to have no holes.”<br />
Putting holes in rackets was borne<br />
out of the need to make early<br />
wooden padel rackets lighter, with<br />
players drilling their own to reduce<br />
weight. As the sport progressed<br />
holes became enshrined in FIP - the<br />
International Padel Federation - racket<br />
specifications, with it ruling that<br />
rackets must have at least one hole<br />
with a minimum 9mm diameter. Head<br />
has implemented this to the letter with<br />
a single 9mm diameter perforation<br />
very low down on the racket face.<br />
Air resistance & spin<br />
It’s a commonly held view that holes<br />
improve racket aerodynamics but<br />
Head research turned this thinking,<br />
quite literally, on its head; testing<br />
via external labs showed that<br />
aerodynamic performance was<br />
heavily influenced by the angle of<br />
each shot - and most padel shots are<br />
not hit straight but at an angle.<br />
“If you hit with the leading edge of the<br />
racket the air resistance of the holes<br />
make it less aerodynamic,” added<br />
Pasquale. “<strong>The</strong> air moves in the holes,<br />
out of the holes, in the holes, out of<br />
the holes and not really through the<br />
holes. Of course if you hit a smash<br />
it might behave differently because<br />
it is very straight and the air runs<br />
through. But in general we found that<br />
the aerodynamics of the (no holes)<br />
racket improves in total. Not on every<br />
shot, but in total, which was pretty<br />
interesting for us to see.”<br />
Removing holes also delivered a<br />
‘cleaner’ hitting surface. “You have<br />
a better consistency of play without<br />
holes,” said Pasquale. “You can<br />
generate spin with a hole if you hit<br />
it correctly but timing this is pretty<br />
tough depending on the level of your<br />
play. And if you don’t hit the hole as<br />
intended you have a different kind<br />
of spin. With the Extreme One spin<br />
surface everywhere there is more or<br />
less the same spin no matter where<br />
you hit the ball on the racket.”<br />
Former padel World Champion<br />
Mauri Andrini gave his verdict<br />
on the no-holes approach: “It<br />
makes the racket go very quick,<br />
the manoeuvrability of the racket<br />
is much quicker. I think it goes<br />
together with padel - padel is<br />
going faster, it is going quicker.”<br />
Durability<br />
When padel rackets break its often<br />
on the frame or between the holes.<br />
Designing-out holes allowed greater<br />
focus on designing-in strength and<br />
removing or redistributing weight. Many<br />
of the materials used are familiar -<br />
carbon and fibreglass - but they’ve<br />
been used in different ways. Or as<br />
Pasquale described it ‘more cleverly’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> result is a robust diamondshaped<br />
racket with a 12K carbon<br />
hitting surface and larger than normal<br />
sweetspot. Durability tests have shown<br />
the Extreme One to offer twice the<br />
durability of previous rackets in the<br />
Delta line (which the Extreme<br />
line replaced).<br />
According to Pasquale it’s also proved<br />
a hit with padel coaches: “We’ve had<br />
really good feedback from coaches<br />
- they are a long time on court and it’s<br />
not about the weight of the racket to<br />
demonstrate shots, it is more about<br />
consistency and a long period of<br />
time working with the racket.”<br />
Revolution<br />
A hole-less racket has been done<br />
before - Drop Shot launched a version<br />
some 10 years ago but the idea<br />
failed to take off. So will the Extreme<br />
One be different? We think it may<br />
well; Head hasn’t just removed the<br />
holes, it’s engineered a whole new<br />
racket with no holes, which is very<br />
different. Pasquale feels they have<br />
‘revolutionised the possibilities of<br />
rackets’ and he may well be right.<br />
For sure the science seems to stack<br />
up - remove the holes, use different<br />
types of carbon and fibreglass given<br />
you aren’t drilling through it, improve<br />
shot consistency thanks to the uniform<br />
hitting surface, beef up durability and<br />
positively impact manouverability. It’s<br />
a fun racket to play with and quick to<br />
get to know. And the durability aspect<br />
may well prove popular with those<br />
who’ve lost rackets to cracks.<br />
But we’ll leave the last word to Daniel<br />
Picot, Head product manager for padel:<br />
“This is the product I was looking for.<br />
When you have this racket in your<br />
hand the feeling is just amazing. <strong>The</strong><br />
racket plays amazingly even though<br />
it has less weight. We balanced the<br />
racket to be stable and solid. <strong>The</strong> 12k<br />
carbon hitting surface has a really nice<br />
feeling, it has a powerful feedback and<br />
the sound is something different, the<br />
sounds impresses you (editor’s note:<br />
we can vouch for this, it makes a much<br />
deeper ‘swoosh’ noise).”<br />
“It has been such a special project.<br />
Working so many hours with the team<br />
doing lab tests, creating prototypes<br />
etc, when you have this racket in your<br />
hand and play with it you have the<br />
feeling that what we have done is<br />
going to be perfect,” added Daniel. •<br />
Watch Pasquale Ruzicka talk<br />
about Extreme One on the Total<br />
Padel YouTube channel.<br />
62<br />
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thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
63
products<br />
products<br />
stiga<br />
& suix<br />
It was, perhaps, only a matter of time before<br />
Swedish manufacturer Stiga Sports looked at its<br />
hexagonal table tennis bats and thought... padel.<br />
Some two years and much<br />
research later and it’s launched<br />
the Stiga Cybershape, which<br />
ditches racket head curves for sides<br />
and angles. <strong>The</strong>re’s real hope that the<br />
Cybershape’s edges might deliver the<br />
ultimate weapon for digging balls out<br />
of corners and from the super tricky<br />
serve/floor/wall combo.<br />
And we’re not alone. Former World<br />
Padel Tour pro and Swedish national<br />
team coach Daniel Dios, instrumental<br />
in the development of the Cybershape,<br />
doesn’t think he will go back to round<br />
bats any time soon: “This racket takes<br />
the concepts of sweetspot and power<br />
to a whole new dimension,” he said.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> ability to reach balls close to the<br />
ground or the walls was probably the<br />
most surprising thing to me. Every shot<br />
feels fantastic and you can hit hard<br />
without compromising on technique.<br />
After testing Cybershape for almost a<br />
year I find it very hard to imagine going<br />
back to my old round rackets.”<br />
Sweetspot<br />
But that’s not all. Cybershape has<br />
a 20% larger sweetspot than round<br />
rackets meaning that, theoretically,<br />
you have a higher chance of hitting a<br />
decent shot. John Bandstigen, Product<br />
Manager Racket Sports at STIGA Sports,<br />
said this feature, combined with the<br />
racket’s ‘blistering’ acceleration’, is a<br />
benefit of the hexagonal mould. “As<br />
you hit harder and faster shots you get<br />
tremendous power and forward assist<br />
that gives you a sense of total control,<br />
despite the high speed,” said John.<br />
Testing<br />
In developing the Cybershape, Stiga<br />
wanted to address the ‘limitations<br />
of conventional round designs’, with<br />
extensive testing and collaboration<br />
involving Sweden’s Royal Institute<br />
of Technology. And it’s not just the<br />
shape that’s changed, Stiga has<br />
used advanced composites and<br />
manufacturing techniques to deliver<br />
performance and durability.<br />
Sell-out<br />
Perhaps one reason that we’ve been<br />
unable to get our hands on a racket<br />
is that Stiga can’t make enough,<br />
as a spokesman explained: “While<br />
innovative sports equipment often<br />
encounters a spectrum of reactions<br />
initially, the Cybershape’s reception<br />
has been overwhelmingly positive,<br />
a testament to its exceptional<br />
performance and the credibility of<br />
the professionals endorsing it. We are<br />
unable to meet demand.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Stiga Sports Cybershape padel<br />
racket comes in three versions:<br />
Cybershape 3K, Cybershape 18K<br />
and Cybershape 18K Hard. All have<br />
a 100% carbon frame, longer<br />
handle and weight 360g +/-8g.<br />
Prices start from £279.90.<br />
Siux Fenix<br />
Pro 4<br />
Stiga isn’t the only padel<br />
manufacturer that thinks the<br />
padel racket world isn’t quite<br />
round. Specialised Spanish<br />
brand Siux has launched the Fenix<br />
Pro 4 in standard and lightweight<br />
versions. And while it’s not quite as<br />
angular as the Stiga, it’s definitely<br />
not a standard shape.<br />
Álvaro Alejandro, Product Manager<br />
at Siux, explained that they’ve<br />
developed the Fenix Pro 4 for<br />
players with an aggressive game.<br />
Its high balance, hard touch and<br />
sweetspot at the top of the racket<br />
are designed to enhance this style<br />
of play.<br />
Prices for the Fenix Pro 4<br />
start at around £195<br />
Editor’s note<br />
I had the pleasure of playing with<br />
this racket during a trip to Spain<br />
(thank you to Ana Belén Polo<br />
at Siux). First off it’s a fantastic<br />
looking racket and drew plenty of<br />
attention - it might not be quite<br />
so reflective in the British sun but<br />
under warm Spanish rays it glowed<br />
burnt orange, really eye-catching.<br />
In play it felt like a best friend<br />
from the off, beautifully balanced<br />
and just lovely to play with. I’m an<br />
average player so the level of tech<br />
in this racket is likely wasted on me<br />
but the overall package felt great<br />
and it played really well. <strong>The</strong> only<br />
downside? I had to give it back.<br />
With strings<br />
attached!<br />
Developing racket technology isn’t confined<br />
to established sports equipment manufacturers,<br />
as <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> finds out…<br />
Solving the problem of padel<br />
rackets breaking proved an<br />
irresistible challenge for keen<br />
player and inventor Mikel Azcona.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Spaniard couldn’t help thinking<br />
that tennis rackets, which last longer,<br />
held the answer and so he invested<br />
almost a year and three attempts<br />
into a developing a prototype<br />
stringed padel racket.<br />
He told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>: “First I tried<br />
using a padel racket, removing the<br />
core and using the frame to attach<br />
string to a new core. It didn’t work<br />
very well since the frame didn’t have<br />
the necessary rigidity. <strong>The</strong>n I tried a<br />
tennis frame but it didn’t have the<br />
right dimensions or rigidity either. I<br />
finally decided to make the entire<br />
frame. I created a mould, prepared<br />
the materials and tools and then I<br />
achieved the first prototype. I did all<br />
of this by hand in the garage of my<br />
father’s house.”<br />
His invention was launched to the world<br />
via YouTube and LinkedIn - but Mikel’s<br />
joy at his new creation was short lived,<br />
as he explained: “I discovered after<br />
showing my work that the manufacturer<br />
Vairo tried the same solution some<br />
years ago with the Vairo Innovatic 7.2.<br />
“At first I was very disappointed given<br />
the effort I had invested in my research.<br />
After the initial disappointment I felt r<br />
elief and peace of mind as I’d decided<br />
not to patent it, so at least I saved<br />
myself some money.”<br />
But Mikel remains undeterred: “Creating<br />
the racket has helped me obtain<br />
valuable contacts in the padel world<br />
that may be useful in the future as I am<br />
already working on another innovation.”<br />
Mikel Azcona<br />
with his stringed<br />
padel racket.<br />
<strong>The</strong> version that Vairo<br />
developed, we think around<br />
17 years ago.<br />
WIN!<br />
Fancy playing with this gorgeous<br />
Wilson Bela 2.5 racket, worth £295?<br />
<strong>The</strong>n head over to our website<br />
www.thebandeja.com/competitions<br />
for details of how to enter our<br />
competition to win it.<br />
64<br />
SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
65
Making the shift<br />
from tennis<br />
to padel<br />
Padel is the world’s fastest growing sport and on a massive upward<br />
trajectory in the UK, with its popularity and demand at an all-time high. It’s<br />
often described as a cross between tennis and squash so it’s no surprise<br />
that many players from both sports are giving it a go. But tennis players<br />
particularly need to adjust their game, as Emily Thomas reports.<br />
Tennis players are at a natural<br />
advantage when picking<br />
up a padel racket, with their<br />
established hand/eye coordination<br />
and armoury of lobs, volleys and<br />
ground strokes<br />
<strong>The</strong>y may initially find the glass walls<br />
constrictive, claustrophobic and<br />
slightly impossible but quickly learn<br />
to love the exciting and dynamic<br />
opportunities the walls present to<br />
keep points alive. <strong>The</strong> game has an<br />
addictive quality and there’s little<br />
choice but to improve.<br />
However, tennis players may step<br />
onto the padel court with a bag full<br />
of shots and plenty of racket sport<br />
experience but their years of top spin,<br />
hard hitting and preparing early for<br />
sweeping ground strokes can work<br />
against them. And while both games<br />
are strategic, padel has a larger<br />
variety of shots to learn.<br />
So, tennis players, there are five key<br />
points that most padel aficionados<br />
agree upon when switching sports:<br />
• Power is not rewarded, placement<br />
of the ball is<br />
• Move up and down the court<br />
as a team.<br />
• Lobs are a vital element of padel<br />
• Make your racket swing smaller<br />
• Invest in coaching<br />
Slow burn<br />
I had the pleasure of speaking to<br />
former tennis pro and Octagon sports<br />
agent Abigail Tordoff about her rise in<br />
the padel world. Abigail contributed<br />
greatly to the GB tennis community,<br />
representing her country on several<br />
occasions. She is now CEO of tennis<br />
charity Give It Your Max, which<br />
enhances the lives of disadvantaged<br />
and vulnerable children in the UK<br />
through tennis. Abigail has also<br />
turned her hand to padel and in just<br />
two years ascended to being a padel<br />
pro, playing regularly for senior and<br />
open international sides and hosting<br />
coaching clinics.<br />
But it wasn’t love at first hit for Abigail:<br />
“I first picked up a padel bat in 2012,<br />
just before the London Olympics when<br />
I was out in Barcelona for work. I was<br />
invited to play with Spanish former pro<br />
motorcyclist Sete Gibernau in his back<br />
garden. I didn’t really enjoy it and kind<br />
of thought what is this game?”<br />
She didn’t play again until lockdown,<br />
when her love for the game<br />
blossomed. Having retired from<br />
professional tennis in 2000 she found<br />
she did not miss the tour. However,<br />
once playing padel regularly her<br />
competitive spirit shone through and<br />
she was hooked. “I got the padel bug<br />
that everyone talks about,” she said.<br />
“I’d had quite a lot of time out of<br />
competitive sport and I hadn’t realised<br />
that I had missed competing. Once I<br />
started competing in padel I thought<br />
this is amazing fun.”<br />
In her first year she partnered with Lisa<br />
Phillips and the duo dominated the UK<br />
padel scene, winning the vast majority<br />
of tournaments they entered. “We<br />
also played a couple of tournaments<br />
abroad, which was a huge eye<br />
As a tennis player<br />
“<br />
you think if you<br />
whack it hard<br />
enough they won’t<br />
get it back but to my<br />
initial surprise it kept<br />
coming back...<br />
”<br />
opener,” she said. She tries to play most<br />
days whether that be early in<br />
the morning, evenings or lunch breaks:<br />
“I work my padel sessions around my<br />
job and children, so it is a bit of<br />
a juggling act, but it is my passion<br />
and I absolutely love it.”<br />
Unlearning<br />
Tennis gives players a free pass into<br />
padel and Abigail’s game benefitted<br />
from years on the professional tennis<br />
tour. She acknowledged this ‘huge<br />
advantage’: “You have good hand eye<br />
coordination, you know how to volley,<br />
split step and move around the court<br />
and, most importantly, compete.”<br />
But even she had to unlearn some old<br />
tennis habits, as she explained: “As a<br />
tennis player you think if you whack<br />
it hard enough they won’t get it back<br />
but to my initial surprise it kept coming<br />
back.” A mental shift was required, with<br />
Abigail telling herself ‘you can’t whack<br />
this ball, less is definitely more in padel’.<br />
Room for two<br />
Abigail still loves tennis and believes<br />
the two sports can co-exist and<br />
complement each other. She’d like to<br />
see more tennis players make the shift,<br />
particularly semi-professionals nearing<br />
the end of their tennis journey, and is a<br />
firm advocate for getting more women<br />
and girls into padel.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re are so many benefits both<br />
mentally and physically,” she said.<br />
“Especially when women get older,<br />
in terms of muscle loss, the benefit<br />
of playing any racquet sport is<br />
just so great.” •<br />
Abigail organises female-focussed<br />
coaching clinics through her company<br />
SET. For more information email<br />
hello@setpadel.club<br />
Shorter, flatter<br />
& off the glass<br />
Manchester Padel Club coach Rachel Thomas<br />
shares her top tips for making a successful<br />
transition from tennis to padel.<br />
1. Adapt shots and swings to the smaller court<br />
<strong>The</strong> smaller court in padel means there is much less time to prepare<br />
to hit the ball compared to tennis. This means your racket take-back<br />
needs to be shorter, a challenge for some players, particularly on the<br />
forehand where you can end up connecting with the ball later than<br />
intended. If you find that happening, focus on guiding the ball rather<br />
than hitting it.<br />
2. Reduce pace and topspin<br />
I would describe my tennis style of play as ‘aggressive baseliner’.<br />
I use topspin and pace on my groundstrokes to create an opportunity<br />
to go for a winner from the back of the court. In padel, this<br />
style of play is likely to lose you points. Pace and topspin<br />
can make the ball bounce higher, making it easier for<br />
your opponents to retrieve and counterattack. Instead,<br />
hit the ball flatter or with slice, which will cause it to<br />
bounce lower or die off the glass.<br />
3. Make use of the back glass<br />
<strong>The</strong> back glass can take some getting used to for<br />
players transitioning from tennis to padel. When I first<br />
started playing padel I would try and hit everything<br />
before the glass and end up hitting a difficult<br />
half volley, which would often lead to errors<br />
from me or an easy volley for my opponents.<br />
I’ve worked on this and now, by allowing<br />
the ball to hit the glass, I have more time<br />
to hit a better shot.<br />
4. Master the different<br />
overhead shots<br />
Mastering the different overhead<br />
shots in padel can be the difference<br />
between winning and losing. In tennis<br />
my strategy typically involves delivering<br />
a powerful smash to quickly conclude<br />
a point. In padel I use multiple overhead<br />
shots during a rally.<br />
Start by honing specific shots, such as the<br />
‘<strong>Bandeja</strong>’ and ‘Rulo’ overheads. Each of these<br />
shots demands a distinct technique and leads<br />
to a different outcome. Even after mastering<br />
them in practice, the decision-making process<br />
during a match scenario might take additional<br />
time. <strong>The</strong>refore, try and allow yourself the<br />
necessary time to make the right choice in<br />
the heat of the game. •<br />
66<br />
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67
A C A D E M Y<br />
More patience,<br />
less power and<br />
use the walls!<br />
Former padel World Champion<br />
Mauri Andrini - through his Hello<br />
Padel Academy - has partnered<br />
with <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> to bring<br />
world-class coaching tips and<br />
insights to our readers.<br />
Former padel World Champion Mauri Andrini, of Hello Padel Academy,<br />
gives his top tips for making the transition from tennis to padel.<br />
Forget power shots<br />
A goal when we play padel is to make<br />
the opponent hit the ball from below<br />
net height, and us always above.<br />
<strong>The</strong>refore using strong strokes in<br />
padel will make the ball bounce and<br />
remain high, giving an opponent the<br />
opportunity to counter attack. It is<br />
more effective to make a slower or<br />
softer shot, looking for the ball to die<br />
off a wall and not bounce, making the<br />
counter shot much more difficult for<br />
rivals.<br />
Forget topspin shots<br />
Topspin makes the ball rise, both<br />
when it bounces on the ground and<br />
when it bounces off the wall, leaving<br />
an easier ball for the opponent. It is<br />
better to use flat or slice shots to try<br />
to get the ball to rise up as little as<br />
possible. Perhaps the only exceptions<br />
to using top spin would be when we<br />
seek to make a touch shot, return to<br />
the feet or when hitting the ball with<br />
the aim to bring it back to our side of<br />
the court or take it out of court.<br />
Be patient<br />
In tennis, especially if you are serving,<br />
it is likely that you can win the point<br />
relatively quickly by serving well. In<br />
padel it is very unusual to win a point<br />
with just a few strokes, especially as<br />
the level of the players increases.<br />
That’s why we have to play more<br />
patiently because finishing a point is<br />
more difficult. Tennis players have to<br />
change the psychological/tactical<br />
mind set of being aggressive and<br />
playing with powerful strokes to the<br />
mindset of being patient and working<br />
on the point until they get a ball to<br />
finish it.<br />
Make fewer<br />
definitive smashes<br />
It is very common to see tennis<br />
players try to hit strong smashes<br />
to finish points. In padel (leaving<br />
aside professional players) we rarely<br />
manage to finish the point with a<br />
smash and should not try to win<br />
every ball that is hit to us from above.<br />
Often it is better to hit a less powerful<br />
and well-placed smash with a good<br />
spin (or a bandeja/vibora) than a<br />
very powerful and flat smash, as the<br />
opponent can intercept this more<br />
easily.<br />
Learn the bandeja<br />
& víbora<br />
This point is linked to the previous<br />
point. In padel, when we are faced<br />
with a lob or a high ball, in the<br />
majority of cases it will be more<br />
effective to hit a bandeja or a víbora<br />
than a winning smash. <strong>The</strong>refore,<br />
learning how to do, above all, the<br />
bandeja, should be a priority for<br />
players who come from tennis.<br />
Use the walls.<br />
It is typical to see that tennis players<br />
who have only recently started<br />
playing padel don’t use the walls.<br />
From the back of the court they will<br />
play without letting balls bounce off<br />
the glass. <strong>The</strong>y will even volley from<br />
the back rather than let the ball<br />
bounce off the glass. In padel this<br />
is a mistake. <strong>The</strong> walls are not our<br />
enemies but we have to know how<br />
to make them work in our favour and<br />
not against us.<br />
Hit more lobs<br />
In tennis you rarely use the lob<br />
when your opponent goes up to the<br />
net. Most of the time you opt for a<br />
passing shot as the tennis court is<br />
big and the player can’t cover the<br />
whole court. In padel the court is<br />
smaller, there are walls that make<br />
the balls bounce back into play and<br />
we always play doubles, so getting<br />
a passing shot is almost impossible.<br />
That’s why we hit a lot of lobs, with<br />
the aim of sending our opponents to<br />
the back and gaining the net, which<br />
is where we win points and matches.<br />
Switch between<br />
attack & defence<br />
In tennis when one of the players<br />
takes the initiative they keep it<br />
until they win the point, force the<br />
opponent to make a mistake or<br />
make an error themselves. Rarely<br />
is there a change of role within the<br />
same point. In padel it is very typical<br />
to see both partners switch from<br />
attacking to defending several times<br />
within the same point.<br />
Play the middle<br />
In tennis you try to play to the sides<br />
and open up angles to make your<br />
opponent run and force errors. Padel<br />
is not like that. As there are walls the<br />
ball will always bounce and return<br />
into court. It can be more effective<br />
to hit the ball to the centre, moving<br />
both players to the middle and<br />
generating gaps on the sides and at<br />
the same time there is a chance (in<br />
less experienced pairings) that the<br />
opponents are not sure whose ball<br />
it is.<br />
Get to the net<br />
Many tennis points are won from the<br />
baseline. In padel it is more difficult to<br />
win a point from the baseline. That’s<br />
why, as soon as you have the chance,<br />
you should go to the net, which is<br />
where you win most points and<br />
matches.<br />
Slice volleys<br />
Padel players rarely win a point with a<br />
power volley. Most of the time we will<br />
have to play a volley that is not very<br />
powerful with a short spin, looking<br />
for it to barely bounce and rise from<br />
the glass to make it as difficult as<br />
possible for our opponent to return.<br />
More forward &<br />
backward movements<br />
In tennis the vast majority of<br />
movements are lateral. In padel<br />
there are lateral movements but<br />
also many forward and backward<br />
moves because of rebounds on the<br />
back wall and because one of the<br />
objectives is to win the net whenever<br />
possible.<br />
Move as a couple<br />
In padel it is very important that the<br />
couple moves in unison, for example<br />
up to the net, moving to the back<br />
court and when moving to the<br />
corresponding side when at the net.<br />
Shorter racket preP<br />
& follow through<br />
Make shorter stroke preparations than<br />
in tennis. <strong>The</strong> court is smaller and<br />
hitting hard will often work against us.<br />
Also, by doing a short preparation we<br />
are ready earlier. It will give us much<br />
more ball control and help to hit the<br />
ball in front of the body.<br />
Serve more slowly<br />
In tennis the vast majority of first<br />
serves are about power. In padel you<br />
have to serve from the maximum<br />
height of the waist and serving faster<br />
will give less control of the direction<br />
of the ball, more chances to miss and<br />
less time to get to the net. We benefit<br />
more from a low serve with a slice<br />
spin (so the ball is not lifted) and a<br />
medium speed, giving us a chance to<br />
be near the net before the opponent<br />
returns. Even if we manage to hit a<br />
very fast and well-placed serve, the<br />
Scan this QR code for a 15%<br />
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opponent will almost certainly be<br />
able to return it as he can always let<br />
the ball pass and wait for it to bounce<br />
off the glass. If you need convincing<br />
of this look at professional padel to<br />
see how many points you see won<br />
with the serve or if the pros always<br />
serve strongly. •<br />
68<br />
SUMMER <strong>2024</strong> | thebandeja.com<br />
thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
69
the last word<br />
<strong>The</strong> Last Word<br />
with Christoffer Granfelt,<br />
co-founder of Instantpadel<br />
Swedish entrepreneur Christoffer Granfelt and<br />
business partner Magnus Berglund are the brains<br />
behind Instantpadel, arguably one of the most<br />
important developments in padel.<br />
70<br />
In under six hours you can have a<br />
Instantpadel court up and ready<br />
to play, no planning permission or<br />
groundwork required. <strong>The</strong>y’ve been<br />
installed on ships, in shopping centres,<br />
posh members clubs (think Babington<br />
House) and now come with pickleball,<br />
footy and basketball marked out.<br />
Where did the idea for Instantpadel<br />
come from?<br />
Magnus got the idea during Sweden’s<br />
padel boom in 2020. He felt the sport<br />
wasn’t as accessible as it should be.<br />
<strong>The</strong> question was ‘does it have to be<br />
so complicated to build a padel court?’<br />
What are Instantpadel’s USPs?<br />
Instantpadel is unique, a portable court<br />
that doesn’t require major groundwork<br />
and has less need for permits (ie<br />
planning in the UK). Courts are easy to<br />
install - the team from Game4Padel<br />
holds the unofficial world record for<br />
building an Instantpadel court in two<br />
hours and 15 minutes. Normal time is<br />
approximately 4-6 hours.<br />
What challenges have you faced?<br />
We’ve needed to put time in to<br />
explaining our concept and guiding<br />
clients on when and why they should<br />
use us. We are not suitable for all<br />
projects but perfect for others. We have<br />
a court that delivers great access to<br />
many unique city centres to increase<br />
the sport’s accessibility.<br />
Your success in numbers?<br />
Since launch in 2021 we have installed<br />
160 Instantpadel courts in 18 countries.<br />
What’s the difference between<br />
InstantPadel and a normal court?<br />
We use polycarbonate panels instead<br />
of glass because they are lighter (100kg<br />
v 250kg), therefore easier to transport<br />
and install. You don’t need to bolt our<br />
courts to the ground.<br />
Player feedback?<br />
<strong>The</strong> response has been overwhelming.<br />
In the UK our partners Game4Padel and<br />
Hexa Padel have completed several<br />
installations with very good response.<br />
Hexa had a client in Torquay who<br />
installed our court on an existing tennis<br />
court and within three months got 120<br />
new club members.<br />
How important has Instantpadel<br />
been in introducing padel to<br />
communities?<br />
I believe we are, for sure, part of the<br />
global growth of padel since our<br />
installations at iconic locations have<br />
created attention for the sport. We<br />
are truly humble and happy about<br />
the role we are playing in the padel<br />
industry worldwide.<br />
One goal is to get councils, public<br />
sector, parks etc to explore us more.<br />
We are the perfect solution for turning<br />
unused community areas into active,<br />
fun social spaces. Our courts are very<br />
easy to move around if needed.<br />
Your favourite Instantpadel<br />
installation?<br />
Westfield Padel Festival (November 2022)<br />
at Westfield shopping centre in West<br />
London in conjunction with Game4Padel<br />
(see Issue 2 of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> for the full<br />
story). Andy Murray and Tia Norton,<br />
together with other high profile people,<br />
played on our court. It was such a great<br />
success, and we are still getting global<br />
articles about our presence there.<br />
<strong>The</strong> most unusual installation?<br />
On a ship outside Kuwait City. It really<br />
proves that we can install a padel court<br />
anywhere and everywhere.<br />
An installation you are especially<br />
proud of?<br />
We are installing at the iconic West<br />
Side Tennis Club in New York. It has<br />
hosted 60 US Opens and several Davis<br />
Cup and will be our first installation<br />
in the States.<br />
You’ve developed a dual surface<br />
court for padel and pickleball. Why?<br />
To reduce barriers into sport and focus<br />
on accessibility. This concept is perfect<br />
and cost effective for tennis clubs<br />
pivoting into a rackets club. We are also<br />
launching a multi-sports court soon;<br />
by changing the flooring and lines<br />
you can use our cage for soccer and<br />
basketball. It will be very exciting to see<br />
where this leads us. •<br />
<strong>The</strong> Padel & Pickleball Club Builder is a<br />
new-launch B2B supplier directory for<br />
organisations and companies supporting<br />
the development of padel and pickleball<br />
clubs and venues.<br />
It is brought to you by the team behind<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong>.<br />
If you are a court manufacturer, court<br />
builder, canopy supplier, manufacturer of<br />
portable buildings, acoustic curtains, or<br />
provide F&B services, planning assistance,<br />
legal support, security solutions, turf, nets,<br />
equipment, rackets and apparel for pro<br />
shops etc get in touch for more information.<br />
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Buy <strong>The</strong> <strong>Bandeja</strong> print copies at www.thebandeja.com thebandeja.com | SUMMER <strong>2024</strong><br />
71<br />
ISSUE 3 / Summer <strong>2024</strong> £6<br />
From tennis<br />
to padel<br />
soft, patient, lob!<br />
Manchester<br />
a padel oasis<br />
padel at the<br />
Olympics<br />
when & where?<br />
WIN! A £295<br />
Wilson Racket<br />
Heads up<br />
it’s a BOA!