In the racket sports family, I ask for the father and the son! Small in the field of snowshoe sports, the padel is good The descendant of tennis, borrowing a lot of its characteristics to remix them in the Spanish sauce. When we observe Statistics of the number of players, we can see that the curves tend to cross between the 2 sports. In effect, A migration of certain tennis players to the padel is remarkable, but then Why do tennis players love the padel so much?
No total change of scenery for tennis players
Even if the 2 sports are different, the padel has borrowed many rules from tennis, starting by the way of counting the points. 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, everything is like tennis, as well as the alternation of the sides in the service. Depending on the tournaments, the decisive point can be used to save time and turn faster. For the sets, rebelote, we count as in tennis: 6 winning games and 2 winning sets in most matches, except on some tournaments where sets in 4 games are set up, to once save time and allow It is up to players to meet as much as possible.
Another similar point is of course how to play. Straight blows, reverse, stolen, smashs ... many Bases are common With tennis. Tennis players, from any level, will not be disturbed, at least at the start.
The change is now !
We can evoke the change of sport, the novelty that the padel brings compared to tennis. Some tennis players have been practicing it for a long time and by dint of competitions and training gradually get bored. The padel then represents for them A breath of fresh air, without extinguishing too much and thus Discover snowshoe sports from another angle. This evolution of tennis players is verified by figures: 30,000 licensees less in tennis in 2021 compared to 2020 and a dazzling increase in Padel practitioners who today points to 150,000 against 80,000 in 2019! The number of Padel terrains also increases significantly in recent years with around 1000 land against 600 two years ago. Whether in tennis clubs or specialized structures, the land is less and less rare, which shows the soaring of our discipline!
An exciting challenge for all tennis players
In addition, the padel brings its share of particularities who can motivate some competitive tennis player to learn and to master the many blows who differ a lot from those of tennis. First of all, the appearance of windows requires A sense of anticipation of the rebound which is not easy to master at the beginning. Certain reflexes of tennis are sometimes counterproductive to the padel, such as for example The lift in the forehand in particular. Tennis players also tend to hit the Smashs strongly while in Padel, The most judicious is to place the ball, with effect to destabilize the opponent and have him miss afterwards. Indeed, because of the windows, the smashs struck hard are not very useful and can easily be returned, especially among beginners or The by 3 is not mastered.
In tennis, the lob is a detail of the game but at the padel it is one of the central elements. Very useful for repelling opponents at the bottom, take the net and therefore the advantage in the exchange. Conversely, when the opponent tries a lob and he is a bit short, several options are available to you. Smash can be used to finish the point but as said above, it is sometimes not the best option. To put the ball back and keep the position in the net, The Bandeja is effective while to put the opponent more in difficulty, The Vibora is the blow to use. For more information, see Our article on Vibora and Bandeja.
Padel = fun!
Played only two fold, the padel is very simple to play by the size of the terrain and snowshoes, which are much smaller and handy than those of tennis, allowing any tennis player to produce games and have fun. In a part of Padel, there is generally More exchanges that in tennis, in particular thanks to the windows and the field surface covered by the players, which makes the game More fun, more friendly and above all more accessible that tennis, which is sometimes annoying if there is too much level gap. The progression is also rather rapid when you come from tennis because the bases the same, as said above: straight blows, reverse, stolen Smash almost everything is there, it only remains to learn to use the windows!
Another characteristic that tips the balance in favor of the padel, the look. Indeed, at the Padel, we run less over long distances and a lot of play is done on the fly. For players who can no longer support long tennis races (or for lazy people), the padel remains an excellent alternative To keep the racket sport side by avoiding being on the ball joints after an hour of play. But beware, do not get me wrong, the padel remains a sport where there is movement, where many parts of the are requested, in particular the joints. You will surely sweat And maybe even more than tennis!
A friendly way of living sport!
Finally, last point and probably the most important: The friendly aspect Padel and clubs in general. Already, playing 2 adds an aspect teammade Who brings together collective sport: low level fun, high -level tactical aspects, being in pairs helps to have a good time. The absence of notable double competitions in tennis is also a factor in this migration of tennis players to the padel.
Club configuration is also different from tennis clubs. Instead of a simple club house, bars or sometimes restaurants are linked to the structures to offer something else in addition to the game. Like Spanish clubs, French complexes like Padel Horizon in the Paris region, Toulouse Padel Club or Padel spirit in Lyon adopted this operating mode so that the players Take full advantage of their Padel experience.The tournaments are also more fun: set up on one or even two days, everyone plays at the same time, in the same place and meetings are facilitated in particular thanks to restaurants and bars.
The padel may appear to be the worthy successor to tennis which seems to decline slowly but surely in France as abroad. In all cases, for the moment the two sports are complementary and the players seem to appreciate alternating between the two.
