Here’s a fun fact for you: padel is today played by over 30 million people worldwide despite having only been invented in the late 60s and gaining mainstream popularity in the last few years.

Originally invented by a model and her husband at their holiday home in a Mexican seaport city as a means of evading boredom, the sport quickly evolved from a rudimentary version of knocking a ball back and forth over a wall into having a small, closed concrete court to soon developing a formalised rulebook that was played not only by the couple, their friends and family – but soon by people across Mexico and beyond.

Today, in fact, padel is more popular in Spain than tennis: the sport’s older, perhaps more traditional cousin. As it has grown in popularity across the UK, the US and beyond, padel now counts the likes of David Beckham, Serena Williams (and yes, even me!) among its fans and players.

So, you may ask, what differentiates this from any other racquet sports, like tennis or squash? Well, despite using the same scoring structure as lawn tennis, padel is played on much smaller courts, using smaller balls, solid racquets and only underarm serves. The courts are enclosed and, like in squash, players can bounce the ball off the walls. Unlike squash however, the net still remains, just as in tennis.

Padel’s seemingly surprising and significant rise in popularity, particularly in the UK over the last year, may seem unexpected given that as a country we already have a fair few racquet sports that we like. Why do we need another one?

Well, I feel it’s our inclination to try something new, that is still rooted in familiarity. While most people say they would like to pick up a new skill or hobby, many don’t know where to look or feel uncertain about starting something entirely new. By being familiar with the concept of padel, both in terms of playing and scoring, many more of us feel confident getting stuck into this new sport.

Here at ABPM+, we are dedicated to learning about you and your experience to ensure we can find a new role that you can feel confident in. Contact us today to find out how.

 

Rej Abraham, Sarah Torrington, Matt Byrne, Alex Handford