For years tennis has been the most popular racquet sport in the world, dominating the global amateur market as well as the professional game. However, in recent years both professional and amateur players have begun transitioning from tennis to padel for a variety of reasons.
A perfect example of this transition is Spanish padel player Gemma Triay, who dedicated 15 years to the sport of tennis before swapping it out for padel. The switch was prompted after an injury Triay suffered just before being selected for the national team. By switching to padel early in her career, Triay gave herself enough time to master padel, so now, she’s one of the best players in the world.
While Triay is an example of a professional player making a career change, amateur players all over the world are also swapping out tennis racquets for padel ones. Injury was one of the reasons Triay decided to make the switch, but that is just one of the reasons players are changing sports. Here are 4 reasons why tennis players are making the transition to padel:
Low technical barriers to entry
Perhaps the biggest draw to padel as more and more new players pick it up is how easy it is to get to a competitive level in a short space of time. Due to the dimensions of the court and the technique required, newer players have a far easier time in the early stages of playing as compared to tennis.
Within the first few sessions of playing padel, a rhythm and feel for the game can be created, making it easy for players to come back for another game. Compare that to tennis, which requires a much higher level of technical skill to be competitive, and it’s no wonder why more players are switching to padel.
Smaller courts means less running
Now, at professional level, the game is indeed hugely demanding on the body but at recreational level – relative to tennis – the sport can be a lot less physical. Not only does having a smaller court make padel far easier to pick up than tennis due to technical requirements, but it also makes it more accessible for a wider variety of players. Tennis is very much about trying to overpower your opponent and hit the ball past them, whereas padel, due to the size of the court and dimensions, is more focused on the tactical side of the game.
With padel, there is less distance for players to cover the court and therefore less physical load on players’ joints. Instead, padel players can focus more on outthinking their opponent in a strategic way to win the point, a very different prospect.
With this in mind, not only is padel an enticing prospect due to the strategic aspect, but older players or players who aren’t able to play tennis at a competitive level, can pick up padel and play to a competitive level straight away.
The social side of the sport
While tennis can be played in a doubles format with two players a side, as a rule padel is almost exclusively played that way. Because of this, having a game of padel is almost always a social experience that allows you to bond with not just your teammate, but the other opponents as well.
Not only is padel a social sport because of the team aspect, but because it is also such an easy sport to pick up, any of your friends could join at any given time and have a good time playing. While tennis may limit the crowd you can actually play with, padel is more inclusive in that regard.
Further, the nature of padel is far more flowing than tennis. Skilful tennis players can often come across as intense and playing an aggressive style, whereas even the best padel players’ games’ look more rhythmic and flowing.
Finally, as padel communities are being created all over the world, the socializing that occurs after playing can be very enjoyable. More often than not, the people playing padel are all new to it, meaning that everyone is sharing these new experiences together. This shared experience can be great for bonding and leads to new friendships and relationships being created.
A sport that is new and different
One of the biggest advantages in the corner of padel as compared to tennis is the novelty of the game. While tennis is a known entity that has been around for a long time, there is something exciting about playing a newer sport like padel which has only recently emerged.
Getting into a new sport or hobby can be incredibly addictive for a wide variety of age groups as well. While a younger demographic is trying new things all the time in life, an older demographic may be looking for new skills or hobbies to make their life more enjoyable, and padel is the perfect hobby to try.
Further, padel and its rules are incredibly unique in that it is essentially a hybrid of squash and tennis. Watching a game of padel for the first time will most certainly catch your eye and more likely than not, tempt you into trying it out for yourself.
Finally, like any new sport, padel offers the opportunity for mastery and improvement. One of the biggest drivers in popularity in padel is the number of people who get a taste, and immediately want to play more and more to improve their game. Since padel is easy to pick up quickly, and has tangible strategies to improve quite quickly, it is an incredibly attractive prospect for people looking for different ways to stay active.
Summary
Altogether, a large portion of the padel community is made up of players who used to play tennis, and for good reason. While tennis remains and will remain a very popular sport, padel provides a different option for people looking to play a more social game that they can pick up quickly and attempt to master.
At The Padel School, we’ve created a specific video outlining some tips for players making the transition from tennis, check it out here.
