I’ve been lucky enough to play tennis with Judy Murray and Novak Djokovic, interview everyone from David Beckham to gymnast Max Whitlock and learn skills from the likes of Lioness Jill Scott and Olympian rower Helen Glover. Throughout my years as a lifestyle editor, working with athletes has been one of the favourite parts of my job; getting to hear their back stories, writing about their impressive career paths and lives outside of the job has been fascinating. Despite their different sports, there was always one common answer that I would hear when I asked about their hobbies and that was golf. Almost universally, sport stars have forever been telling me that they play golf to switch off from their jobs. Until now. And that’s because padel has become so popular that at any given interview during the past six months, celebrities will bring it up. I am thrilled, after so many years, to finally have something in common with them!
Yes, celebrities and padel may have a “luxury” hook to them; with some stars building padel courts at their homes and others being spotted playing in The Hamptons exclusive clubs, but, despite this, padel is inclusive. Since I started playing six months ago, I have had regular matches with all sorts of people including the no 1 wheelchair champion Jack Binstead, my 23-year-old son, two women in their seventies and a mixed group of men. Three times a week I get together with 20 women my age where we play 90-minute round robin matches at the Padel Hub in North London and the enjoyment and rush of adrenalin I get both during and after the sessions is on a par with a runners high. I’d go so far as to say that I do a happy dance on court, even when I’m losing, as playing padel pumps energy and life in to me. It’s no wonder it has been dubbed “the happy sport” as there’s something about it that makes me smile from start to finish.
Whilst admittedly some courts come at a steep cost, others – like the Social Sports Centre in North West London – are on a drive to make courts cheaper to book so that they are accessible to all. Thanks to a new joint initiative between the LTA and comedian and padel enthusiast Jason Manford – which recently arranged for 40 local secondary school children to participate in a fun coaching session – the seed has been planted for local authorities to think about adding courts to schools, parks and local spaces.
With padel being the fastest growing sport in the world, it’s no surprise that there is a huge buzz around it. Whilst some of my friends have been playing for years, it was only on a visit 18 months ago to the Padium club in Canary Wharf that I got a feel for just why padel is making such a racquet. As the first journalist invited into the club – it was still so new that I had to wear a hard hat due to construction work – I was taken aback by how much joy I got from simply hitting the ball back and forth with the coach and two others. As someone who had always played tennis reluctantly, I enjoyed the fast pace of the game and with the court being smaller and it being a four person game, I didn’t need to overly exert myself pacing from one side of the court to the other. And that is another reason why I’ve managed to encourage over 100 women my age to try it; you don’t need to be super fit to play as some other sports demand. For beginners, it is an easy sport to learn and the health benefits for padel are vast; it is a great choice of exercise for women as they age as it is a good form of cardio exercise, so the heart and lungs are going to be working hard. It’s also good for strengthening joints and keeping bones strong – something that can really affect us, particularly as we age.
There is also a social aspect to the sport because there are always four people in a match, so you are never on your own! I’ve made new friends through padel and reconnected with old ones. Just last week I attended a ladies session where I was partnered up with an old school friend I hadn’t seen for 30 years. I also love the fact that I’m finally the one leaving the house to play sport four times a week, much to my family’s amazement. Having three super sporty sons and a husband that has played football twice a week throughout our 25 year marriage, I have always felt like the odd one out. Now the shoe is on the other foot. And on that topic, I’ve even invested in a pair of padel shoes. Whilst I may dress the part, talk about padel non-stop and lie in bed at night replaying my one and only back of the glass shot (for those that don’t know it’s called the Bajada Shot and is played when the ball rebounds off the back glass), I’m still learning the ropes but it can sometime be a bit hit n miss for me. I have more and more good days, although sometimes I might play terribly – but the beauty of the game is that nobody judges, each time I play I learn new tips and feel like I’m smashing it; even if some of my shots fall short. Most importantly I can see an improvement week-on-week which keeps me coming back for more. When it comes to my new padel obsession, I feel the ball is most definitely in my court.
