I wondered if anyone here played padel at all? Im thinking of giving it a go. I played decent relatively high club tennis (Yorkshire and Middlesex league to around 2nd or 3rd division) and squash (county junior under 16) but stopped playing it at all around 25 years ago and havent picked up a racket of any variety since then; Im now 58 and fancied giving it a go (padel) although Im a little nervous.
we have 3 places with courts here - theres a big surge indoor facility which looks good but I worry it will be uber players and not much of a social club atmosphere. Harrogate Spa tennis club has 2 courts and is a decent well run club and Harrogate squash and fitness centre also has a couple of courts and is close to our house.
I dont have anyone I know who plays it so would need to go on scratch and find somewhere that welcomes waifs and strays who is Billy no mates, haha.
anyway, I wondered if anyone played it and what they though of it really?
thanks!
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 09:34:59 PM
I haven't but my Son has and absolutely loves it so give it a go. He'd switch to Padel completely I think but there is only 1 club round our way with a Padel court.
ETA My Dad is keen to give it a go as well and he's 74. As soon there is an easily accessible court nearby he's taking on my Son.
-- Edited by emmsie69 on Wednesday 3rd of April 2024 07:52:08 AM
I haven't but my Son has and absolutely loves it so give it a go. He'd switch to Padel completely I think but there is only 1 club round our way with a Padel court.
ETA My Dad is keen to give it a go as well and he's 74. As soon there is an easily accessible court nearby he's taking on my Son.
-- Edited by emmsie69 on Wednesday 3rd of April 2024 07:52:08 AM
Good stuff - part of me would love to give tennis a go again, but I fear I will not live up to my own belief in my standards () and my serve and fitness will let me down, big time! Padel feels like a much more accessible way for a middle aged bloke to start doing racquet sports again!
I emailed all 3 local places last night and will pop down and try them out and see which feels best for me. Let's see!!
I was all set to give it a try with friends in January, then two of them got injured playing tennis and have been out of action since A few people I know whove tried said they enjoyed playing, but not as much as tennis
I play a bit - it's good fun. Sort of more social than tennis, since there's 4 of you in a smaller area. Less time spent picking up the 3 balls.
Very accessible - similar to tennis, but much easier to grasp if you haven't played before. All shots done in a chopper grip, with underarm serving and scoring as per tennis. Lobs and smashes definitely feature too.
You can play it like tennis, but the good players tend to take a lot of balls off the walls & work the angles and corners - presume this is squash like, altho I haven't done much squash.
I play a bit - it's good fun. Sort of more social than tennis, since there's 4 of you in a smaller area. Less time spent picking up the 3 balls. Very accessible - similar to tennis, but much easier to grasp if you haven't played before. All shots done in a chopper grip, with underarm serving and scoring as per tennis. Lobs and smashes definitely feature too. You can play it like tennis, but the good players tend to take a lot of balls off the walls & work the angles and corners - presume this is squash like, altho I haven't done much squash.
See this is why I prefer playing Squash, even when the ball goes out it stays 'in'. Can't be doing with trekking to the net or waiting for the court next door to finish their point to retrieve my ball.
Thanks all - Ive booked a trial session at a local club for Tuesday after next, Im away with work next week and they have a newbies session each Tuesday. Looking forward to it - they have two covered courts so even if raining , it should be fine.
My son is a tennis pro at Overland Park Racket Club just outside of Kansas City. They have two padel courts at the club. He says that member of Sporting Kansas City were behind the two courts. Anyway, between clinics and lessons the tennis pros mess around on them so he was out there playing with two buddies when Johnny Russel came over and joined them, so he played with Johnny Russel and shared that his foot work was incredible, but I have never played.
Oh, my son also played pickle ball with Travis Kelce, but that was before the Taylor Swift thing got going....
Also Doug I had to look up Johnny Russel - for anyone else who doesn't know him he's a 35 yo Scottish footballer who now plays for Sporting Kansas City
Also Doug I had to look up Johnny Russel - for anyone else who doesn't know him he's a 35 yo Scottish footballer who now plays for Sporting Kansas City
Oh, disaster GBJ! First go, at an intro session with a bunch of retired ladies 15 years older than me, I popped my Achilles! Still not right and I havent played since, have to wear an ankle brace for jogging now.
shame because I really enjoyed it, but cant see me giving it a go again - Id just do my Achilles once more !
Ive played twice in the last few weeks and really enjoyed it! This may have had a lot to do with the fact that we played with a couple of friends who are tennis coaches and were very decent Padel players.
The sport's fast-paced nature and strategic gameplay offers a refreshing challenge - hitting the ball as it bounces off the wall takes a bit of getting used to!! I found its smaller court size and the underarm serve made it less physically demanding than tennis! Basically nothing ached the next day after 2 hours of Padel.
Ive played twice in the last few weeks and really enjoyed it! This may have had a lot to do with the fact that we played with a couple of friends who are tennis coaches and were very decent Padel players.
The sport's fast-paced nature and strategic gameplay offers a refreshing challenge - hitting the ball as it bounces off the wall takes a bit of getting used to!! I found its smaller court size and the underarm serve made it less physically demanding than tennis! Basically nothing ached the next day after 2 hours of Padel.
Id love to play again - tennis and squash were my sports as a teenager. Squash I loved and was possibly better at it than tennis, won a few trophies at both. And I thought that padel would be perfect as a fifty something bloke, that hasnt played tennis or squash in 25 years or so, for the reasons you state.
What made you stop playing tennis and squash for 25 years Jon?!
Family life - kids came along, work became super busy, lots of travelling. Never had time or never made time, take your pick. My wife and I lost twins shortly after birth between our two great kids that are now both in their twenties and that made me reprioritise a lot of stuff, and playing sports fell by the wayside. The idea of spending several hours on a golf course only computed with me as extremely selfish and playing tennis and squash sort of fell into that league - i regret it though , a lot.
) and my serve and fitness will let me down, big time! Padel feels like a much more accessible way for a middle aged bloke to start doing racquet sports again! 
A few people I know whove tried said they enjoyed playing, but not as much as tennis
