Players earn a lot more money since the arrival of Premier Padel, but they are forced to play the insane amount of 35 tournaments this season. Focus on players' mental health mid-season.
Martin Di Nenno froze all the journalists in the Wizink Center press room after qualifying for the semi-finals of P1 Madrid, confessing great sadness.
“There are going to be 700 tournaments, and you have to be ready.”, confessed the Argentinian, visibly exhausted.
It was while answering the following question about his state of mental health that Martin confessed to not being well:
“I have been very sad for the past four months. I always try to make sure that the sportsman doesn't affect my personal life, but I'm very transparent. People often ask me if I'm fine, but I have no reason to hide that I feel bad, I'm sad. I try to do the best, it's not easy what we live. My family came here as reinforcements to cheer me up, and to raise my head.”
You can see this passage in the press conference (6:30)
A few months earlier, before the whole adventure Premier Padel doesn't start, Juan Lebron was already saying to Padel Magazine “With all these trips, we don’t even know where our head is anymore.”
The reality is that today players of padel have an obligation to play, and that they do not always go to tournaments of their own free will. Finding themselves caught up in this infernal calendar is very hard on a psychological level for them, who were used to playing the vast majority of tournaments in Spain less than two years ago.
Many players find it difficult to maintain the same intensity in all tournaments. The current system is too difficult psychologically. The organizers will have to learn lessons from this crazy season.