It's the start of the second full day at the Gimeno center - Yes Sport Spirit course in Barcelona with Mario who describes his padel particularly rich in padel and in “extra-padel".

This morning the alarm clock rings an hour earlier because we may be able to see the training of the world number one Fernando Belasteguin and Pablo Lima who play indoor a few kilometers.

A quick breakfast and I head towards the club with Enzo, a young tennis academy player, who tackles future tennis tournaments this season (semi-professional tennis tournament).

Its program, 2 hours of physics, 2 hours of tennis and a match in a Catalan tournament at noon! Here we do not change the training program even if there is a match in competition during the day except in the event of an important tournament. This is Spanish culture!

Fortunately for me the program is a little more light, it is 8 hours and our physical coach awaits us for a start in the field.

  • Physical trainer

            Compared to the day before, the program is a little more sustained since we will not have any matches this afternoon. We start with the gentle mobilization of the joints and muscles specific to the padel then we go through many workshops.

The session is alive, no time-out and the first tee-shirt of the day ends at the bottom of the bag soaked.

  • The video part

            Today the theme of the morning is the transition game. How to move from the defender position on the field to the attacking position. Return of glass, chiquita and first volley are on the program.

What is Chiquita?

Isabelle is always with us on the field to take photos and videos of the sessions. It's very important to show us how we play and the placement or other mistakes that are made.

Unfortunately the battery has made its own there is no proof of my approximate placement trace of my passage and we will have to see the analysis of the reverse volley of a Spanish player who had joined us to balance the group.

Thanks to his photographs and technical advices that result from it the progression is accelerated because one realizes by oneself of our small (or bigger) technical imperfections.

  • Individual short and training sets against 2 Spanish players

            Different format today for our group. Since there are three of us, each of us will have 40 minutes in individual lessons with Paul and we will then play twice 40 minutes of the match.

I'm starting to play with Virgile, while Richard is with Pol the coach who took care of us yesterday for his lesson. The Spaniards take us a bit high and play while walking (or so it's to copy my move, the story does not say it). The first three games are very hung but we pass in front of 2 / 1. The points are played and lobs rise higher and higher under the Catalan sun but we impose 6 / 1.

It's my turn to grill with Pol. A real treat, here everything goes to cart but the situations are varied and the advice is very numerous. Repetition makes it easier to assimilate a shot and my window returns are sharper after a few posture, grip and hitting tips.

The 40 minutes are intense and I am not unhappy to give up my place, Richard and Virgile lost 6/3 against opponents "re-concentrated".

The last part is very tight but we get away with 7 / 5 after being led 4 / 5 service to follow for the Spaniards. The morning ends and unfortunately Bela is not training today. We resume for 20 minutes by mixing the teams, the advice on team placement of my experienced Spanish partner that you see here in action are very constructive.

  • ATP 500 tournament and visit Barcelona

            After a meal at the club restaurant, we leave for the Barcelona tennis tournament. Isabelle, always very caring for her trainees found us 3 places for the central court. On the program Goffin / Granollers and Feliciano Lopez against Lajovic.

We end with Adrian Mannarino's match on a short schedule with his superb victory against Pablo Cuevas in a Hispanic atmosphere totally won over to his opponent.

To end the day in style, we will walk in Barcelona and La Rambla with some tapas on the menu.

This is the big advantage of this internship, which combines padel and extra-padel. Whatever your desires, the activities you want to practice or the visits you want to do, Isabelle will always find a solution for you.

See you tomorrow for the rest!

Act 4: At the attack!

Mario Cordero

Mario Cordero is a fine technician of the team. He observes, he analyzes, he returns to themes to bring his expertise. Complete, the man is as in the field!