old hope of padel world and 25th player in the world at 21, the Basque Andoni Bardasco had to stop his professional career at the end of 2018, due to multiple injuries. Now 30 years old, he talks to us about his retraining, at home in Bilbao, in the teaching of padel to foreign players – and especially French players.

The pleasure of sharing his passion

“For me, the idea of ​​retraining in the padel did not take hold right away. I took a little time and distance from the padel to find out what I really wanted to do. At that time, there was the pandemic which forced me to wait before launching the project of Padel Stuff.

What is certain is that I regularly received calls from players asking me to do padel. I did it sometimes and I found pleasure in sharing this passion with really motivated people. So I said to myself “why not make it my job?”.

As I left to embark on this adventure on my own, I met Iñaki [Editor's note: Iñaki Loredo, partner of Andoni], who wanted to do something similar on his side. We spoke to each other and it turned out that our projects coincided and that our knowledge was complementary: he has more experience in organizing events, he has worked in the business world; and me, I have more knowledge on the padel. As we both had expertise in foreign languages, we had the idea of ​​addressing foreign students as a priority. I think it's very important for students to learn in a language they master well: it allows them to focus 100% on the padel, on training. »

Andoni and Inaki Padel Stuff
Andoni on the left and Iñaki on the right

“If the student has to try to understand what is being told to him in a language that is not his own, that is an additional obstacle. Even for someone who understands Spanish and speaks it a little, it is better for the teacher to make the effort to speak the student's language, because a student's brain padel must assimilate a lot of information and put it into practice. If in addition, we add a foreign language, it wastes too much energy. »

On the track, the French students give their all

"So Iñaki and I had all that in common and that's why we decided to launch Padel Stuff together. In Spain, we are present in Bilbao, but we can also train in clubs all over the world and especially in Europe, to train teachers there. »

“The difference between Spanish students and French students is that the French want to benefit 100% from the courses and lessons and put them into full application. It really is a big difference. For this reason, I take more pleasure in working with French students than with Spaniards, because even here, young people of 12 or 14 who are aiming for the top level do not show the same desire to make an effort or to listen to advice. While amateurs who come to do a course, even if they are on vacation and take the opportunity to drink beers, visit Bilbao and eat well, well when they are on the padel, they give their all and they are fascinated by what is explained to them. They are very happy to receive advice. It is in this spirit that we enjoy working. »

Objective: to be a quality reference

"For the future of Padel Stuff, I would like us to become a reference, especially in terms of quality and not so much quantity: the goal is not to have thousands of customers, but to ensure that everyone who comes to us is happy , live an experience as perfect as possible in terms of organization and quality, even on small details. For example, we are attached to the fact that customers have access to good food, that they do not waste time making trips or that they benefit from good balls. It sounds silly, but sometimes the balls provided look like the dog's. This is something that could never happen with us, we change the balls very regularly, because if the balls make a horrible noise with each hit, it is very complicated to transmit what the student is looking for. »

Padel Stuff offers tailor-made internships to its students

“I repeat, our objective is to be a benchmark for quality. We don't want anyone to leave an internship with us saying "I wasn't comfortable, I didn't understand what they were telling me, I didn't learn anything and I lost my time". I believe that for the moment, we are succeeding in this bet, because all the bands we receive are very happy and tell us that they want to come back – which some have already done. The goal now is to make it known to reach more people.

I think that many European countries where the padel grows very fast would benefit a lot of people like us to help them grow the level. For the desire to play to increase, people must have challenges that make them want to progress and learn. »

Tailor-made courses, adapted to student requests

“The type of internships we offer at Padel Stuff is variable, we adapt to the requests... It can be either a group of eight people who come to play and learn morning and afternoon, or a couple who come to train in the mornings and then enjoy our city, or even a one-day visit from someone who wants to work on their biggest weakness: anything is possible.

When we organize the courses, we contact the people concerned directly to gather the information necessary to plan the lessons. Afterwards, depending on the days available and the priorities of the students, we try to organize the training sessions in the best possible way so that all the knowledge is well retained.

In terms of infrastructure, we work in a magnificent club, really beautiful and with a very high ceiling. In our opinion, the padel is a sport that is much better played indoors, so this is the type of club that we have chosen. »

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More information on Padel Stuff HERE

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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