For a few years now, padel has been the “fashionable sport“. More and more people are practicing it, for leisure or in competition. It didn't take long to hear about the rapid development of padel.

The number of practitioners has quintupled in 4 years and is constantly progressing. Today, we count more than 110.000 padel licensees among all FFT licensees (this therefore includes the multi-racket license and the padel license).

So why has padel exploded like this when, just 10 years ago, no one had heard of it? We don't have to go back very far. In 2020, Covid-19 is rampant around the world and the governments of all countries – or almost – impose strict confinement on the entire world population… it is March 2020.

During the summer, the country opens up again but October is just around the corner when a new confinement arrives with the particularity, this time, of authorization to leave in certain cases. Sport is one of the privileges. Problem: indoor or team sports are prohibited. Many will improvise as joggers while some discover this sport, authorized at the time: padel. While maintaining sociability, we could respect the barrier gestures.

sanyo gutierrez covid mask padel

Therefore, many tested themselves and many joined. Even after the lockdowns ended, people continued to come to the fields. Word of mouth has also been essential for the development of padel.

Today, the number of players is constantly increasing. The number of licensees is exploding and tournaments are multiplying throughout France. Padel is much more than a “trendy” sport. It is becoming independent and promising. Without a doubt, it will become a must in a few years, until, perhaps, become the most practiced sport in France...

Gwenaelle Souyri

It was her brother who one day told her to accompany him to a padel court, since then, Gwenaëlle has never left the court. Except when it comes to going to watch the retransmission of Padel Magazine, World Padel Tour… or Premier Padel…or the French Championships. In short, she is a fan of this sport.

On the same subject

Tags