Constance Vercamer, host on M Radio, shares her story with padel, a sport that is increasingly popular in the media world.

Not easy to find partners in 2020…

“My first encounter with padel dates back to the summer of 2020, during a stay with friends in Malta. They suggested that I try this sport that I didn't know at all. They told me that it was a bit of a mix between squash and tennis, and since I've always liked racket sports, I wanted to try it. And from the first few times, I loved it because it's super fun, and you can play quite easily if you've played racket sports. It made me want to continue playing it when I returned to France. But when I arrived, I talked about it around me to find partners, except that almost no one knew about it. It was a sport that was still relatively unknown, and there were very few centers in the Paris region.

I had to go all the way to the 93 to be able to play padel, which was quite far from home since I live in the 78! So I introduced padel to three other friends since as you know you need four to play a game, and they loved it, which meant that we continued to go and play together. Then we discovered that there was another center closer to home, in Plaisir. That's when we said to ourselves that we were going to get a license to be able to play all year round.”

Upcoming tournaments?

“I don't plan on signing up for tournaments at the moment because I think I should take lessons first. Even though I've been playing padel fairly regularly for three years, I feel like I'm lacking technique. I'm teaching myself padel, but I still have things to master before I can go any further. After that, do I really have time to play tournaments? I don't think so, but in any case, it's a sport that I want to continue playing in the future.”

Padel in the media

“In the media world, there are a lot of us playing padel, I don’t know why. In Plaisir I don’t find many people from the radio because they usually play elsewhere. I’m thinking in particular of Cyril Hanouna or even to “Cartman” who is a host at Fun Radio and who is also a fan of padel. But in the 78, I don’t come across many media personalities. 

Constance Vercamer

I often talk about padel on air because we have a bit of a role to play, and my co-host is not at all sporty, whereas I am a bit more. Every time he likes to tease me about the fact that I went to play padel at the weekend so that allows me to talk about it. And then he often asks me to explain padel because it's true that it's still a fairly unknown sport. To explain it quite simply, I always say that it's a mix between squash and tennis.

Difficulties with the windows?

“The technical aspect that I find particularly difficult to master is returning the ball to the opponent's side by tapping on the glass (the counterpaired). I say that simply because I have small arms, but gradually, I'm starting to understand the shot, especially by hitting the ball lower to make it go higher. But it's true that when you lack strength in padel, it's not always easy.”

Dorian Massy

New padel fan, I am fascinated by this dynamic sport that combines strategy and agility. I find in padel a new passion to explore and share with you on Padel Magazine.

On the same subject

Tags