Exclusively for Padel Magazine, dive back into the history of padel with the interview of the Mexican Enrique Corcuera, the son of the inventor of this sport!

An interview to listen to in the original version HERE]. .

Fifteen years of reflection

“In the mid-50s, my father had a fronton to play Basque pelota and one day he thought of putting a tennis net in the middle of the playing area. He quickly realized that it was great fun to play tennis with the walls around.

Since it was too fast with the tennis racquets and the court was too big, he started to experiment. And when he bought a house in Acapulco in 1969, he created a smaller track, with walls around it, 20 meters by 10, much like those we know today. It was the result of almost 15 years of experimentation.

Second padel court in history built in 1972 in Acapulco, Mexico
Second padel court in history built in 1972 in Acapulco, Mexico

It's interesting to think that he was able to convince his friends to play a sport that didn't exist, and to involve them in his improvements!

At first they played with wooden rackets, but they broke with the tennis ball. He started to reinforce them, by adding metal parts, and thanks to that they could withstand the impacts more.”

A game for fun with friends and family

A tennis court requires 1000 m² [Editor's note: 600 to 700 m² without the surroundings] and my father only had 300, so he made a smaller court. In Acapulco he had a lot of friends and he suggested they come and try it and they liked it right away. This is how they set about building tracks at home. It's a very social sport, you can play as a family, the people watching enjoy it.

At first, he would never have believed that padel could become an international sport. For him it was a game to have fun with friends and family. He realized how big it was twenty years later. My mother had taken the sport to Argentina and my father's friends to Spain. In the 80s, when he saw that people were starting to like the sport, he decided to file a patent to be recognized as the inventor of the sport.”

Paddle Corcuera

“At first the name was complicated, he called it Paddle Corcuera. It was with this name that my parents made the first rules of this sport in the 80s. There was already an American sport called paddle tennis, which looks like but without the walls. This is where the name paddle came from. And then they agreed to remove the name Corcuera.

Credit PadelFIP

One of my father's best friends, Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe, came every winter to the house in Acapulco, he loved it, and when he returned to Spain he built the Marbella Club, with four padel courts. So it was in Andalusia that the sport became popular, before being exported. My mother is Argentinian, and friends who came on holiday to the house in Acapulco took the idea there, they built courts and the sport gained popularity.”

Why didn't this sport first develop in the country where it was created? Enrique answers us: “I think it comes from the sports culture. In Spain and Argentina, people are more athletic. In Mexico, the boom is now. Back then, people only played in their homes.”

Enrique corcuera padel family

The creation of the International Federation

“There were two padel federations, one in Argentina and one in Spain. My father and his friend Ignacio Soto Borja united the two and created the International Padel Federation. Then they patented the glass and then offered the patent so that the sport could grow faster. The rules that we know today are more or less the same except for one: my father considered a service that was going to touch the side glass to be wrong. At the time there were not many good players and it was easier to play like that.”

In 1990, we organized the Copa Corcuera, with the best players in the world, and we couldn't believe our eyes. For example, when players went off the track to put the ball back, we didn't even know it was possible. These things are invented by the players!

My brother played for the Mexican national team but when they faced the Spanish and the Argentines, they saw that they couldn't do anything. We are amateurs (to see Enrique play padel is HERE]. ). To be professional, you have to play five or six hours a day. No amateur can fight against professionals.”

Jean-Noël Grinda, the best player of the time!

Jean Noel Grinda

“In the house in Acapulco, my father played backgammon with some of the best players in the world. And one of them was Jean-Noël Grinda, a great tennis player, who played the Davis Cup with France. And when he saw the padel court, he liked it right away, and very quickly he became the best of the time. Let's say that at that time he was the best player in the world, and he always wanted to export this sport to France.”

Nallé Grinda: “Each house had its rules in Acapulco!”

A life marked by padel

“We have always been ambassadors of World Padel Tour, we have always helped to develop this sport whose growth was linear. And during the pandemic, the boom has become incredible.”

Maxi Sanchez and Enrique Corcuera Jr.

“My family started a company called CoPa (Corcuera Padel) to make rackets, balls, clothes, which respect my father's heritage. The idea is to use the best technologies but with a retro style. We are starting in Mexico and the United States, and then we will see with Spanish companies to launch in the European Union. The product will only be marketed from June or July.”

Copa-Padel-Corcuera
COPA PADEL pala corcuera
COPA PADEL pala corcuera
COPA PADEL pala corcuera

Honoring his father's legacy

“If my father saw the development of padel today, he would not believe his eyes, he would be extremely happy. When he died, padel was already being played in two countries, and there was already a professional circuit, but the current boom, he would not be able to believe it. He would be very proud, that is why we want to honor his legacy.”

Enrique corcuera
Enrique corcuera
Enrique corcuera

Xan is a fan of padel. But also of rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel players, he finds atypical posts or deals with current topics. He also gives you some advice to develop your physique for padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the padel court!

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