Fred Oudeville, Kuikma product manager Padel, comes back with us on the launch of the new Kuikma Pro range, worn by Maxi Sanchez and Lucia Sainz.

A natural evolution

“It's not an upheaval, it's a natural, gradual evolution. We had decided to offer an offer for the more demanding player, which is why when we launched the brand we took the advice of Horacio Alvarez Clementi to develop the rackets. We were proud of these products and to be able to prove that we could play with them at a higher level, it was important to have a player and a player who were number 1 in the world.

Maxi Sanchez pala forehand volley Kuikma MS Pro 2023

When we signed with them, it was planned in the project that we could make a racket for each of them, by listening to them, by doing the tests, by analyzing.

“The LS Pro and MS Pro will be sold for €200 each. We put in the best components, we put in technology, it comes at a cost. We really wanted to respond to people who want the best of the best.”

Maxi, Lucia: different needs

“Maxi playing on the left and Lucia playing on the right, they had different needs. Maxi needed maximum power. He started the year with the Hybrid Hard, he wanted more handling but realized later that he needed more power.

Lucia was super happy with her racquet. We were able to improve it by working on new technologies, but staying in the spirit of a versatile racket.”

The Shock Block System: not fake!

“Decathlon had developed this technology at the time on tennis rackets. We used it to adapt it to the padel. It has been modified to widen it to the entire handle with this addition of elastomer which reduces vibrations. Before releasing it, it was given to an external laboratory, Testea. Tests show that depending on the speed of the ball, the system absorbs between 10 and 30% of the vibrations that arrive at the level of the shaft and the hand.”

“The 3D sticker that gives relief and therefore creates more effect on the ball. It has a real effect. On the other hand, most of the spin given to the ball comes from the holes. Depending on the racquet, the need for power or control of the two players, we played with the drilling plane, which has a huge influence.

kuikma pro 2023

The following ?

“We will be able to use what we learned with Maxi and Lucia to pass on our know-how to our current range. We are going to change the Hard range for a new range. We put the best components that exist on the market. We want to stay on the range that we are going to replace on our philosophy of value-price, accessibility, which also makes our difference.”

“We would be interested in having French players. We are looking to see who we could accompany. We are a French brand, we want to participate in the development of padel in France. Anyway, only Maxi and Lucia will play with MS Pro and LS Pro.”

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !

On the same subject

Tags