In 2022, the number of competitors has again soared in France. But ladies remain a very small minority and young people even more so. 

Padel, a sport made for the elderly? This is the observation we made in August 2021, in an article entitled “Padel, a sport where the “old” shine”.

The observation was valid not only for the top of the pyramid, at international or national level, but also at its base, among club players. At that time, there were 13 licensees competing in France.

To cite only the national top 500, 32,4% of men were over 40 and no less than 46,6% of women.

Where were we a year later, in August 2022?

■  More competitors.-  First observation: the number of competitive players has almost doubled in one year, going from 13 (in July 000) to 2021 (in August 24). This 500% increase concerns both male and female players.

■  Six times fewer ladies.-  However, men remain in the majority: 21 have participated in tournaments in 004, while women are six times less numerous (2022). As a percentage, we note that among the competitors, 3486% are women and nearly 14% men!

■  Older.-  Another difference, the female players are a little older than the male players: on average 40 years old for these ladies and 37 years old for these gentlemen. On the extreme side, the ladies are stronger than the gentlemen: the oldest competitor is 84 years old, the youngest, 4 years old! On the men's side, it goes from 6 years plus the earliest to 82 years for the most enduring.

■  45 years old, the beautiful age.-  In padel, value often depends on the number of years, especially among women. In tournaments and championships, female players aged 45 to 64 form the most represented age group (37% of the total). While among male players, the 18-34 year olds are the most numerous (43% of the total).

■  The absent juniors.-  The downside of this medal is that under-18s are very rare in competitions: only 3%, for both boys and girls. This is a reminder that training young people in France is a key issue, particularly in the leagues, which are aware of this problem and have launched a vast plan with the padel mission to try to stop this problem. Training padel monitors is part of this FFT plan. But this work carried out by the FFT will certainly take some time before seeing the effects.

■  The kingdoms of the ancients.-  Also indicative of our sport, the median age of competitors sheds light on the age pyramid according to leagues and regions. It appears that in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, more than half of the 4332 players are over 40 years old. Conversely, in Île-de-France, it is the under 33s who are in the majority among the 3318 competitors. Between these two extreme leagues, we find Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie, where the median is respectively 38 years and 37 years..

In dark the leagues where the competitors are the oldest

■  Elite mature.-  Finally, in the French elite, the average age of the top 50 is higher in padel than in tennis: 32 years old for men, 35 years old for women. One explanation is the fact that the majority of good padel players come to padel after having had a "career" in tennis. We can hope that in the future, padel will be less and less a "recycling" sport but on the contrary the first choice of the future elite.

Gilles Fiolet

Gilles Fiolet discovered padel 5 years ago in the Hauts de France and has been passionate about this sport ever since, which he practices on the courts and in front of streaming. A consultant in the world of Data, he combines and enjoys his two passions to analyze the performance of padel in France, leagues and players. He does not despair of one day seeing his name appear in the most beautiful progressions of the year ... Veteran category.

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