Le padel interferes a little more in the sphere of racket sports and takes a real turn in France. With more than 350 practitioners in the country, our sport recorded impressive statistics in February 2023. Proof once again that its development indicators are exponential here.

An 80% growth in licensees

The development of padel in France is no secret. In terms of players, infrastructures or tournaments, the development indices of the padel in France are considerable. Analyst Gilles Fiolet and the DigDash analysis tool come once again to confirm it to us. The increase in the number of players between January 2022 and February 2023 is quite impressive.

Indeed, in February 2023, there is a number of players of 33 926, i.e. a growth of 80% since January 2022. Even if men remain in the majority (86%), whether for ladies or gentlemen, the number of players has almost doubled in one year.

  • January 2022 Ladies: 2
  • February 2023 Ladies: 4 (70% growth)
  • January 2022 Gentlemen: 16
  • February 2023 Gentlemen: 29 (81% growth)

Le padel, not young enough?

The number of competitors is soaring in France and yet we still see a few black spots. Even if the number of female license holders has increased by 70%, their presence in the discipline is still too minimal (only 14%).

With regard to the age distribution among men and women, we notice a new difference.

The 18 34-years form the most represented age group among men (42% in total). Among the ladies, these are the 45 64-years which are the most numerous (38%).

Once again the absent juniors. The presence of young people in competitions is very rare, with only 3% of boys and girls. Youth is a key point for the good development of the padel in France. The future of padel French is based on training but also on the organization of tournaments. The FFT has understood this well and has just announced the creation three new national tournaments.

The age of the players by rank is indicative of our sport and proves once again that the padel is not yet focused enough on young people. One of the explanations for this “mature elite” is the fact that the majority of good players come to padel after having cut their teeth in tennis. The rental price is also another factor…

Training is obviously the key to the future of padel in France. The work carried out by the federation will undoubtedly take time to bear fruit, but will allow in the future to train the elite of the padel French.

Vincent Gallie

A fan of oval football, round ball but also racket sports, he was stung by the padel during his adolescence in Galicia. As comfortable in front of the camera as behind a microphone, Vince will be able to bring his vision and expertise as a fan of the little yellow ball.

On the same subject

Tags