Thanks to an interview he gave us on the training of teachers in padel in France (*), Romain Taupin has given us a theory that is both relevant and amusing.
According to this economist and statistician from padel, who is also a Barcelona-trained coach, “the padel, it's the pétanque of the 21ᵉ century”! With his art of the formula and a certain taste for provocation, the creator of the site Padelonomics tells us that conviviality and the desire to have fun are essential among fans of padel.
Moreover, Romain Taupin has plenty of ideas: in an interview he gave us in the spring of 2021, he already believed that “the padel, it's a leisure sports bar, it's not a competition centre”.
Imbued with padel “Spanish style”, the creator of Padelonomics often recalls that it “fights for the development of a padel convivial, playful and human in France, far from elitism and the obsession with competition”.
Today, he drives the point home: “I often say that the padel is not a sport that one endows with a bar, but it is a bar that one endows with a sporting extension: therefore the padel, it's rather the pétanque of the 21st century. In Spain, where the market is mature, there is very little of this notion of high level sport. Out of 4 million players, there are only 100 licensed in Spain. And the majority of them are people over 000.”
“95% of people who take courses in padel do not dream of a high level at all: these people simply want to have fun after a day's work. They want to forget their daily lives, get to know other people and do it with a good facilitator, who will correct two or three small faults without going into scale exercises that will frustrate the students. We are here in tune with the times: the search for immediate pleasure.”
Romain Taupin
Agree or disagree with Mr. Padelonomics? In our opinion, his statement must be nuanced in France, where the majority of players of padel come from tennis. Some of them indeed see the padel as a pure hobby, but others are imbued with the culture of competition. A culture widely propagated by the French Tennis Federation, which manages the padel since 2014.
The debate is launched: do not hesitate to comment on this article below.
(*) Interview that we will publish soon.
Photo credit: Pixabay / Padel Magazine
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La padel has a huge advantage that can become a flaw. It's a very playful sport where you'll have fun quickly even if you're a complete novice, not to say useless... a bit like pétanque. From there, the player does not see the point of taking lessons to improve if he does not have the fiber of competition or simply the desire to progress. And those who try the experience risk finding themselves facing a tennis teacher without legitimacy or skills.
TFP qualified instructors have a lot to worry about... Take golf: anyone who wants to get into it will take lessons from the first week in the hope of finding pleasure in it and they will do it all their life!
No the Padel is a competitive sport, the enthusiasm around tournaments of all categories (P100, 250, 500...) which are sold out weeks in advance proves it. But the fact of playing as a team, and the psychology of a game where winning points are less frequent than unprovoked faults make it possible to maintain a playful spirit even at high intensity. We play more against either than against the adversary.
The fact that we progress quite quickly attracts some upstart cretins (Cyril is a perfect example) but as soon as they reach their physical and intellectual limits (it's a game that thinks itself) they disappear and become passionate about jet skiing ...
yes this analysis makes sense, a lot of padelists cannot conceive of playing without the bar next door!
the parallel with petanque seems even more common sense to me: we'll see what the future says, but I'm not sure that the padel on TV works like tennis, because the padel of the top level may not offer what other sports offer...I see a lot of people playing for fun as said, but also in competition, and trying to be the best, but not sure that quantity, many would spend hours in front of the TV at padel, or would be willing to pay admission to see a day of padel in a world tournament, in France...or what proportion will try once and return? while playing yes...a bit like pétanque, who watches it on TV apart from a few enthusiasts?