Covid-19: a postponement of athletes to padel ?

The health crisis is obviously very difficult for players in the world of sport, especially indoor, but there are indications that the padel will come out stronger.

Covid-19 and a boom in new players padel, possible?

2020 will be remembered as a year with this unprecedented health crisis that continues to shake the world. This 3^e world war, it's the world against COVID-19. The business world is suffering and sports clubs are no exception. However, we observe in France, a trend in the padel very interesting.

Indeed, we have enough perspective to be able to say it today: 2020 has been an incredible year in terms of new players from padel. Many clubs padel outdoor in particular say they are surprised by passing a turnover almost similar to 2019 despite the months at a standstill.

Le padel take advantage of its outdoor and semi-covered facilities

While indoor sports structures are suffering and hope to be able to resume normal activity next January, the clubs of padel outdoor are seeing an astonishing and even positive trend over the medium term. Several club leaders padel believe that this confinement could have a beneficial effect for all the clubs of padel in 2021. . Here are the words that stand out:

“2020 allowed to see many athletes refer to the padel, especially on this 2^e confinement."

“After the first confinement, some preferred to play outside because they felt it was less risky than playing indoors, and it must be said that the conditions allowed it perfectly this summer. ”

“Currently, the padel is one of the only racquet sports available since it can be played outdoors and semi-covered. "

A shift from racquet sports to padel

With a few exceptions, sports federations note a drop in the number of licensees. Paradoxically, many players in the padel believe that in France we are witnessing a boom in the number of padel never observed before.

No need to look for official figures on the number of practitioners of padel, there are no official statistics on this subject. These new players are not licensees. They discover this sport and most often come from other sports affected by the coronavirus.

Since the beginning of the year, squash, table tennis, and badminton have been almost at a standstill. For some people, clubs have not been opened since last March ! What are all these athletes doing then? Some are looking for a substitute sport to keep in shape and keep the hand ...

“The fact of having in France, many structures padel outdoors, therefore allows recover these many players in need of sports. These athletes are looking for a racquet sport, and the padel becomes almost obvious. ”

“We can see it in particular since the second de-confinement, there are many players of badminton, squash and table tennis, but also of Basque pelota (Editor's note: in France, with the exception of the Basque Country, pelota is mainly practiced in trinquet) who come discover the padel"

Are these new players going to stay padel ?

The good news is that these players in other racket sports have already the hand.

“Unlike tennis which is a complicated sport especially at the start, these new players of padel very quickly manage to have fun. And they even become regulars. They come from certain groups such as football, but also and especially badminton, table tennis and squash. ”

Aware of this new trend, clubs like WinWin Padel Nimes, have set up free sessions to discover the padel. Result: a pool of new players is being formed. The padel being an addictive and fun sport, there is a good chance that many players who have experienced this discipline during the health crisis will continue to practice it afterwards.

While being optimistic, we can even imagine that the indoor clubs, when they reopen, will be able to get some of these new converts!

Do not be fooled le padel lives very complicated times, with paralyzed indoor clubs who must find the time very long. But this sport in full development could, once the crisis has completely passed, bounce back again and again. do much better than many other disciplines.

Team Padel May

Team Padel Magazine tries to offer you since 2013 the best of padel, but also surveys, analyzes to try to understand the world of padel. From the game to the politics of our sport, Padel Magazine is at your service.