In 1969, in Acapulco, Enrique Corcuera, a Mexican businessman, decides to erect high walls around the (small) tennis court he has marked on his land so as not to see bullets go out into the wild. He then imagines rules different from those of his favorite sport by taking inspiration from other derivatives of tennis also practiced on small spaces like the American tennis platform.
To better adapt the new discipline to the reduced dimensions of the court, he made a decision that would definitely make his invention a sport apart: the racket would not be strung, but full and pierced with small holes. What we do not yet call the padel could have quietly remained confined in the tropical garden of Enrique Corcuera.
But one day of 1974, the Spanish prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg, visiting the latter, is seduced by this game lively, fun and easy to access. So that when he returned to Spain, he built courts on the side of Marbella, on the model of that of Acapulco.
Le padel will then quickly take off on both sides of the Atlantic. In the late 1970s, when Spain succumbed to the charm of padel and multiplies the construction of courts to satisfy a strong demand, many Latin American countries are also taking part in the game. And it is quite naturally that the first international competitions are born in Uruguay in 1982.
During the 1990s, this new discipline developed. Created in 1989, the French Federation of padel three years later, obtained the approval of the Ministry of Sports under the supervision of the French Federation of Jeu de Paume.
In France, the competitions are structured and the first national circuit is born in 1998. Two years later, it is the consecration for the padel French who organizes, in Toulouse and its region, the 5th world championships in the specialty.
Le padel everywhere knows a meteoric rise in its chosen lands, but not only. There are thus nearly ten million practitioners in the world. While Argentina and Spain - where it has become the leading racquet sport - have several million followers, the International Federation of padel reports 38 member countries in America, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Entered into the fold of the FFT in 2014, this discipline then becomes an axis of development. As part of its Agir et Gagner sports policy, the governance of the FFT wishes to highlight all practices and in particular that of padel. It is estimated that there are already more than 70 practitioners in France, with nearly 000 padel available
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it's always good to know where you're coming from. I bring a little more that I hold from the mouth of Madame Corcuera at the 2002 World Cup in Mexico "my husband had played half court on the deck of the boat that took him to Europe". The Half court steel cage with a net in the upper part is fitted with a tennis racket. The dimensions are 1/3 smaller than the padel current.
This information will not revolutionize the world of padel!!!!
Claude Baigts