In recent years, we have noticed that with the increasing media coverage of padel professional, changes of partners were more and more present, players sometimes not hesitating to break a pair after only one tournament.

Two windows of changes?

A situation that does not please technician Jorge Martinez. As he told our colleagues at Sports world, the Spaniard believes that “pair changes are one of the great evils of padel". And to put an end to certain excesses, the coach of Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez has a radical solution: two change windows per season, “in January and summer”.

After a "market” which will have been crazier than ever this winter, we notice that the padel is in the process of changing. And while these end-of-season changes are inevitable, those that take place throughout the year could be regulated. In any case, this is what Martinez proposes: “For me it would be necessary to regulate and establish specific periods of changes, for example in January and summer. I think it would be beneficial for the players, the sponsors, the organizers, the coaches…”

Reasons that make sense

The fans too? For the coach, it’s an absolute yes: “People like to identify with a team. I think that at padel, we should put more emphasis on the notion of team, this would be beneficial for everyone, I am convinced.”

For the coach, setting his sights on a new teammate at the first disagreement poses a problem of values: “Not getting along should not be an excuse for not working. (…) When things go bad, we have to fight to make them go well.”

Jorge Martinez coach padel

The reasons given by Jorge Martinez seem to make complete sense. It would ultimately be simpler for everyone if players could only change partners twice a year, with a real “transfer window” like in team sports. Longer projects would allow coaches to put more things in place, brands would have an easier time sponsoring pairs, fans would have less difficulty following, etc.

Furthermore, the aspect of values ​​highlighted by the Spaniard should not be neglected. We must not forget that athletes are often examples for young people, and when we see players who are full of enthusiasm when teaming up, break up after a bad match, we are not dealing with a very good example of self-sacrifice and respect for one's word... It would still be more beautiful to see the athletes fight together and make compromises to allow their duo to function.

A delicate installation?

If this idea of ​​regulation ultimately seems very logical, its implementation promises to be difficult. For the very best, it seems feasible, excluding injuries. Indeed, what would happen in the event of an injury to a Top 10 player? Would his teammate have the right to associate with whomever he wants, implying de facto cascading changes or should he forfeit until his partner returns or the start of the change window? One solution could be to only allow players to draw a replacement from outside the Top 30 or 40 for example, although this would certainly not be to the taste of all sponsors...

Bidahorria knee injury padel

Then, what to do with players who don't really make a living with the game? padel but still participate in high-level tournaments? Indeed, outside the Top 50 or 60, we notice that players often have numerous partners over a season since some choose not to travel to this or that location due to the cost of tickets for example. How can we force all these “semi-pros” to keep the same partner for six months?

Many questions surround this idea of ​​regulation, which, it must be admitted, does not lack arguments. And you, like Jorge Martinez, would you like the changes of pairs to be more supervised?

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !

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