Short formats are interesting. Respect the umpires!

The short game formats are debated in the tournaments of Padel. We will try to take a closer look as a referee and passionate about padel. And above all, I will try to make you understand why we must respect the decisions of the umpires in padel...

Before that, you can go to the website of the French Tennis Federation or consult its guide of the competition here:

https://padelmagazine.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LE-GUIDE-DE-LA-COMPETITION-DE-PADEL-JUILLET-2018.pdf

This guide tells us that the short formats are:
-Format 6: 2 sets to 4 games, no ad, decisive game to 3 / 3, 3th set super decisive game to 10 pts
-Format 9: 1 set to 9 games, no ad, decisive game to 7 points to 8 / 8

OIE! problem! “No ad”… And yes all the short formats are played in No Ad, that is to say in decisive point at 40A (tie).

This is where I lose all players from tennis ... "it's random! "," It removes the charm of endless games ", etc.

But this is the goal, the players appreciate that the referees respect the schedules. The only formats allowing this are the NO AD formats, which is the decisive point. (obviously it also depends on the number of padel and the number of pairs during the tournament).

If a referee asks you to respect a particular format, you must respect it, because you risk staggering the matches of a whole day ... And everyone will suffer after you.

This decisive point is often a psychological barrier that should be practiced in a training match to get used to it. And to go further, practice training in format 4 (2 set 4 decisive point games and 3rd set in super tie-break). This little-practiced format encourages the suspenseful match in short format with frequent twists. Test it to work your mind and do not hesitate to share your feelings in comments.

Ah and I forgot: ”The warm-up is 5 minutes on the field, so go run ahead, please! otherwise the referee loses an hour and a half of playing time over a day if everyone does like you. And by the way, at padel we do not overheat when serving! “

Good padel to all, and a thought to all umpires.

Frédéric RICHEME

Fred Richeme is one of the actors of padel from the Toulouse and Pau region. This umpire is passionate about padel. And he offers you his opinions, his opinions on the life of the padel in France.