Short formats are interesting. Respect the umpires!

The short game formats are debated in the tournaments of Padel. We will try to look at it a little more closely as a referee and padel enthusiast. And above all, I will try to make you understand why you have to respect the decisions of the referees 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 that's the point, players appreciate that referees respect the schedules. The only formats that allow this are the NO AD formats, decisive point. (obviously this also depends on the number of padel courts 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.

Oh and I forgot: “The warm-up is 5 minutes on the court, so go run first please! Otherwise the referee loses 1h30 of playing time in one day if everyone does like you. And by the way, in padel we don’t warm up when serving!”

Good padel to all, and a thought for all the referees.

Frédéric RICHEME

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