What assessment of padel French in 2019? As often when one year ends and another begins, it is time to take stock of the past twelve months. They were rich for the padel French, good performances in the recent European championships, a thrilling final phase of the French championships and our players who are increasingly distinguished on the WPT circuit.

A good progression with differences between men and women

In an article from August, I had said that we would pass the 7 licensees in December, I had then underestimated the enthusiasm for the competition of padelistos, since 7 players were made redundant in December, with 521 players, this brings us to nearly 8 700 people in the ranking of padel French.

In January, there were 5 licensees, i.e. 50% less.

We can always regret that among women, this progression is not so clear, 30% versus 54% for men.

Last 3 very dynamic months

My predictions were underestimated because it must be recognized that these last 3 months have particularly brought in new competitors with 7 times more entries than exits in the standings. Until September, we could see a “roller coaster” turnover, but the fall has certainly been an intense tournament season in our clubs.

No doubt that with the new competition guide and in particular the P25 tournaments and the possibility for women to make certain gentlemen's tournaments, the number of licensees is still increasing strongly in 2020. It would also be very interesting to have registration data per tournament to confirm this trend.

Occitanie is racing

This enthusiasm for the padel was felt close to the Spanish border since in recent months, it is on the side of Occitania that the outburst has been the most important with 30% more licensees between September and December. Note also that the Auvergne Rhone Alpes league passed the Île de France in August, in particular thanks to padelistas since between July and August, the ARA league almost doubled the number of ladies in the standings.

The only league to see more exits than entries from October is the Pays de Loire league.

France driven by 4 leagues

On this curve graph and also opposite, it is obvious that the padel French is pulled by the south of the country. The 4 southern leagues represent 60% of the licensees in the December ranking.

With the Île de France and the Hauts de France, we have 80% of the competitors of padel in France in 6 leagues.

By focusing on the Top 100, men or women, the proportion is identical.

Le padel French therefore continues to grow and brings in new players every month to the FFT even if, with the data we have, it is difficult to know the share of exclusive licensees. padel. A statistic for 2020?

Gilles Fiolet

Gilles Fiolet discovered the padel 5 years ago in the Hauts de France and has been passionate about this sport since then, which he practices on the fields and in front of the streams. Consultant in the world of Data, he combines and has fun with his 2 passions to analyze the performance of padel in France, leagues and players. He does not despair of seeing his name appear one day in the best progressions of the year… Veteran category.

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