In the live show, FACE-A-FACE, Robin Haziza, new coach of the French women's team of padel, reflects in particular on his recent appointment.

On his experience as a padel

I was like most, a tennis player, and it was Nalé Grinda who introduced me to the padel at home because he is one of those privileged people who have land at home. I started on padel At the same time as Jérémy Scatena and Laurent Bensadoun, we got into the game a little more every day. I played more and more until I discovered this sport in Spain, doing a few weekends here and there. The results are coming, so I chose to make it my life.

We were double champion of France with Scat, under the FFT era. Today I think I am one of the best 5-6 French players.

On containment and training

We are all going through a difficult period, I would like to take this opportunity to send my full support to all those confined to their homes. The most important thing is health, relatives, friends. Regarding well-being, I have the chance to share my apartment with a top athlete. We try as best we can to train in the lounge, the car parks, the garages even if in Spain the confinement is much more strict than in France. We eat well, we read, we watch series but the most important is that everyone is in good health and the rest will obviously follow its course.

On the qualities required to be a coach

Know the padel and have an experience in the padel are important conditions. There is work in competition but also work throughout the year, in depth. Mastering the discipline seems essential to me. The FFT counts above all on enthusiasts of padel.

On his predecessor: Patrick Fouquet

Patrick's assessment speaks for itself, it is excellent, I also told him about it. He is no longer a coach, the reasons do not belong to me, they are specific to the FFT. What I do know is that there may have been a little need for change after a three-year cycle, which will not detract from his background, results and qualities. I see it as a handover, I am in place and I will do my best to match or do better than its record.

On the departure of a pillar of the France Hommes team

These last two years we have had exceptional results. The collective performance with the boys was great. My individual performance was not that good, to be transparent, I have not lived very well the last two years as a player, I gave everything, but I did not have fun.

I always wanted to coach the women's team. I prefer to leave as a pillar rather than being thrown away because I am not good enough. I vibrated for the French men's team, I leave on a good note, especially since I had the approval of Alexis Salles.

I am looking for my happiness, it is important to listen to what can open us up, changing direction was one of the things that motivated me. I am lucky to be able to combine this role of player on the WPT circuit and on the French circuit as well as my role as coach. Adrien agreed and encouraged me to become a coach knowing of course that I will give everything with him.

This year, I have two missions:

1 / Being very strong on the field with Adrien by being the best possible partner

2 / Take care of girls and make them even stronger

On his mission as coach

My name was prompted by the vast majority of girls when it was questioned that Patrick should not be reappointed. It makes you want to work with them since they chose me, now I'm going to give them that confidence by working together for great results.

I have very high goals. We have a very successful female team, with a lot of girls playing the WPT. I also found motivated girls in the top 25-30 who want to push the others a little bit with the aim of integrating the France team wagon.

My objective is in the short term: to perform and get as many girls as possible on the wagon so that the padel French women become even more competitive and a larger volume of female players is involved.

Those who will demonstrate a commitment and a strong ambition, as far as possible, for those who have a job, I will give them my time it is obvious.

The players playing on the pro circuit

Among the group of the France team, there are some who are scholarship holders from the FFT in order to help them in their WPT adventure. They must play at least three tournaments in France to be selectable.

They are the ambassadors of padel French women, we must therefore see them on French tournaments. But we will not lie to each other, if they have to make a choice between a tournament on the French circuit and a WPT tournament the priority will be on the professional circuit.

On the teaching of padel in France

There is fundamental work being done to provide education, a diploma, to ensure that there is a school of padel French that can develop.

If we compare the padel twelve years ago and the padel today we can see that there is a very strong evolution, by the number of pitches, the youth competitions… All this is a long process. There is a real desire for improvement.

Find the + / The naughty questions / the INSIDE in the podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEfhJr6iSlc&t=2825s

Xan Tafernaberry

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 !