Le padel had a very rapid development in Spain, thus making the Iberian country a reference in the study of this sport. The growth in the number of licensees is spectacular, and 2019 will remain a historic year for racket sports in Spain: le padel has exceeded tennis in number of licensees.

The reign of tennis called into question

The historic reign of tennis is for the first time challenged by a sport which seems to have all the characteristics to establish itself as a benchmark sport. The graph opposite highlights the emergence of padel, and the decline of tennis.

These statistics are very encouraging concerning the development of padel for the next few years, if not for the next decades. The figures come from the “Spanish Federation of padel (FEP) ”and“ Real Federacion Española de tennis (RFET) ”, which are compared in this graph.

In 2013, the tennis federation had more than twice as many license holders as the federation of padel. In just six years, the padel overtook tennis.

Le padel : Not enough perspective?

The authors who have studied the padel are almost always Spanish, or Spanish-speaking at least. In the book " New advances in investigation padel By Javier Courel-Ibañez, Bernanino J. Sanchez-Alcatraz Martinez and Jeronimo Cañas, the authors indicate that very few studies on the padel were carried out, in comparison with other racket sports (tennis, badminton, squash and table tennis).

Le padel did not have than 6 licensed in 123  (FEP 2015): the history of this sport can therefore be reduced to the last twenty years in Spain. A few studies are starting to emerge in Spain, but all the works are devoted to the technical aspect of sport. The studies published in the book “Nuevos advances in investigation of padel "Focus on" the analysis of the accuracy of different strokes padel ", On" the output of double men on the World Padel Tour "Or on" the profile of the physical condition of young players ".

HEAD : A winning strategic restructuring

The macroeconomic, social, or medical aspects of padel are only mentioned in certain specialist press articles. In an article in the digital media "Palco 23", the strategic restructuring of the racquet sports brand Head is mentioned.

The brand's turnover has progressed by 4% in 2018, despite a gradual decline in tennis, punctuated by a 10% drop in tennis sales in 2018.

The renewal of Head comes from the choice of bet big on padel, positioning itself as the leader in the Spanish market. The sale of equipment padel a increased by 9% in Spain, thus becoming a driving force behind the activity of the Austrian brand. The goal is even to be a pioneer on the international scene. The success in the Spanish market has prompted Head Spain to embark on an export development: " 30% of our sales padel come from exports, mainly Italy, France, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, or Latin American countries »Indicates Ricardo Fernández, director of the racket sports division of Head Spain.

Head develops its activity in more than 140 countries, and wants to set up its activity in countries in which the padel is embryonic: Iran, Romania and Hungary are countries that could develop the practice of padel on their territory.

Le padel : Present on 5 continents

The diagram opposite shows the expansion of padel in the world by focusing on the number of courts in the different countries and the sale of rackets in the world. The padel has made its export global, as it is present on five continents. America remains the home of this sport: all countries are equipped with padel public, except Bolivia and Suriname.

Le padel is gradually arriving in Europe, Asia and Oceania, yet Africa remains on the margins of this expansion. Nevertheless, Morocco is developing the practice of padel, driven by the influence of Spain (almost border country).

Spain largely dominates all the rankings: more than half of the padel on Earth are located in Spain; Argentina is logically the next country. Spain also hosts thirteen of the nineteen major events of the World Padel Tour.

From his names, we can guess his Spanish and Italian origins. Lorenzo is a multilingual passionate about sports: journalism by vocation and events by worship are his two legs. He is the international gentleman of Padel Magazine. You will often see it on the various international competitions, but also on the major French events. @eyeofpadel on Instagram to see his best photos of padel !

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