You may not know it, but every week in France, nearly 100 tournaments padel are organized, for an annual total that flirts with 5000! Suffice to say that tournaments are among the major events in the practice of this sport, which punctuate the weekends of thousands of enthusiasts.

This is why we are not surprised at the number of participants in our tournament survey : indeed, 230 of you answered our questions, for which we thank them warmly.

■ 88% men.- If the ladies had largely given their opinion on the tournaments in our previous survey, this time it is mainly the gentlemen who express themselves: nearly 88% of the responses obtained are male and 12% female. A proportion close to that found in tournaments, very (too?) predominantly male.

■ Tournament regulars.- Unsurprisingly, our respondents know what they are talking about. While 108 (47,2%) of them play less than 10 tournaments per year, 86 (37,6%) play between 10 and 20, while 27 (11,8%) play between 20 and 40. And the 6 most passionate even compete in more than 40! Here we are getting closer to attendance records from nearly 70 tournaments to the credit of some crazy people padel

■ How many matches? Au padel, tournaments where you only play one game and leave, that doesn't exist. As stipulated by FFT Competition Guide, “for tournaments and championships in pairs only, regardless of the sports formula chosen, a minimum of 3 matches must be offered to each pair”. Even if you lose in the first round, the classification matches allow you to catch up and have fun: you therefore have several opportunities not to leave frustrated...

But three parts is not enough for everyone. To the question “how many matches should a tournament ideally offer?”, only 15% of you answered three. Without going into the details of game formats, it is clear that playing three matches with sets of 4 games (format C) or a single set of 9 games (format D) is not the same as playing at least two “real” sets and a great deciding game.

That being said, the number of matches that was voted for by two thirds of our respondents is four. But one in eight respondents (12,4%) wants more and claims five matches per tournament, or even six for one of you: Mathieu, who plays between 20 and 40!

Are chickens a luxury?

■ Pools or multi-chance tournaments? Between these two sports formulas, your hearts swing. Some prefer qualifying groups with three to five teams, while others swear by multi-chance tournaments (TMC). In the latter, a first victory allows to stay in the main draw and a defeat is followed by classification matches.

In this game, it is the TMCs who collect the most votes, by a short margin: 51,3% against 48,7% who prefer the chickens.

■ Your favorite game formats.- Without going into the details of decisive points or not, we asked you for your preferences between Format A (3 sets of 6 games), Format B (2 sets of 6 games, then super decisive game), Format C (2 sets of 4 games then super decisive game) and Format D (1 set of 9 games, with decisive game of 8/8).

Your verdict leans very clearly in favor of the two sets followed by the super deciding game (format B), favored by 58,5% of you. In second position, we find format D in 9 games (15,4%), followed by format A (13,2%). The two sets of 4 games (format C) are the most disliked formula: only 9,4% of you like it. In fact, it grants little room for error: a break conceded cold and the set flies away very often...

Note that several of you have spontaneously mentioned “no ad” as a good solution “so that matches don't drag on”. And several also recommend mixing format D for the first round(s) (and classification matches) and format B thereafter.

■ More age and mixed tournaments.- One of our questions was about what type of tournaments you would like to see more of. This is the case for events by age category, desired by 54,2% of you: given the average age of padel, it is probably more senior tournaments + than youth tournaments that are targeted.

In addition, 36,8% of you want more mixed tournaments and 17,4% more women's tournaments. This last figure, which is quite low, clearly suffers from the masculinity of our panel...

Several respondents spontaneously told us that they would like more P500 or P1000, although this choice was not offered. Notice to organizers.

Padel menores FAP torneo
One in six respondents would like more women's tournaments

What do you like about tournaments?

Now let's come to what mainly motivates you to play tournaments or what you may dislike about what we offer (or not) to you today.

■ “The motivating challenge of competition” is what appeals to you the most in tournaments. 62% of you find this criterion important while only 10% do not attach importance to it.

■ “The possibility of progressing in the rankings” is your criterion n°2: 59% of our respondents consider it important, 27% moderately important and 13,5% not very important.

■ “The fact of varying the adversaries” is your third source of motivation. It is important for 3% of you and moderately important for 57%.

■ “Good atmosphere” tournaments, often cited, only comes in 4th position. However, this criterion is considered important by 45% of our panel and moderately important by 41%.

■ “The 3rd half once the tournament is over” is only important to 22% of gamers, while 35% don't really care. The remaining 43% are fairly neutral on the issue.

■ “The rewards offered”, if they sometimes arouse criticism, are not a real motivation: less than 8% of participants attach importance to them, while 80% do not care. But it is true that those who are rewarded represent a minority of participants…
■ “Premium services sometimes offered” in big tournaments, that's what leaves you cold: 7% are attached to it, 77% don't care more or less. In fact, it is rather in the professional world that we appreciate the work of a physiotherapist, an osteopath, or the fact of being transported and well fed...

physiotherapist padel sports
The presence of physiotherapists in tournaments is a plus that players are not necessarily looking for

What do you dislike about tournaments?

■ Waiting between matches is what annoys you the most when it lasts too long. 46% of our respondents find this important and 41% moderately important.

■ The bad organization has a high importance for 36% of you and medium for another 36 percent.

■ Levels not homogeneous enough can spoil the fun of 35,5% of players and tarnish that of 43%. It is indeed unpleasant to immediately encounter an underclassed pair that disgusts his opponents…

■ Prices too high are cited as important by less than one in three respondents (29%), but moderately important by 42,5%. In fact, we often hear criticism of registration fees that reach or exceed €25 per person.

■ Traveling too far to find good level tournaments : this criterion does not matter to 43% but is deemed important or moderately important by 56,5% (respectively 26% and 30,5%). This observation is therefore shared well beyond the elite or the TV presenters who travel hundreds of kilometers to glean points.

■ Insufficient rewards can cause a few teeth to cringe, but not too much: it annoys 25% of you, but 45% don't care. But again, only three or four teams usually receive prizes or prizes. The others are satisfied with the welcome pack… when it exists.

■ Insufficient diversity is only a real regret for 16% of our respondents, but 52% do not regret it at all. And the organizers often find that it is difficult to fill up on exclusively mixed tournaments.

■ The atmosphere too “competitive” : only 14% of people see it as a problem, while 50% are not at all bothered by this aspect.

Conclusion

We wanted to know if you liked to do tournaments a little, a lot, passionately, madly or not at all… According to your answers, we hesitate between a lot, passionately and mild madness! But to find out more, we'll give you an appointment in a few days for a second article relating the details of your opinions, your criticisms and constructive proposals to describe your ideal tournament.

Waiting, our other surveys are always at your disposal.

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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