During the FIP Gold in Lyon, a rather comical scene took place during the match between Victor Mena et Denis Perino to the French Bastien Blanqué et Johan Bergeron. In full smash, the racket of Victor Mena, left-handed player, slipped out of his hands. The reason? His strap broke at the time of the blow. But what do the regulations say in this kind of unusual situation?

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According to the rules of the International Federation of Padel (FIP), which oversee player safety and material incidents during matches, here is what you need to know about the wrist strap:

  • Immediate interruption : If the wrist strap breaks during a rally, the player must immediately stop playing and inform the referee or his opponents. Continuing to play without a wrist strap is considered dangerous and not in accordance with safety rules.
  • Current point : If the strap breaks, the current point is not replayed. It is awarded to the opponent, just like for other equipment incidents (broken racket, etc.). The responsibility for this incident lies with the player.
  • Quick replacement : After the point is interrupted, the player is allowed to replace his racket or repair the strap.

Jérôme Bécasset, referee, goes into detail:

" There FIP regulation provides that the point must be stopped as soon as the broken wrist strap. It's a Let snapshot the first time, and a lost point the second.

En French regulations, although the point is also immediately stopped, it is systematically awarded to the opponent.

In this case, even if the tournament takes place in France, it is the FIP regulation which applies.

In this specific situation, after analyzing the video, we observe that Mena hit his Smash, the strap breaks immediately, the ball goes into the net, and his racket touches the net, no longer being in his hand while the ball has still not touched the ground.

The referee should have called a Let, because the point was not yet over (the bounce on the ground after the ball hit the net) when the strap broke.

…Unless it was the second time (or if another piece of his equipment had fallen to the ground) during the match. In this case, the referee would have been right, but this extract does not allow us to determine this!

However, this incident shows how much the security and equipment are essential in padel, and a simple defective strap can have direct consequences on the course of a match. Fortunately, no players were injured in this incident, but the consequences could have been much more serious. So padel players, remember to always put your wrist strap on, because this is compulsory and avoids serious accidents.

Benjamin Dupouy

I discovered padel directly during a tournament, and frankly, I didn't really like it at first. But the second time, it was love at first sight, and since then, I haven't missed a single match. I'm even ready to stay up until 3am to watch a final of Premier Padel !

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