Yann Perrin, the former French n°4 and World Top 50 squash player returns for Padel Magazine about his new passion: padel.

We took advantage of the second edition of the Sports Management Trophy at the Grand Stade Les Capellans in Saint-Cyprien to interview this new padel player who trains at All In Padel Sports at Bouc-Bel-Air.

Squash players will have some facilities in padel

Squash players who switch to padel will certainly have some facilities like playing with windows. It is a racket sport: the positioning, the relationship with the ball will allow us to quickly have fun with padel and enjoy the rich range of shots that there is in padel.

But padel remains a different sport. The bounce of the ball is not the same. We adapt quickly but it remains a sport apart.

I signed up for All In Padel Sports a little by chance thanks to a friend last summer.

I am a national squash coach at the Pôle France in Aix-en-France, I had little time. And since Christmas, I'm really starting to get into it. I have become a very regular player, I think I play at least four times a week.

A great atmosphere

I think that I evolve in this sport, in my way of playing, in understanding. The fact of having been in this club with Stephane Massot meant that I was very well received. The world is small: Steph knows Philippe Signoret, the coach of the French ladies' squash team for many years.

I think the atmosphere around this sport is great, you just have to see the group I came with for the Trophée Gestion Sports, it's very appreciable.

Yann Perrin squash padel all in padel sports

Initially, squash and padel are opposites in terms of physical intensity.

One of the differences between squash and padel is the start. Padel will be physically more accessible because in reality the more you progress in this sport, the more intense it will become. In squash, it's almost the opposite. Someone who starts in squash can find themselves in the red very quickly because they don't know where to place themselves.

The squash player, as he progresses, will learn to manage his effort, to tire himself out when necessary. In padel, to tire himself out, I have the impression that you have to go through stages.

In squash, the ball is always good in the end, there is no grid, no net. And if you don't have a sufficient level, it can be very complicated physically.

In padel, precisely, the game is less forgiving, there are more mistakes, there are two of us, and even when we are consistent, we have to be able to aim well to really make the opponents move. But the more we advance, the more precise we become and the more physical it becomes.

Squash and padel could be at the Olympics

Squash and padel are great sports. They both deserve to be in the Olympic Games. Squash has been hoping for it for a very long time. For now, we are at the World Games which are the equivalent of the Olympic Games for sports that have not yet entered the Olympics.

We play squash in incredible places, facing the pyramids, in front of New York's central station...

I think that if squash is not yet an Olympic sport, it is because the Olympic Games are attracted by the money. We know it well, we brought in break dancing, golf, these are sports that have succeeded in winning the Olympic Games because there is money. This is the world today.

There is also a very spectacular side in padel, with a variation of shots. In squash, it is also the case but it is looked at differently.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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