Padel, this racket sport halfway between tennis and squash, is popular

Padel, this racket sport halfway between tennis and squash, imported from Spain, is popular with 500,000 practitioners in France. This is five times more than five years ago. More accessible than tennis but just as physical, padel attracts racket enthusiasts and novices alike. At Forest Hill, a Parisian venue, the enthusiasm for this discipline is very present.

“Exponential”

A tennis court enclosed by four windows. In the middle, Philippe, 54, bounces the ball both on the ground and on the walls. This tennis teacher discovered padel this summer. Since then, he has played it every week, a real addiction. “Physically it’s quite tough. We have to be constantly moving. I’m soaked all the time. You have to know how to play with the windows and that’s another game, it’s another sport. There’s a lot of uncertainties and it’s super pleasant. I think that in tennis, you need a little time to have fun, in padel, you can have fun very quickly,” he explains.

Fun and friendly, this discipline, which is played by four people, appeals to snowshoe enthusiasts and novices alike, explains Alexandre, padel teacher. “It’s a sport that is a little more accessible for beginners. We are on a smaller field, smaller rackets. From a motor point of view, that simplifies things,” he emphasizes on the microphone of Europe 1. Here, in the middle of the week, at 2 p.m., the five courts are already taken. Players even wait their turn. “It’s really exponential. We have more and more requests. There is a real enthusiasm. We started with a rate which increased 20-30% in the space of four/five months”, rejoices Nathalie Molmy Ferro, director of the room. Since September, the sports club has opened two new padel rooms in Paris.