I tried Kate and William’s new favourite Mexican sport, Padel – and I’ve come away a convert
IT’S the new competitive sport that has celebrities and even royals queuing up to play.
The Mexican game padel is fast becoming the coolest sport on the block, with A-listers such as Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Beckhams, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal all big fans.
Singer Lionel Richie has even had a court built at his mansion.
Here, Sun writer Thea Jacobs gives it her best shot.
FOCUSING on the green ball whizzing towards me in the air, I reach out with my racquet to smack it back across the court.
It flies past my opponent and hits the back of the playing area before they half-volley it to me.
It’s not tennis or squash that I’m trying — it is the newest cool trend in competitive sport, padel.
Great Britain already has a national padel team and its head coach John Leach agreed to teach me how to play the game and explain why it has become such a favourite with the rich and famous.
I headed to Harbour Club Chelsea where there are three padel courts on the top floor of the posh fitness complex.
Armed with my years-old mismatched gym gear and hoping that my hand-eye co-ordination has improved since I played tennis at school, I braced myself as I stepped out on to the court.
The racquet I’m handed is not stringed, as in other games.
Instead it is small and solid, which should make it easier to control the ball (at least that’s what I’m told).
John starts teaching me with precise throws at my bat, so I can get the feel of hitting the ball and sending it the in direction I’m aiming for.
Once I’ve got used to that, we move to rallying the ball between us over the net.
Exhilarating rush
It is going quite well until I hit the ball out of the court, which I do again and again.
About half an hour in, two other coaches at the club are called over to form an opposing team to give me a proper match.
Despite having just learned the sport, I managed to keep up with the quick back and forward across the net and even scored a few points when my opponents were unable to return my strike.
The constant action keeps me running around and I can’t wipe the smile off my face.
Despite the fact that John and I are losing — my fault, not his — I still want to keep going to see if I can get any better.
It’s an exhilarating rush and my hour session is over all too soon.
In no time, I’d found myself sweating as I attempted to keep the ball in play.
Padel is definitely a workout. You have to be quick on your feet while using your mind to anticipate where your opponent will go next.
It’s easy to see why it now has 25million players worldwide.
England has more than 250 padel courts, 150 more than last year, and by the end of 2023 it is expected another 400 will be constructed.
John thinks the sport is gaining momentum because it is so fun to play. He said: “It’s easy to pick up and get rallies going between players.
“The idea of the game is to show off your control of the ball and hopefully outlast your opponent.
“People keep coming back after they’ve tried it because it’s fun and sociable.”
This year England will host its first ever padel tournament, which will see the best players from across the world fight it out to be the winner in August.
John, who runs the organisers House of Padel, says it goes to show how popular the sport has become, despite it only being invented in 1969.
I’m proof that the Mexican game is hard to resist.
Within minutes of leaving the courts and saying goodbye, I’m Googling where I can find a court near my home so I can keep playing.
It’s safe to say I’m as hooked as Prince William and Kate — though I won’t be challenging them to a match any time soon.
It’s better than tennis
I’LL admit, going into padel I had no idea what I was getting myself into – I had never even been keen on tennis or squash, writes Sun man Kevin Adjei-Darko.
I headed to David Lloyd in Wimbledon, and after getting a quick lesson from Ben Jones, one of the best trainers at the club, we started a game.
I soon found myself running all over the cage and making loud grunting sounds Rafael Nadal would be proud of.
It’s definitely a workout but I really liked padel and found it more fun than tennis.
Although I suspect Ben was taking it fairly easy on me, I picked up the game quite quickly and feel ready to take on more matches.