Why is the whole country suddenly playing padel?
And do I have to do that now too?
To grab the sport firmly by the balls right away, because that's what the game is all about after all. Why is the whole world suddenly into padel?
It’s not suddenly, I know that too, but the population of padel players (do we call it that?) is expanding in a contagious way and at a worrying speed. If I have to believe my friends with children, there are lines of padel moms on Wednesday mornings at the schoolyard. I don’t know if this is because it’s really that fun or that the padel teacher is apparently pleasant to watch. I’ve heard this, you know? I’ve never set foot on a padel court myself.
Adder under the artificial grass
The point is that I feel both aversion and attraction. Everyone says that padel is fun, which makes my critical switch turn on. It can’t be that we all suddenly like one sport at the same time, right? Some love football, others push themselves on the athletics track. We’ve been doing that for centuries. Only when there’s something to win do we turn into slightly maniacal supporters of sports we don’t practice ourselves. We all find that normal. So, dear people, what is the adder under the artificial grass of the padel court?
I haven’t met anyone recently who doesn’t play padel. Even my most loyal and generally very capable friends occasionally run after a ball with a racket. Squash was bad, but this is the ultimate form of squash. Or is padel really so fantastic that Mehmet, Truus, Jan, and Aisha enjoy it? I find it dubious.
Element of excitement
Since googling isn’t foreign to me, I went looking for an explanation on the worldwide web. Jan and everyone can of course shout that it’s fun, but I won’t just let myself be talked onto the padel court. In any case, everyone agrees on one thing: padel is easy to learn. I also read somewhere that ‘the walls add an extra element of excitement’ to the game. Okay, okay. And finally, having fitness is not really a requirement (hooray) and it’s mainly the camaraderie of the team that makes it fun. I don’t know your friends, of course, but mine are extremely competitive and turn into win-hungry subjects when they play a game. We’ll just have to wait for that camaraderie.
To padel or not to padel, it remains a bit of a question. Although I heard myself say last weekend that maybe I should see it for myself once. You can’t judge without personal experience, right? Although I’m afraid that this way more than one person has ended up on the padel court.
Image: @pamelacamassareal
