At Racquet, we’re used to leading the discourse on the ancient sport of tennis, and occasionally we look into other time-tested pastimes, but we don’t often get the opportunity to heave ourselves onto a moving bandwagon.
The juggernaut that is pàdel is impossible to ignore, and anyway we didn’t want to; it’s a worthy addition to the pantheon of racquet sports, and we leapt at the opportunity to do it justice.
I am a recent acolyte, having (finally!) played last spring as I toured the Mediterranean. I learned the names of the shots, and the strategies behind them, if not how to actually play them—tennis habits die hard—as the Catalán Coast and the French Riviera sailed past in a blur of glass boxes and shiny paddles and blue carpets and satisfying “thwacks.” I came away with a healthy tan and an addict’s need for more.
The first issue of Pàdel is our paean to a sport that has emerged, fully formed, from relative obscurity to going concern. It’s at once a Cinderella, a Goldilocks, and—in this country—a Sleeping Beauty. We are honored to be here as it wakes up.
