FOLLOWING weeks of hearing all about the thrills of padel from fellow sports reporter Archie Corbett, I decided it was time to try it out for myself – and now, I can’t believe I didn’t try it sooner!
I was graciously hosted by Island Padel’s co-founder and coach Scott Clayton this week. As a former doubles tennis professional who played at Wimbledon three times and achieved a world ranking of 107, Clayton then retired and transferred his skillset into padel, co-founding Island Padel and completing the Silver coaching qualification with Hello Padel Academy.
Now a “padel convert”, the passion he has for the game is clear to see on the court, as he brought a great energy to make for a perfect introduction to the sport.
Without further ado, let’s find out more.
What is padel?
“Padel is a doubles game, which people say is a mix between tennis and squash – but I feel it’s very much coming into its own,” said Clayton. “The scoring is the same as tennis, and the enclosed court with the walls brings the squash element into play, but it really is its own game, with its own tactics.
“With the doubles format, it’s a very social game which is quite easy to pick up quickly, which is what you want now. Above all, it’s a great way to stay active and have fun, all at the same time.”
Thought to be invented by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1968 after he modified his squash court to incorporate elements of platform tennis, courts initially used concrete walls and surfaces – later changed to the transparent glass as we see today, to improve the viewing experience and gameplay.
Since then, padel truly has taken off and gathered a huge amount of momentum to become one of the world’s fastest growing sports, with the sport’s governing body, the International Padel Federation (FIP), estimating that the game is played by around 25 million people across the globe, while courts are located in over 90 countries.
This immense growth has certainly carried over to Jersey, as Clayton detailed the local boom in popularity: “Island Padel started in 2021, so we’ve been operational now for five years. When we started, it was just two outdoor courts and about 20-30 active players in the Island – so, it’s been a long journey for us to get to this stage.
“People now see padel as this big thing, but obviously we remember what it was like when we first started, so it’s been really nice to see all of our hard work pay off and the communities that have been created off the back of that.
“We have an amazing team of coaches and staff down here, all committed to delivering a world-class facility for everyone. With my background in tennis, world-class facilities tend to come with a high membership cost, so it’s quite an elitist and exclusive thing – here, it’s all about giving back and making it all accessible, for everyone to enjoy.”
Island Padel’s approach seems to have aided this drastically, as the co-founder continued:
“Community is at the centre of everything we do. We’ve built a really great community down here, it’s one big family where everyone is welcome, whatever your demographic – male, female, young, old – anyone can play.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work to make the growth that we have, and done some amazing stuff in the process. We’ve gone into schools and delivered free programmes to over 2,500 kids among many other community initiatives and we operate in a way where we offer events to get people involved and engaged.”
After many years of playing professional tennis, Clayton has plenty of experience in the sporting landscape. Being exposed to so much has allowed the former pro to pick up a few skills and observations along the way, helping form the service he’s offering today.
“I played tennis professionally for many years and I was very fortunate to travel the world. I’ve seen what good looks like and what bad looks like, so it’s all about putting it together all into one thing, which I feel is done really well alongside my business partner,” added the Island Padel co-founder.
“Again, it’s trying to have this facility where people can come and feel welcome – even if they’re not playing padel, they can come down, have a coffee and feel part of something. It’s not like a membership though, so we’ve made a big club atmosphere without it actually being a club.”
Although Island Padel have already made great strides, there’s no sign of them resting on their laurels any time soon, with big ambitions for the future.
“Of course, we want to keep growing this thing, but everything will always be centred around the service that we provide,” Clayton continued. “So, it’s just about enhancing our service for the community and making sure they’re happy – the driving factor for us is to do what’s best for the community.
“There are so many demographics involved, from getting young people started and developing their game, up to those who are retired wanting to stay active and social and even to players my age who still want to compete, everyone’s catered for.
“We’ve done loads of great work with local charities and we hosted a bronze level event last year which was a great success – like I said, it’s all about giving back to the community and providing opportunities, and that’s what we want to continue to do.”
When explaining the success of Island Padel, Clayton was quick to mention the great support they’ve received on the journey, adding: “Jersey Sport have been helping us and corporate sponsors on the charitable side in Carey Olsen. Island Padel itself is exclusively sponsored by Rathbones, who have been amazing with us.
“Rathbones have been with us since the very start of the journey – before there was even a spade in the ground, they believed in the vision, they believed in the community that we were trying to build and their support has been absolutely incredible.
“To have people backing you like that is huge, it’s helped us massively.”
After having a session of padel, I absolutely loved it – it’s obvious why so many across the globe have become hooked!
Clayton said how you can make your start in padel, explaining: “To start, get in touch with us through our email, which you can find on our website: islandpadel.com. As it’s a pay and play facility with no membership, you can just book a court, hire out the equipment and one of the team would be happy to explain the rules, then away you go.
“In a world where health is a priority for most people, padel has that in abundance – you’re obviously staying active, while also socialising in a team environment. The better you get, the more intensive your rallies become, but that can be managed so that you’re still able to play whenever, no matter your age or level – you can see three generations on the court at one time!
“I always say for people to try it twice, as the first time you’re always unsure about everything. It’s important to get the right coaching first and have the basic understanding, but then you can organically grow from there.
“Whether you’re coming through for the first time or play four times a week, anyone is welcome. If you’re wondering what padel is all about, then please feel free to come down and one of the team will always be here to help you get started, facilitating you in any way required.”
If you’d like to make your start, then please visit their website, islandpadel.com.
Time to pick up the padel racket
Now, it was finally time to get my hands on the padel racket and try it for myself, bringing along a very special guest in Archie Corbett down to Island Padel, which is based at St Clement’s Sports Hub.
As Archie is known to be quite the player himself, even though it wasn’t really going to be competitive, I was keen to find out how I compared on the court. If my last experience playing tennis was anything to go by, let’s just say I wasn’t holding the highest of expectations.
From the off, Scott was incredibly upbeat and positive as a coach, which really did help a lot. I didn’t know how I’d fare, so his extra encouragement and detailed advice was vital for me picking up the skills so quickly.
We started off pretty simple, basically just to hit it straight back to him – easy enough surely! Archie went up first and, as expected, aced it, what a show-off! I was keen to follow that up in fitting fashion, and I genuinely surprised myself, as the shots were mostly accurate – maybe I’ve found my calling?
From those shots, Scott quickly made observations into how to improve. It wasn’t anything big at all, they were actually quite small tweaks in the grand scheme of things, but they made a serious difference.
We then went towards hitting off the back of the wall, which I was told would be quite tricky for a beginner. Once again, Archie went up first to show how it was done before I made my attempt. The first one for me got away from me let’s say, but Scott reminded me quickly of the technique, and with each shot I found I got better and better.
We then went to returning low shots – this got hard, even Archie showed some signs of struggle – before then moving into dealing with closing the distance. With both, Scott went into great detail to show the exact techniques, but, as a total beginner, I was never left confused or totally overwhelmed with information, no matter how technical the shot.
By the end of the 30-minute session, I simply couldn’t believe the vast improvement I had made. Going in, I was a complete novice, and by the end I was super eager to play more – all I was saying was how much I wanted to get back out there ASAP.
Through living in the area, I always went past wondering what all the hype was about, but it didn’t even take 30 minutes – I just loved it!
Have to give a huge shout-out to Scott and the team at Island Padel for hosting so well, and many thanks to Archie for helping show how it’s done, I guess he backed up all the talk in the office.
