Padel has been extremely successful in the UK and since it was brought over from Spain, it has now been successfully integrated into the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) as of May 2019. Originating in Mexico, you usually play the game in doubles and on an enclosed court, which is about a third of the size of a tennis court. Padel is one of the most popular games in Europe at the moment, and there are an estimated 6 million players in Spain alone.
The LTA has published a report on the future development of padel, which looks at the current state of the game and to see what areas that need to be developed. A key focus of the report is the access to padel courts and to help increase the number of participants in the game, we need to offer more state-of-the-art padel courts. Padel courts are likely to triple by 2023. The future is bright for padel and with continued growth in our sport, we predict that Britain will in the future produce some of the best players in the world.
Where To Play Padel
To help increase the number of players participating in padel, the UK needs to invest money in opening new courts for the general public to use. Luckily for us, the LTA estimates that there will be roughly 400 new courts opening by 2023. This is great news for the grass roots of the game, because it will encourage people who have never picked up a padel racket to have a go.
Once the game is more accessible, you will see a more diverse range of players from different backgrounds which will increase the visibility of the sport. Furthermore, the more players you have playing padel will in turn organically grow the sport. This will lead to more investment from the main sporting bodies in the UK and encourage padel to be played in schools. This is great for the future of the sport.
Who Coaches Padel?
A part of the LTA plan to grow padel in 2023 is to implement plans to increase the number of coaches that are available. If you increase the number of coaches that are actively teaching padel it will help people to transition easier to the game, and raise the playing standards in the UK. If we make professional coaches available to a wide range of people, it will help with raising the profile of the sport and encourage local councils to invest in local, free to play padel courts.
Are There Any Padel Programmes?
So now we’ve invested in padel courts and coaching, it’s time that we put sport programmes in place to help develop our future players. This is the best strategy to grow the sport in 2023 as it will allow sporting councils to create clear paths on where they want padel to go and what we need to grow the sport.
Once we’ve encouraged more people to take up the sport, it’s time to encourage them to compete at the highest levels. Although the sport doesn’t have the same prestige as tennis, we at padelpadelpadel.com believe that this is the next sport you will see at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Things like televised games will benefit the game enormously.
