The opening of padel tennis centres can potentially develop future champions in both conventional and padel tennis, according to those behind a new facility in Aberdeen.
A padel tennis facility, consisting of two courts which are covered by a canopy to protect them from the elements, has been opened in the Granite City’s Westburn Park by Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) president Sandi Procter and Sport Aberdeen chairman Tony Dawson.
Although it uses the same scoring system, padel tennis is played on a smaller court with softer balls and solid, stringless rackets.
The courts are enclosed and ball can bounce off the walls of the court like squash.
Padel tennis is a popular sport in Europe and South America and the LTA, Tennis Scotland and Sport Aberdeen – who have overseen the development of the new facility Westburn Park – are keen to grow it.
LTA chief Procter said: “The benefits are absolutely huge. The LTA took padel under our wing, unfortunately Covid came which meant we didn’t develop it as quickly as we might have done.
“But we’ve really been accelerating since. Padel and tennis can co-exist and the development opportunities are there for centres like Westburn and smaller tennis clubs to have padel existing alongside tennis.
“We’ve found that tennis players will enjoy playing padel as well, but new players are enjoying coming in to play padel.
“You will get new padel players, some of whom will play tennis, so the opportunity for talented players to emerge via padel is there.
“But we’re also hoping we get some padel champions. It’s growing around the world and the top end of padel has its own champions and following.”
Participation on the rise
Procter believes introducing people to padel tennis can also have benefits for tennis as the LTA looks to build on the success of the likes of Andy and Jamie Murray at the highest level in the sport.
She added added: “There are two sides to growing the game: the facilities have got to be there and secondly it’s what sort of programmes you run on them.
“You can’t just build courts and expect things to happen on their own.
“The LTA are in partnership with loads of operators and local authorities who run programmes at the centres and drive and promote both games.
“There’s a lot more to be done on top of just putting down the courts.
“That pressure (to grow the game) never ends. Over the last couple of years participation in tennis has grown enormously.
“The LTA have done a brilliant job of getting people playing through various initiatives.
“As a result or participation is the highest it’s been since 2017 and now we’ve got to keep all of these players going.
“I can’t help feeling the more people that play the more chance you’ve got.”
More new centres on the way
Tennis Scotland CEO Blane Dodds was also present at the opening and says more padel tennis facilities are in the pipeline across the country.
Dodds added: “There are 18 million people around the world playing padel now.
“It’s a great opportunity for Tennis Scotland as the governing body working with the LTA and local partners like Sport Aberdeen and the council to develop facilities that are in line with market trends.
“We’re still driving tennis and tennis is growing massively, but padel gives that added opportunity for kids to get into the game at an early level.
“It’s easier, the rallies are longer, the balls can bounce off the back wall. Older players like it as well because it’s a smaller space to cover and it’s a very sociable sport.
“We’re delighted to be launching two new courts and we’ve got many more in the pipeline across Scotland working with our local partners.
“What it does for young children is give them an early opportunity to develop hand-eye coordination which is vital for tennis.
“Padel courts can be used for mini tennis coaching and sessions as well so there are huge opportunities there.
“The more children playing padel at a young age the better they’ll be in terms of hand-eye coordination and the further advanced they’ll be if they start playing tennis.
“It’s complimentary, it’s not a recognised route to performance tennis but it will certainly help.”
‘Sport for all’
Sport Aberdeen have overseen the development and building of the facility during the last three years.
Chairman Dawson said: “The ethos we have at Sport Aberdeen is ‘sport for all.’
“Get people interested at the grassroots and we want people to be playing padel.
“We’re keen to give people more choice. I’m very strong in my view that youngsters should not be pushed into a specific sport at an early age.
“They shouldn’t be just concentrating on football until they’ve seen what rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, swimming and other sports are like.
“Giving people more choice is better and if they have that choice you’re more likely to have people participating at a later age.”
