At school, I wasn’t the last person to be picked for the sports team, but even my own best friend wouldn’t have chosen me first, writes Sarah Newton.
And, in my twenties, during a holiday in Gran Canaria, I once managed to draw a small crowd while attempting to play tennis. For a fleeting moment, I wondered if they were admiring my technique.
They weren’t. They were fascinated by how often someone could repeatedly attempt to hit a tennis ball and keep on missing.
So, it’s fair to say that sporting prowess has never been a defining feature of my life.
Which is why it’s all the more surprising that I find myself on the padel court multiple times a week. But finally, in my fifties, I have discovered a sport that I enjoy and it’s been a revelation.
Since taking up the sport a few months ago, I’ve lost more than a stone in weight, made some new friends at my local club and reduced my metabolic age from two years older than my real age, to two years younger.
For anyone who hasn’t played, padel is essentially a version of tennis played inside a glass box, with a racket that looks like an oversized table-tennis bat.
It’s played as doubles, the court is smaller than a tennis court and, when you first watch people who know what they’re doing, it all looks deceptively straightforward.
And that’s the beauty of it. You can start playing and enjoying yourself relatively quickly, but the more I play, the more I realise how much there is to learn.
Firstly, the rackets are far more complicated than I realised when I bought the cheapest version Sports Direct had on sale, and I soon found myself considering whether I’m a round, teardrop or diamond-shaped player.
Then there’s the terminology – bandeja, vibora, chiquita – and half the time I don’t know whether people are talking about a new shot or ordering tapas.
There’s the footwork, the positioning and the small matter of learning when to attack and when to defend. Not to mention the alarming number of times I allow the ball to whistle past me, assuming (wrongly) my teammate was going to get it.
But every now and then, something clicks. I hit a shot exactly where I intended. I anticipate where the ball is going. I manage to return a shot off the glass without performing a pirouette and, for a few glorious seconds, I think I’m finally getting the knack of it.
Then I serve into the net.
But, and this is the main thing, I don’t even mind. Because even though I’m not very good, and after a few months I’m still playing beginners’ Americano and occasionally competing rather too convincingly for last place, I absolutely love it.
For perhaps the first time in my life, I’ve found a sport where being good at it seems almost beside the point. I’m not playing to win trophies or climb the rankings (which is lucky). I’m playing because I genuinely look forward to it – and, for someone with my sporting history, that feels like something of a minor miracle.
I’m very lucky in that Mickleover Sport’s padel courts are within walking distance and it’s been a beautiful summer for playing outdoors. I’m also blessed that Simon Burch has been patient enough to play with me every week – despite the fact that he’s a seriously good player with decades of tennis experience.
It’s a super social sport – you need four people for a game, so you’re constantly meeting and playing with new people.
And, while there’s plenty of competition, there’s also a lot of laughing – frequently at myself – and it’s one of those rare activities where 90 minutes disappears incredibly quickly.
And padel seems to be everywhere. Friends play it. Colleagues play it. Clients play it. People I haven’t spoken to for years suddenly reveal that they play it. It may, in fact, be becoming the new golf for networking – only you can play a game in an hour rather than disappearing for an entire afternoon.
And you learn a surprising amount about someone. Are they uber competitive? Can they work as part of a team? Do they remain calm under pressure? Are they gracious in defeat? Can they resist telling you where you’re going wrong? And, most importantly, will they admit that the ball was clearly theirs? It’s practically an assessment centre with rackets.
Somewhere along the way, though, padel has gone from being something I thought I’d try to something I genuinely miss if I don’t play for a few days. I check the app for socials, rearrange my diary to squeeze a game in and find myself asking everyone if they play.
I’m not sure at what point a hobby officially becomes an obsession, but I suspect playing several times a week and writing a blog about it probably means I’m getting close.
So, after more than 50 years of fairly compelling evidence to the contrary, it turns out I do love sport.
Now, if there happens to be a padel brand out there looking for some PR support, I think we can all agree I’ve already done the research. Anyone?
