This week I had Christoffer Granfelt, the founder of InstantPadel on the podcast, who makes padel accessible for the masses. It is really important for him to point out that he wants padel to grow from grassroots up to the highest level. He is an entrepreneur from Sweden with a clear vision and his company, InstantPadel (which is in the transition of changing their name, we will explain why), came up with a brilliant idea that padel and pickleball (yes, pickleball), could be played on one court! Great chat, worth a listen!
With a background in finance and having lived across Europe in Paris, London and Milan, I spoke to Francesco Belloni, the founder of Padel Hero padel facilities in Italy and an investor in New York's first padel club: Padel Haus. He has seen the world, speaks English with an American accent and he said is a 100% Italian! Great chat, have a listen!
Tito Moreno has been there since the beginning of padel in the US! As an enthusiastic kid he got to play his first competitive match against Agustin Tapia and he didn't disappoint! He came up with the brilliant full turnkey service company, AMET International and still trains every day to become one of the players who will represent the USA in the 2032 Olympics in padel! Really interesting chat and definitely worth a listen to the longest episode there has been in the podcast's tenure! undefined
Gilles is one of the 50 most influential people in the padel scene! When you hear how measured he is when he talks about padel, you can just feel that he oozes confidence, while he has seen so much in padel! He know MATCHi inside and out, and the same applies for Playtomic. He is now a freelance helper around the padel world, and in general just an absolute gem of a person! When will Mongolia become a proper padel nation? If you listen closely you will know! undefined
Tomi is the owner of the channel, Padel in Hungary, and he is a real padel enthusiast! He is a national team player, coach and in general, lives and breathes padel! We are planning on doing quite a bit of content together, so the first step is to get to know him! Please welcome him with open arms, he definitely deserves it! false
Alfonso Patacho is the most humble and kind hearted individual I came across in the padel world! Not only is he one of the best players in the UK, but also has a strong Spanish heritage which makes him formidable on the padel court! He was a bit reluctant to come on the pod, but boy was it worth it. Great guy and a really interesting insight on where the British are in the world of professional padel! false
Jesper is a real renassaince man as we say in Hungary, but in England we would call him a 'Jack of all trades'. He won 2 WSOP bracelets in his previous life, which I can certainly appreciate a lot as an enthusiastic poker player and nowadays he is dedicating a large chunk of his life to padel! Co-owner of Rocket Padel and great senior competitor, he already won the Euro Champs in the over 40s and now focusing on making Rocket Padel the UK's biggest padel club chain! It was great to meet him in person and hope you enjoy this episode! false
One of the guys who I definitely wanted to get on the podcast was Joan Suasi, who is the commercial director for the Rafa Nadal Academy! He is a humble, down to Earth guy, who knows a lot about how to run an academy, while the pressure was always going to be massive, when you are directing in some capacity the goat's academy! They are putting a lot of focus on the padel side of things, and they have some exciting plans ahead! Today is the last but one episode on the Padel Summit Week series, and tomorrow is the grand finale! From next week we are back to normal! Enjoy this episode! false
Bill is one of those guys, who has been there from the beginning! We instantly connected even before the Summit, and we definitely wanted to sit down and have a chat about what he has been doing in padel for the last 30+ years! He told me what he has experienced and why he thinks padel is going in the right direction! He even called himself a Tyrannosaurus Rex of padel, which I think isn't suiting, but hey, he definitely knows what he is doing. false
As promised, Mauri Andrini came on the pod and spoke about his journey within padel! Mauri is an ex professional player who played with the likes of Sanyo Gutierrez or Fernando Belasteguin (Bela) the goat, himself. He is an absolutely amazing coach, who is building something in English, which hasn't been done before! Amazing guy with an amazing agenda! false
Manu Martin definitely needs no introduction! The goat of padel tutoring and really approachable, great guy! I caught him at the Padel Summit, where sooo much is happening! We talk about his past, his present and his future! A must listen for padel enthusiasts! false
Loads of background noise, different atmosphere, quicker format! Live interviews are in, and who better to start it off with than with Ben Nichols, everyone's favorite PR person in the padel industry! Partly he is the reason I'm in this field, so we had a great chat and he was lovely to reach out about a live interview in his hotel's lobby! Innovation in the different areas, what is happening with the US and the UK padel scene, and is pickleball relatable to padel? false
Ben is doing something, which no one in the UK has done before and organizing The Padel Directory! One thing is that he instantly became a padel enthusiast, but he is such a great ambassador of the sport, that it was a privilege to have him on the show! As a sport fanatic and now converted padel freak, he has great insight on what is going on in the British padel and now the idea of The Padel Directory is not just an idea, but a reality. Starting on the 1st of June, please watch all the spaces!
This week was really special! Started off by speaking to Tom Farquharson, who definitely doesn't need any introduction, while he is one of those few guys who everyone identifies with padel! We met on the Padel Aid in the Padel Hub in Slough as well and shared a few games in the process. Tom is a junior Wimbledon doubles champion so we got into a lot of tennis, and the grind of the tour and also on how padel just got him an absolute new love! He is ecstatic doing The Padel School with his brother and also getting to the highest echelons of padel, with being in the selection for Team GB! Great treat for the weekend, have a listen! false
Nowadays it feels like Nikhil is everywhere! He is part of the best tutoring platform of The Padel School, he became the ambassador for Padel India, he is number 3 in the GB rankings and just established the R3 Agency, which is giving expert management to the British and International padel players! And he is just a humble lovely guy! I caught him in Alicante where he is training for the moment for the FIP Rise tournaments and the results just keep on coming! In my opinion, this was one of the most easy chats I had!
George Modler is exactly what UK padel needs. He is young, enthusiastic and full of ideas! He is the founder of the Golden Point Padel Event series, which are tournaments for beginners to intermediate players and he also came up alongside his partner Ben Harris to establish The Padel Directory! He is part of the 'Bristol Series' of us, Bristolians who fell in love with padel! Great lad, great chat, please do enjoy!
Andres recognized the niche in the United States to do an all-in-one management and booking software for racket sports a few years ago! Since then it became the main platform for racket sports players across quite a few countries! Their main focus is the club owner and they are doing everything they can to make the experience flawless! We touch on pickleball, tennis, padel and how's the current situation of padel in the US. false
This week's guest was a person who knows more about padel than almost anyone! An ex coach, ex club manager, club owner and now plays pivotal roles in the Malaga Padel Summit (21-23 of May) and the International Padel Cluster! He has great knowledge and insight in on several topics, like what padel needs to do to get into the Olympics and what to expect on this great convention which will be held in Malaga! More than worth a listen for every padel lover!
Roxy is padel royalty. She has played a pivotal role in the boom of the Bristol padel scene and she is now the Head of Padel of Rocket Padel, which is the most ambitious court provider of the UK with Swedish roots. She is an amazing squash player and getting significantly better in padel as well! Super fun personality with a lot of valuable insight! false
Double header alert! Geoff and Ryan from Novor wanted to come on the show quite a few months ago when their brand idea was more of an idea than anything else. Then (wisely), they said it might be a bit too early, but now since their actual launch, it was the right time to tell me about how to build up a completely new brand from scratch! We talk about their product, what padel means to them and how this idea came about! This is why you should go to Uni, you might meet your business pal later!