I’m baaaack!! It’s Teemo here - I was out for a couple weeks for summer holiday, I hope you are reading this from a beachside padel club 🏖️

📺 What we’re watching: the Pro Padel League on YouTube

Today’s newsletter is 1068 words - a 6.5 minute read.

In this issue

🥇 Big Data: Galan is best player in the world

🏝️ Are padel camps worth it?

📸 Who is the most followed female player on Instagram?

👍 Poll of the week

Last week’s poll results

What padel specific training do you do?

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Cardio (1)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Pilates/yoga (0)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Resistance / weight-lifting (7)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ None (5)

🧨 Quick hits

Expanding a padel business beyond Spain: an interview with, Ricardo de las Heras, the founder and CEO of La Vida Padel. The Madrid-based padel club expects to have a turnover of roughly two million euros in 2024.

Bárbara Las Heras and Marta Marrero will pair up in the professional circuit and will debut in the Madrid Premier Padel P1.

Many top 50 players in the US-based Pro Padel League:  Ari Sánchez (world No. 1, Miami Padel Club), Pablo Lima (former No. 1, Flowrida Goats), Juan Martín Díaz (No. 1 for 14 years, New York Atlantics), Fede Chingotto (No. 8, New York Atlantics), Miguel Lamperti (former No. 2, San Diego Stingrays), Agustín Tapia (No. 4, Miami Padel Club), Martita Ortega (former No. 1, current No. 6, Las Vegas Smash),Fede Chingotto (New York, world no. 8), Martín Di Nenno (Orlando, world no. 5), Alejandra Salazar (Cancún, world no. 7) and Tia Norton (Las Vegas, Great Britain no. 2).

Perhaps the best bajada in the history of padel (Coello)

🏝️  Best 3 padel camps

Going to “padel camp” can be a great way to focus on improving your technique and getting into shape. But are the camps worth it?

Well we did some digging to figure out what these camps have to offer, who they suit, and help you decide if you should do them!

Top 3 camps

According to availability, reviews, reputation, quality of teaching, and level of facilities, we recommend the following camps:

1. M3 Padel Academy (Madrid)

2. Ferrero Padel Academy (Alicante)

3. Rafa Nadal Academy (Mallorca)

Price

Week-long, English-speaking camps range in price from about €500-€1000 with onsite/nearby room and board pushing the price up by €250-€500, for a total expected price between €750-€1500. You will need to factor in the cost of arriving at the facility as well to attain your expected total cost.

Training

Most camps provide some form of theory, physical training, match pairings, and spa activities.

How to choose

There are a lot of great padel centers here. You should go with the one that has the most exciting activities surrounding the camp for outings in the evenings, such as the beach, restaurants or whatever else you’re interested in from your vacation.

M3 Padel Academy (Madrid)

• 📅 Upcoming dates: 16-20 Sep, 23-27 Sep, 7-11 October

• 🎾 Experience: 2x 90 min padel sessions per day, 45 min PadelFit physical training per day, 45 min of padel theory (2x), Breakfast watching the training sessions of professional players.

• 📍 Location: Calle Delco, 5 28914 Leganés - Madrid

• 💰 Cost: €949 without accommodation. €1,299 with nearby hotel

Ferrero-Equilite Padel Academy (Alicante)

• 📅 Upcoming dates: Sunday to Saturday, contact for scheduling.

• 🎾 Experience: Large 20 year old tennis and padel center. 1.5h of padel in the morning M-F. 1h of padel in the afternoon M-F. Use of our fitness training facilities and pool

• 📍 Location: Paraje Casas de Menor, 44 03400 Villena - Alicante (Spain)

• 💰 Cost: €1035 with full board at onsite Hotel Rural

Rafa Nadal Academy (Mallorca)

• 📅 Upcoming dates: Year-round, Sunday-Sunday

• 🎾 Experience: 12h of padel training (2h/day). Teacher student ratio 1:3. 5h hours of group fitness training (M-F). Free access to the Fitness Centre and instructor-led activities. Free access to the wellness spa and pools.

• 📍 Location: Ctra. Cales de Mallorca s/n, Km 1,2, 07500 Manacor, Illes Balears, Spain

• 💰 Cost: €523 without accommodation

Testimonials from campers

🏋🏻‍♀️ Ladies of Instagram

Are you keeping up with the top followed female players on Instagram?

1. Bea González 337M followers

2. Marta Ortega 242M

3. Delfi Brea 218M

4. Alejandra Salazar 168M

5. Gemma Triay 160M

🥇 Big Data: Galan is the best player in the world

Galán has won six of the twelve titles he has played for this year . He won the first tournament of the season in Saudi Arabia with Juan Lebrón. Then, after his separation from the Andalusian and his union with Fede Chingotto, he has won another five titles in Brussels, Seville, Mar del Plata, Rome and Genoa. The Spanish-Argentine couple has become the kryptonite of Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia who dominated the circuit in 2023.

Now, facing the second part of the season, Ale has the challenge of taking the number one spot from the Golden Boys who dominate the International Federation ranking. The Spanish player is in third position with 12,729 points, just 71 behind Tapia and 1,275 behind Coello. If he were to achieve this, he would regain the world padel crown, an honorary title that he already achieved together with Lebrón for three consecutive seasons.

🏝️ Dream court of the week

🇬🇧 Padium, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom

You’re a banker and want to play padel? We got you covered. The posh Canary Wharf-based Padium is nestled between the glass of 100 floor skyscrapers and has 7 indoor + 1 outdoor courts, a pro shop, bar, lounge, and slick changing rooms.

📺 What to watch

🇺🇸 Pro Padel League’s 2024 Event 3 in San Diego

Tune in on YouTube at @propadelleague or one of the providers below.

PPL scoring is comically confusing. Here’s an overview:

• Teams are split into 2 groups of 5 pairs - each will play every team in their group once

• Groups are determined by past performance

• The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals

• Semifinal winners will advance to the final, and the losers will play for 3rd and 4th place

• Men’s and women’s doubles will be best two out of three sets (golden point) with a 10-point tiebreak (in-lieu of a 3rd set)

• The mixed doubles match is one-set (golden point) with a tie-breaker at 6-6