Tennis Shouldn’t Promote Padel at Its Own Expense
Let’s be clear—football isn’t promoting rugby. You won’t see football games showcasing rugby at halftime or replacing goalposts with rugby posts. Why? Because rugby is an exit route from football. Sure, you can play both, but with the constraints of time and money, most people will just choose one.
Yet, here in the UK, tennis is actively promoting padel, with grants, funding, and a national plan to grow the sport. Padel is often presented as a complementary sport to tennis, promising new members and income for clubs, but at what cost?
More and more tennis courts are being converted into padel courts. More and more players are choosing padel over tennis. As a tennis coach, I’m struggling to see how padel truly benefits tennis in the long term. How does the national governing body justify pouring resources into what is essentially an exit route from tennis?
Sure, padel is exciting and offers some quick wins for clubs, but by focusing so much on it, we risk diluting the growth and focus on tennis itself. Why are we putting so much effort into promoting another sport that, in many cases, is pulling players away from tennis?
It’s time to rethink this strategy. Tennis deserves the spotlight and the investment to ensure its growth, rather than handing over courts and players to a different game altogether.
#TennisVsPadel #ProtectTennis #TennisDevelopment #FocusOnTennis #PlayerRetention
