100 Games of Padel

4-0 3-4 4-2 Rating: unexpectedly amazing  Venue: usual venue (centre court) Report What a treat! Work game with players of different experience but sharing the same enthusiasm. Just an absolute fantastic game from start to finish. Only time for 3 mini sets (switching partners each time) as the rallies and games were long. There were no games that went to a ridiculous Deuce (X4+) but most games were pretty close and everyone got a chance to shine. My goal going in was to continue the no lob, flat return policy but also to be more patient. Had a thought that maybe it's not about me being crap at finishing a point but that I am finishing points too soon, leading to unfinished points or unforced errors.  So it was a case of playing one more shot rather than trying to kill it too quickly. Not sure it worked 100% but it made for a better game! First set was a quick execution, me and the most experienced player ran through it in record time Second set, my opponent was unplayable, jus...

 6-3 6-4 6-1 Rating: close but with cigar Venue: usual venue (the beach) Report: Ah, the return of El Classico 15 hours after the previous match. Match was ripe for a booby trap but we managed to avoid it. Absolutely flew into a 3-0 lead before getting pulled back to 3-3. Absolutely no concerns or mental wobbles and we pulled away to a 6-3 first set. Second set went on for longer with lots of long rallies. Not to blow my own trumpet but I did some fantastic defending both at the back and at the net. Id forsworn lobs to work on flat serve returns and Chiquita's and it worked ok, approach got junked under pressure. Hit some cracking Bajadas again, if you get there early and commit in your head then it's an easy shot. Loving it just now. Oh and hit a picture perfect Bandeja right into the corner, one of those ones when you hit it, you just know that it's a peach. They are few and far between for me at the moment but I'll remember that one as a template of "what good l...

6-3 6-4 6-2 Rating: Power up Venue: Playtomic Barn Report: Comfortable victory for me and usual partner at the Playtomic barn against two people we've not played against before. We were all much of a muchness on rating level so it was nice to not feel up against it. Both the opposition knew each other through friends of friends and were both nice guys. However, there was a tiny bit of needle in the match with one of the opposition with some discussion over some balls being in or out and a comment of "ha ha, missed" when I put an easy ball into the net. Tbh if you know me then you'd know that was a daft thing to say. I didn't suddenly become Galan but my overheads improved in speed and aggression after that. Me and usual partner took off flying and were swiftly 3-0 up, I played on the right and tried to build on my Americano consistency, by giving him reassurance and a platform, he wasn't trying to hard and had some lovely points and games where he took the tea...

Americano - Finished 2nd of 8 Rating: Good fun despite crap balls  Venue: The Hidden Show courts Report Always a treat to come to (imo) the best courts in the city, high roof, great surface, just a treat. Intermediate Americano but intermediate doing some heavy lifting I think ha ha. Usual Americano format of 8 people over 2 courts for 90 mins. Each match was for 24 points with people serving for 4 points. Started off with 2 x 12-12 draws as it took me a while to warm up, the balls were dead Dunlops and just not bouncing in the cold. I'm a bit of a show pony and need fresh balls so that they bounce higher and I have more time to get to shots. Once I settled in I think I lost one match and won the rest, just concentrated on being consistent and leaned into the lob as people couldn't deal with it. The guy that won was tactically good and had a smash that was unreturnable in the conditions. When I played with him we won 20-4.  2nd was a fair result think. I was 5 points behind th...

  No score Rating: Family Padel! Me and my kids Venue: The Local - 60mins on the Sandy Court Report from my 7 year old. Good shots Like I hit my dad right in the goolies. It was really funny.  He was like running off crazy and he did some great shots as well. But I also smashed it up against the wall and it went flying out of the court so many times About the game I think it was a tie cuz we each had 4040 and our time was up when we finished so we so then we got the set so we actually won against my sisters.  Final thoughts. I hit it to the other court like seven times and they kept throwing it back. My sister just hit a random guy's knee  with the ball. like what? it was so weird I was like bro. What the heck. I literally scored with like a backhand volley which was really good and also a power volley.

3-6 5-5 Rating: Curate's Egg Venue: The Local - 60mins on the Sandy Court Report Didn't manage to fit in two sets which shows how long the games went on for. There was one ridiculous game that has about 8 Deuces as both teams couldn't win 2 points in a row. I was partnered with one of the Cricket bros and we started well, fell away mid match and recovered. I did make a few mistakes on overheads as I was still following my no lob policy and having played with my partner a lot I know that if I make one unforced error in a game then that game is lost. He makes a lot of unforced errors so if you add to it....then curtains. But he played well in parts and my unforced errors didn't help. Have to say it's annoying to be love - 40 down on your serve and you've only touched the ball to serve. So yeah it was more a training match and I was a bit more selfish in playing the shots I wanted to practice as to be frank, I'm not going to get better by playing percentages an...

6 -1 3-6 6-1 Rating: agression Venue: The Local - 60mins on the Sandy Court Report Fired up to play more aggressively, I played this match with work colleagues with 2 things in mind.  Play no lobs - it's too easy and too predictable for higher level players  Take everything in the air - I've a bad habit of letting lobs bounce and then playing usually another lob. It went pretty well tbh, we rotated partners each set.  The set i lost it was 3-4 before we got broken and the opposition saw out the set. Really happy with the way I played tbh as the opposition were a mixture of Padel type players, baseline battlers. The other players noticed my new found aggression which was nice. Especially when I'd hit a couple of really fast viboras that were highlight reel stuff. The one thing that really stood out is how easy it is to play a Bajada when you are 100% committed to it. My no lob approach meant I had to play them and while they are technically atrocious (more a forehand than ...

3-6 4-6 5-7 Rating: Seal Clubbed Venue: Playtomic barn Report: Good Game, bad for the ranking, nice chaps. So after watching the Riyadh Premier Padel finals I was fired up for a game despite being a little tired. Managed to jump onto a Playtomic game that already had 2 people and just waited for one last person to turn up.  Lo and behold someone did and it looked like it would be me and a 1.1 vs 0.5&2.9 But.....we couldn't accept the 2.9 in Playtomic for some reason, the match expired but we setup a private match with the kicker that 1.1 and 2.9 would be on the same side as they knew each other.  Shit. But to be honest, I really liked playing with my partner, nice guy, tactical, much better than a 0.5 rating.  I think I played below my level and let him down. I was far too timid which played right into 2.9 guys hands, he's an aggressive player who I've played before, decent smash, covers the court well. We closed the scores a bit when we stopped lobbing in 2.9s direct...

 Usual haunt and on the beach court again. Now with wet surface where the room had leaked to accompany the copious sand. A nice friendly work game. Me and aggressive player facing off and swapping between 2 other partners for a set each.  Honours even as one of the cricket bros had a really good game and was on the winning side on both sets. Delighted for him as he always wants to play but rarely wins.  Again, competent without being great, I've definitely plateaued and need something to move my game to where I realistically think it could be. Basically to be able to finish points easier and dictate rallies.

 Oh I'd been looking forward to this one. So I mainly play at work and quite a variation in standard has emerged over the past year. It's all friendly and good fun but games can be curtailed in quality if there's a real mix of standard. This was all a good level with me as the weakest player. Opposition were the aggressive player and the good tennis player while I was partners with a very experienced guy who always seems to be in control of himself and the court. Id got some Adidas RX balls and tbh, they took a bit of getting used to faster than I am used to, especially fresh out the tube. I don't mind admitting I was nervous as well given this was a bit of a higher level and I felt the lowest skilled player. The games in the first set were tight but we were on the wrong end of some deuces and were 3-0 down. The rest of the set was close though and I think it was 3-6 or 4-6. I played on the right and played pretty well but the opposition were better. Second set we were ...

Usual venue on the beach court again. Comfortable win with usual partner. Needed a bit of a break I think so a full week without Padel meant I was raring to go. Paired with usual partner against the Cricket Bros. One multi athlete fit guy that plays tennis and another guy who is a good defender but gets in his head a lot. Realistically there was no way we were going to lose this so it was a bit of a loosener and a hidden training session. I concentrated on serve returns, to build up confidence in low over the net returns to the body. We flew into a lead in the first set before they got a couple of games back. One of the opposition had a way of over celebrating our unforced errors which wound up my partner.  Second set was a wee bit closer as I had switched to the left for a change. Again, never in danger of losing the set though.  Nice run out and needed after some bad results.

Catching up with a backlog, can't remember the scores of this game but it was a pretty comprehensive loss. Played at the home venue on the beach court and it was just difficult. Opposition were same aggressive player as before and a recent convert who has a strong tennis background. Partner was my usual partner.  Groundhog day basically. Aggressive player smothered us at the net and his overheads have got so much better. I played ok without being outstanding while my partner was too anxious to win points and made a load of unforced errors.  My over riding feeling from this was that I am not as good as I want to be. Playing against super aggressive players is my Kryptonite as I can defend 3,4,5 times in a rally but still end up losing it.  Lots to think about after this game as it genuinely wasn't fun, my partner's head had gone 3 games into the match. On the plus side, while I couldn't lift him back up, I didn't get dragged down mentally either which has happened in...

3-6 6-3 Rating: A game too far Venue: The Local - 60mins on the Sandy Court Report: 5 games in 6 days is a bit much tbh. Maybe it was because I had played on the right contantly in all games. Maybe it was tired legs Maybe it was a hangover of the game the day before I played well below my level in this one. We had two players less experienced and me and another guy that were compatible. It just felt like cheating to send a decent lob knowing that there was an 80% chance that the more inexperienced player would send it to the net. I felt I was a level below my "peer" as well. We played on opposite sides and I can see a massive improvement in his game. Lost the first set in a blizzard of unforced errors. When I feel I have to compensate for my partner, I lose patience on points and lose focus as I am trying to think for them also. Second set we did enough to win comfortably. Spamming a lob for a cheap point didn't feel great though. I tried a few times to play a chiquita as...

3-6 1-6 2-2 Rating: Bad Day at the Office Venue: The Local - 60mins on the Premier Court Report: A game I'd been looking forward to a while as it was a definate step up in class in opposition for me and usual partner but it went much worse than expected. first kudos to the opposition, they played really well. one guy is a tennis player and so can return most things. the other pushes the net a lot but has really improved his defensive overhead game.  We just couldn't dislodge them from the net is the short story. My shots weren't harming them and even if I defend 3 or 4 shots, without getting them off the net it's one way traffic. As frustration set in, my partner was trying to hit winners from risky positions but he was feeling a bit under the weather so maybe looking to save energy. We didn't have much luck on our side, lobs an ich too long. Net cord gods not being kind. not winning a single deuce of many throughout the match. Out opposition though seemed to get ev...

 Score :  6-2 6-1 Rating: Pleased to win a set for my first set partner Venue: The Local - 60mins on the Sandy court Report: So there's one of my work colleagues who plays a lot of Padel, is a good defender and has improved over the past few months. His confidence is quite fragile and he seems to end up on the losing side. However, I played with him here and we won a set. First set he has won in ages. And he carried it, I was making tons of stupid errors when I was not being fridged. He just ground out point after point, was great to see. Second set, we swapped partners and I played a bit better but it felt like a "not great, not terrible" performance.

  Score :  6-4 6-1 4-1 Rating: a good runout Report: Usual Partner and I play semi regularly against another pair and it used to be really, really close hence the El Classico designation but..... Usual Partner and I have really upped our game whereas the other pair have plateaued a little through injury. So the game itself, we raced into a 5-0 lead before losing 4 in a row. I think it was due to being drawn into a tennis match of blasting shots from the baseline, trying to end points too quickly and a series of good games from the opposition. Compared to previous wobbles I had absolutely no fear that we wouldn't see out the set though. Second set reflected more of the flow of the game.  Good fun after the dissapointment of the previous game