100 Games of Padel

6-0 6-1 6-0 Rating: Seal Clubbing (given) Venue: Playtomic Barn Father's Day but I tried to fit in a Padel game. First attempt didn't work, we got up to 3 players. One left for another game, got up to 3 again but the clock ran out. Second attempt there were two lower level players so I joined on the opposite side. Then the guy I played with the last time at Playtomic joined and I kinda felt a bit anxious for our opponents. Not many games, ratings quite low, the signs were that they would be raw. And they were. I played smart, controlled Padel and my partner had a great close range smash that closed out the points. First set was over very quickly, second was a bit trickier, we were 0-1 down and on star point before running away with it from there. 3rd Set also quite quick. There were a few games where it got to deuce but we managed to close out from there. Really hot though! Because of experience, We/I didn't have to run that much but our opposition were ran ragged and flagg...

6 -2 4-6 0-1 Rating: Curate's Egg Venue: Centre Court So near yet so far. 3 players at a similar level and 1 a little bit below meant that we switched teams at each set but the result was never really in doubt each time. Still it was good to play with the OG of work padel and also to help the less experienced player get 4 games on our set together. You can tell that the rallies went on for quite a while but it was usually an unforced error that finished it.  We had one deuce in the last set that must have went on for 12 Deuces. Given the heat, everyone was tired at that point.  So it was good but it's a shame when one player is lower than the rest, they end up feeling a bit dispirited when it's not all on them. There was one at 4-4 in the second set when I tried to send a serve return parallel but the serve had spin, it just hit the fence and I just knew that game was over. My partner was good for 2 unforced errors a game so if I added to the tally then it was usually curta...

  6-2 6-1 6-3 Rating: Lovely if a bit mushy Venue: The Beach Playing with people from work, we rotated the teams after each set and I managed to win all three sets. Yaaaaaasss. After forgetting my racquet last week and being forced to use a random one, I took my old racquet today (with fresh overgrip) to try out. It's a pretty basic Kuikma Comfort compared to my usual Kuikma Carbon Hybrid. Still shouldn't make a difference right? It was mushy and underpowered. Like seriously. I lost the first two games while I adjusted to it and my partner held serve in the third game singlehandedly pretty much. Still once I got used to it, it was fine. I just tried to keep the point alive, avoid unforced errors and be a platform for my partners. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, some cracking shots from everyone involved on a nice day and where we managed to fit in 3 sets into the hour. I don't think I had any stunning shots but my consistency was my strong point. The focus in this game was to ...

6-1 4-6 6-3 Rating: Absolute Cinema Venue: Playtomic Barn I really like a Sunday night game of Padel as a way of squeezing all the juice out of the weekend. I had nothing planned but saw an hour long game with two guys I'd played with before a long time ago. Usual Partner couldn't make it so it was left up to chance and the partner of the guy with the broken glasses scooped up the spot. This was excellent as I thought his rating was much lower than it should have been and he had some excellent smashes when we played against them. Down to business and my partner arrives literally straight from another game, maybe thinking that he was going to have a nice wee hour long knockabout but instead he walked into a 90 minute epic. We started off very very strong and soon raced to a 5-0 lead, our opponents got a game back (on Silver Point) but we managed to serve out the set. I was playing left side and playing very well, lots of passing shots, accurate lobs and lots of overhead winners....

6-2 3-6 6-0 Rating: Kinda Fast Fours Venue: Centre Court Following that frustration I was eager to play.  So eager that I left my racquet at home and was using one of the "club" ones. I picked the least destroyed and set about it. On analysing the video of my Set Horriblis I thought that my ground strokes were powder puff and so that was the thing I was concentrating on. land it on or behind the service line. 60% of the time it worked 100% of the time. Especially initially, I was able to take the net with ease on the back of deep ground strokes. My partner initially was one of the guys in El Classico and he played well after some initial overhitting. Was surprised we wrapped up the set so quickly against my usual partner and the cricket player Padel Player. Second set, we swapped teams and I was with the cricket playing Padel Player. He has a habit of keeping the racquet by his side and then heaving a lob to silly mid wicket. but he tends to back further and further up agains...

3-6 6-0 4-2 Rating: Frustration Venue: Playtomic Barn Played at Playtomic and the first set was without a doubt the worst I have played in a long long time. Powder puff, unforced errors, broken in 3 service games. Me and my partner played absolute trash. Start of the second set, we are 2-0 up and disaster, our opponet's glasses fall off and snap clean in half. He comes back 12 mins later with some tape on them but by that time the game is gone, we only had 60 mins. We spanked them in that set (at some points the guy played without his patched up glasses) 3rd set we had very little time to play, should have done a tiebreak but I thought that it was harsh on the guy with the broken glasses. Was happy to enter no result. We play out the set and SHOCK run out of time. Scores get entered, it's marked as a draw and I lose points because we should have beaten them.  I'm just glad it's over, 60 mins isn't long enough there. the 12 minute delay was ridiculous, I played absol...

6-0 6-6 (7-5) 4-1 Rating: A game of two halves Venue: Centre Court El Cassico and we started on a flyer. first set was done in 11 minutes. Then I switched to the Left and started showboating/experimenting. Got punished and we were 0-3 down I think after serving first.  we went on a bit of a run and but got broken to hand them a tiebreak which we managed to put away. first set - Aggressive from both of us, taking the net and the game by the scruff of the neck second - I showboat, it goes against us, partner starts to spiral a bit Grip was also needing changed but I thought I could get one more match out of it. wrong. If it feels like it needs changed then it does.

   5-7 6-6(?) something Rating: Potato Salad  Venue: Centre Court Played againts Super Aggressive opponent, initially in a fast fours, each with tow less seasoned players. As it was working we just kept the teams going. 2nd Set I can't remember the score as we were pushed for time but no one had the court after us. It was a bit scatty but I think my team edged it. I had a jumping smash that came all the way back that felt very good. no thought to it, just, "I need to hit the ball to the ground and then the glass and then it needs to travel a distance". Some good shots from everyone though and all had a great time. Padel, it's good fun as well as insanely frustrating and competitive.

  3-6 4-3 Rating: Wakeup  Venue: Beach Court Bit of a wakeup call, we were on the ropes against a less experienced opponent and a super aggressive opponent that I've played with and against loads. strangely, it's NEVER clicked when playing with that guy but he clicked today with the less experienced player who has a tennis background and fitness to spare. You can tell how long the rallies were when we didn't even finish two sets in an hour.  Overall though my partner was apologising for letting the side down which wasn't the case at all, it's a team game. What I would say is that he doesn't back down, he doubles down. So hit a shot to the net? next one will be even harder just to "make up" for it, then if that hit's the net, well, it continues. My overheads were terrible all match, slipped from winner to liability. There was one shot where the opponents both went for the same ball, clashed racquets like a sword fight, the ball shot up in the air an...

6-3 3-6 6-4 Rating: Solid  Venue: Playtomic Barn See ball, hit ball. I really relaxed with overheads in this game and the payoff was immediate. First proper Por Tres and a win after a wee wobble in the second set. Serving was on point the entire match, I didn't get broken the entire match. Otherwise, one opponent was pretty dangerous throughout and the other faded as his confidence kinda drained away.  They were both pretty good at gaining and keeping net and it was only when we started to not just give it to them that we came back. The final set was anyones. 4-4 then we broke for 5-4 and I served it out for the win. Adidas RX Speed balls and 20c heat felt really nice, the balls absolutely flew and were a lot easier to defend due to the hang time they got. Nice game, Nice guys, It's good to go and meet new people and find they are OK.