EMMANUELLE B.’S REVIEW OF HER PADEL LESSONS IN MADRID
“I discovered ToPadel on the Internet while searching for a padel training camp in Spain for my very first experience and my initial lessons. I wanted to gain insight and technical skills from the Spaniards to establish a strong foundation. I’ve been playing Padel for three years near Toulouse, and I come from a tennis background. I didn’t want to carry over any bad habits from tennis. In France, I believe I’m at a level 6 on the scale typically used (or so I think… lol). I quit tennis in September, where I was ranked 15, to focus exclusively on Padel.
I got in touch with Thibault to organize an intensive week of padel training in Madrid. We settled on Madrid, specifically the Alcalá region, which is absolutely beautiful. The club where the padel lessons took place in Alcalá is just an 8-minute drive from this charming town. I arrived during the week of the WPT (World Padel Tour) in Madrid. Despite a packed schedule of padel lessons over 6 days, I managed to squeeze in an afternoon to watch the WPT in Madrid. It was fantastic!
So, I had 15 hours of lessons in total with 5 padel coaches from the Madrid region, including ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ, who is the coach of Barbara LAS HERRAS, ranked 14th in the world, Peter CONSUEGRA, who is 240th in the WPT, and Raùl, whom I saw multiple times. In the mornings, I had a 1.5-hour individual training session, and the same in the afternoons, every day. I also had a 1.5-hour group lesson with Robert, a local player.
Upon my arrival, my coach noticed that I was using the wrong Padel grips because I was still using tennis grips. This changed my game, and I will use all the advice I received to improve my skills and tactics. I will continue to take lessons to build on the fundamentals I learned in Spain. The key takeaways for me are playing defensively with a continental grip on both forehand and backhand, which I wasn’t doing before. Also, there are various grip changes for different types of smashes, like the vibora, bandeja, and lift; I didn’t realize you had to change grips so much, lol! Thanks to Angel for that.
I loved this training camp, especially with Angel, who knows how to convey his passion and provides valuable advice, always in good spirits. The lessons are dynamic and well-paced. I highly recommend ToPade l: don’t hesitate !”
