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The paddle increases the avalanche, and for tennis clubs struggling financially, the construction of paddle tennis courts has proven to be a safe haven.
But when paddle sports applied for a place in the National Sports Federation, the Tennis Association stopped.
– If today we are not bigger than tennis, we will be bigger, says Per Carlsson in the Paddle Association.
Daniel Windahl during the Swedish Padel Open 2018 in Båstad.
There are shared opinions on when paddle sports came to Sweden. According to some, he was born in Båstad about ten years ago.
And according to others, it was already 1998, when Thommy Andersson carved a plywood track after discovering the sport on a trip to Marbella.
It is clear that it has grown strongly since then.
Soccer stars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Markus Rosenberg are two examples of enthusiasts with their own paddle tennis courts who have increased their interest. But the big reason the paddle has had such an impact is that the sport is so easy to exercise and therefore attracts ordinary athletes.
2017 was the great paddle boom and for each year the number of players has almost doubled. Regarding the reserved courses, 2017 had a little more than 98,000 reservations. In 2019, the figure was nearly 550,000, according to the Paddle Association.
“You just thought it was a fly and that it would die, but now it has shown that it is established.”
– You just thought it was a fly and that it would die, but now it has shown that it is established. There was also a request to become an Olympic sport, but the crown was lodged, says Per Carlsson, who sits on the board of the Paddle Association.
As paddle tennis has grown, the union has become increasingly known for deserving a place in the Swedish National Sports Association (RF).
Before the national sports meeting in 2019, a membership application was submitted, but it was rejected.
A strange decision, according to Per Carlsson, who was responsible for the application.
– The rejection was based on the fact that it was too reminiscent of existing sports, such as tennis and squash. All other points we find rye. Both the number of clubs and the number of practitioners. We are the fastest growing sport at the moment in Sweden and it has become a truly comprehensive sport. So it was a very strange decision, of course, we thought. It is not at all similar to tennis in many ways. We count the same and we have tennis nets, but that is probably the only thing in principle.
Paddle on the tennis court. The central court during the final of the Swedish Padel Open on July 29, 2018 in Båstad.
The tennis association, which is already a member of RF, was one of the unions that chose to abstain.
According to Per Carlsson, one of the reasons why the Tennis Association believes that the progress of paddle tennis has had negative consequences for the sport.
– Yes, we have understood it and I have also addressed it in a conversation with the Tennis Association. I felt that that was probably the main reason the tennis player didn’t choose to say yes to our app, but a bit of a coward lowered his voice. When you cast your vote, you send a signal to the other special associations that you are not fully aware of it. Although they declared in their speech that they supported us. I think we have agreed otherwise, he says and continues:
– We are one of the great players even. If you have more than 55 clubs in Sweden, you belong to a larger group and we are in that division. If today we are not bigger than tennis, we will be bigger than tennis. People decide for themselves.
“We are open to dialogue. but that’s the problem today. “
The president of the Tennis Association, Thomas Wallén, denies that the paddle boom was the reason to cast his vote.
– No, it was not. There were other reasons why. There was talk that we would go together and form a racquet league with tennis, squash, badminton and paddle tennis. The National Sports Federation wanted a bigger unit. It is easier to administer a pact than four different ones. There, the palette would return with a proposal in January, but nothing has happened to it. So I think it is up to the palette to take some initiative there. We are open to dialogue. but that is the problem today.
But they applied to form their own pact, how did you do it?
– Because the discussions were about joining as a racket union, we decided to abstain. That is what we would discuss, he says.
Davis Cup match between Sweden and Chile at the Royal Tennis Hall in March this year.
Bålsta Tennis Club has had two tennis courts and a paddle tennis court for two months.
Mats Månsson, president of Bålsta TK, feels that the growth of the racket had a certain impact on tennis.
– I see that some of us, as tennis players, have gone rowing, so it certainly has an impact.
The decision to remove a tennis court and build a paddle court came when the neighboring four paddle courts were constantly reserved.
– If we can travel for a time in the boom, earn income and keep our employees, it is a good alternative, he says.
Is it profitable to row?
That’s. We have more income in that course than in the tennis courts somehow. If we hadn’t had junior training where people train and pay, rowing is much more profitable. If you have training activities and things like that, you start to be almost the same. The training business knows what it has to earn for the entire period. We do not know the palette from day to day. We only sell maturity depending on how people want to play.
Mats Låftman, president of the Royal Tennis Club, says that, for his part, it is not relevant to build any paddle tennis court, however profitable it is.
– I understand the short-term thinking of associations that eliminate tennis courts or expand with paddle tennis courts. But I don’t understand the point more than that if you have bad finances, you can make short-term decisions and maybe a little wrong. Those associations are also formed to safeguard tennis sports and train tennis players as our association is.
“” I don’t get the point more than that if you have bad finances, you can make short-term decisions and maybe a little bit wrong. “
The hoist highlights Spain as one of the tennis countries that is experiencing important consequences for the entry of paddle tennis.
– They have turned many tennis courts into paddle tennis courts. The union there feels that there is a crisis in Spanish tennis, we do not believe it here. We believe that Nadal and his compatriots will win everything unless Djokovic wins, but they see no growth. They attribute it solely to paddle tennis and that tennis brought another sport to its clubs and activities. But it is clear that they may have had a crisis anyway and that they are blaming something that can be mentioned, he says.
Do you see any risk for tennis in Sweden as interest in paddle tennis increases?
– Golf was an equally great risk to tennis when it had its giant boom. In a tennis club with young adults and newbies, they will certainly choose paddles because it is easier to play games, you can do almost the first hour you play. Then it is clear that he will eat tennis. But in the big perspective, I think all sports compete with each other.
Regardless of whether the racket continues to expand, Mats Låftman does not believe that the state of tennis is threatened.
– All sports have different characters and no matter how popular the poppy floorball is, we understand that we will not experience a floorball World Cup on par with the World Cup. And we won’t experience a Wimbledon on the paddle either.
