Top equipment: rackets, balls, and shoes for champions

Thanks to the incredible growth of padel, the question of equipment is no secret for many practitioners. Everyone already knows the difference between a round, tear-shaped, and diamond-shaped racket; they already know that the ball is different from tennis, and also the shoes. But still few people know the habits of professional players regarding their equipment and similarly, what the various companies are doing to respond to the ever increasing demands of the market. Together with representatives of Wilson Italia – partner of Italy Major Premier Padel – we have taken a journey into the discovery of some of these secrets.

RACKETS

"When talk about rackets – says Andrea Peruzzo, marketing manager of the company in Italy – what really matters for the professional player is the feeling. I can remember when we did a test day with Marcelo Capitani, our testimonial for Italy, as he had just signed a contract with us and we had to choose a racket to play with. All he needed to do was to hit four shots with the Ultra Pro for him to understand that that was the ideal model for him".

More than the shape, the majority of players focus more on the foam used in the frame, which is a determining factor. "Yesterday – continues Peruzzo – I was speaking to Pablo Lijo, who explained to me that he plays better with a hard foam. This, however, is something common in professionals who have a sufficiently trained arm for them to reap the maximum benefit and potential from that type of racket. Instead, for many amateur players it's more complicated to use this type.

Indeed, the foam is one of the easiest aspects to intervene on to customise frames for professionals, thus rendering them more performing than other models on the market and so satisfy the demands of different typologies of player. But unlike other sports such as tennis, here we are dealing with something almost exclusively used by athletes of the highest level.

And how many rackets does a professional athlete in general need to get through an entire season? "Our star testimonial is Fernando Belasteguin: in 2021 he used about 20". They last about two months, but naturally for amateur players is a very different story indeed.

"It is very difficult indeed to give an exact lifetime of a racket because it depends on the frequency of play and many other aspects also. Let's say that if it is used a couple of times a week then a normal racket will last about a year. Undoubtedly is easier for the padel racket to wear faster than a tennis racket because the ball hits the frame directly and not the cords and then they can also break due to the impact with the netting or the partners racket".

BALLS

It is easy to notice the difference between a tennis and a padel racket, but with the ball it is a different story just using the naked eye. There is a huge difference, however, and not only because a tennis ball tube contains four and padel only three, and for the simple fact that it's difficult to lose a ball during a padel match. "Padel balls – says Peruzzo – are slightly softer than tennis balls due to a slightly lower pressure and a softer felt".

The official ball of the Italy Major Premier Padel is the Wilson X3, one of the two leading models of the brand. Launched onto the market a couple of years ago, Everybody likes it: in Rome, both professionals and amateurs by using it. It is rather a fast ball but not as much as the "speed" version which is even faster. And it is quite resilient, despite the widespread habit of changing ball at almost every match.

"Why is this? In padel, its all about rebound: even an amateur player notices that after it impacts against the walls, the ball doesn't rebound as before and therefore tends to substitute it. Even if it's only been used once". Luckily a tube contains three, and so its more sustainabe, and I suppose, less costly.

SHOES

Another sector of the market that almost all companies are focusing on is shoes, and they are creating specific models for the game of padel. Basically, until some years ago the shoes used for padel were a sort of restyling of some models studied for tennis, with some specific modifications made for the new sport. Today given the increasing request and therefore a greater potentiality of sales, important companies such as Wilson are focusing on creating ad hoc products for padel.

Regarding the fabrication – says Marco Goretti, commercial representative for Wilson Italia – we are dealing with completely different products in the sense that tennis and padel players use completely different types of movements. We carried out a specific study with top athletes: Wilson studied the movements of Belasteguin on court, analysing how and when he uses his feet, which part of the sole needs to support greater pressure, and so on. This is a complex process which will take us quite soon to produce the first shoes specifically designed for padel in every detail and for everyone.