Mexico, Spain and Argentina were the three countries that consolidated the paddle around the world. This story begins to be written in the 60s, although, years ago, the United States would begin the story.
If the paddle for something has highlighted in recent years, it is for its vertiginous growth in international popularity. Among continents, the history of the paddle is also told, an involvement of three countries that has culminated in the settlement of the paddle as a sports practice.
ORIGIN OF PDEL
Who created the paddle?
Until reached paddle as we currently know it several centuries had to pass. The back of the paddle They date back to the end of the 19th century. In the United States, Frank Beal decides to modify a tennis track with the end to facilitate the teaching of this sport to the little ones. The simplification of the game also involved using a puma rubber ball and a wooden shovel.
When Frank Beal moves to Manhattan, he will continue to expand the changes in dimensions initially promoted in Michigan. A couple of years later, in the neighborhood of Scardale, New York, some tennis clues with side bars are adapted to avoid ball loss and strains are incorporated. The last big change of this modality was to introduce a wood and sand platform that allowed the snow to be removed during the winter and play the rainy days.
The model devised by Frank Beal (Paddle Tennis) and its subsequent rehabilitation in New York (Platform Tennis) feel the foundations of the story of the paddle.
What year did the paddle invented?
The first versions of the paddle settle in the United States around the 30s. However, in Mexico a fact arises that will mean the true birth of this sport.
The history of the current paddle has a name and surname: Enrique Corcuera. The Mexican entrepreneur decided to walled his 20 -meter -long runway and 10 meters wide to prevent vegetation from occupying part of the land. Using the traditional tennis score standards, the new sport acquired popularity among the friends of Corcuera, among which Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg was.
Prince Hohenlohe was the founder of Marbella Club, an enclave where he built the first two clues in Spain. The Costa del Sol meant the reference point for the expansion of the paddle. People of great renown went to this place every year. And among these visitors was the Argentine businessman Julio Menditngui who finally exports the idea to Argentina and the rest of Latin America countries.
What were the first paddle blades like?
The first paddle blades were made of wood. The two modalities that were developed in the United States (Paddle Tennis and Platform Tennis) They dispensed with the ropes in the rackets and shortened their handle. In such a way, that the first version of the paddle blades had a design more similar to that of a beach shovel rather than the blades we currently know.
From these first shovels it is also worth highlighting its weight. Despite their little thickness, the first paddle blades exceeded 380 grams, something that between the blades of Padel Proshop It is unthinkable.
Although the wood fells the predominant material, over the years other materials such as aluminum or resin were introduced until the improvement of the Pallas of nowadays.
When did paddle blades change?
Paddle blades were changing little by little throughout the last two decades of the twentieth century. Precisely in this period, carbon or fiberglass acquire an important role. Around the 90s brands such as Sane incorporate the rubber into their blades, after it many other brands followed their steps.
With the arrival of the 21st century, technology ended up transforming the paddle blades of the previous period.
First paddle track in the world
The world's first paddle track according to the current paddle is the track built by businessman Enrique Corcuera in his home in Acapulco. The track enjoyed dimensions 20 meters long and 10 wide. The walls of the funds were about 3 meters high and the side walls one less. The network was located in the center of the track and on the sides two accesses for the players were facilitated.
Padel story in Spain
Who brought the paddle for Spain?
The precursor of the paddle in Spain was Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who in 1974 builds the first 2 paddle tracks in Marbella. Gradually, the sport of Mexican origin was popularized among the visitors of Marbella Club.
Alfonso de Hohenlohe was a great friend of Corcuera and among one of the many visits of the aristocratic class to the house of the Mexican in Acapulco, the Spanish businessman fell in love with the paddle. On his return Spain, Hohenlohe introduced modifications to the clues present at the club, but this was not enough, so in 1974 he builds the first two paddle tracks in Spain. As a particularity, these two tracks had wire gates that completely covered both sides.
When did you start playing paddle tennis?
Paddle growth and practice in Spain was gradual. After the construction of the first two paddle courts in the country, sport is popularized through the organization of tournaments.
At the end of the 90s, the number of paddle tennis courts is multiplied and, together with it, the number of paddle players. Catalonia, Andalusia or the Basque Country are examples of other communities that also installed paddle tracks.
Likewise, when political figures, businessmen, athletes and journalists began to practice paddle, their growth shot. One of the most popular examples is the case of former president José María Aznar. In their period as president the media covered some of the informal parties of the former president and the paddle reached millions of homes that still did not know of their existence.
Other key figures for the expansion of the paddle in Spain was Manolo Santana. The Spanish tennis player organizing tournaments on the Costa del Sol caused more and more clubs to want to have his own paddle courts.
The story of the paddle continues to rewrite. In this last decade, the paddle has become one of the most practiced sports in Spain. One of the reasons for its expansion has been the installation of increasingly and more paddle tracks and, of course, by big names of the paddle that have ended up popularizing a sport in full world expansion.
