Back in October last year, we trained our oldest Certified Padel Coach [CPC] participant to date. Graham Ross, 69 years old and from Aberdeen, proved that age and having a hearing impairment wasn’t going to stop him from becoming a padel coach. As Graham said: “I think I’m quite unique given my age and hearing issues.”
We caught up with Graham to see how he is doing after completing the course last year.
Graham has been extremely busy having filled a coaching opportunity at Westburn Tennis and Padel Centre in Aberdeen, going to Barcelona for a week of training and attending the Scotland Senior Padel trials.
Having turned 70 in August, Graham is truly an inspiration, showing that in fact as the late Bert Mitchell said: “Age is No Bar to Padel”.
We asked him some questions to find out how he is finding his new coaching life.
GRAHAM: “Well after completing the course, I was offered some coaching at Westburn Tennis Centre. I coach there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday for a few hours. Classes tend to be social and are always busy, where we can have up to 10 participants at a session.
I spent a week in Barcelona with Hello Padel back in January, which is where I learned to play padel. My son lived there for 5-6 years and that’s where I first saw the sport and thought "I want to try that”.
‘How have you found coaching? What do you enjoy most about it?
GRAHAM: “To be honest, I love taking beginners, I think it’s great being able to open up this new game to them. Some people are enthusiastic from the start, some you have to coax them out of their shell.
In terms of coaching, I am fascinated by the padel tactics, strategy and positional play. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter how you get the ball back, as long as you get it over and are in the right position then you are hard to beat. People that are hard to beat, always know where to stand.”
‘Where do you see your coaching developing?’
GRAHAM: “Things have been so hectic with planning my retirement from the Oil and Gas industry. But going forward, I would certainly like to do more private coaching. On Tuesday lunchtime I take a group of ‘over 55’s’ but I tell them that is not age it is in fact height in centimetres.”
‘Did you achieve your goal of feeding 10 balls in a row?’
GRAHAM: “My feeding has improved a lot. Yes, I still make mistakes but then again everyone makes mistakes.”
‘What was it about the course that made you want to sign up last year?’
GRAHAM: “I was looking around and I wanted a course that had a Spanish feel to it as that's where I had first watched people playing padel. I think I just have this trust as the Spanish have been playing for so long and they all know what they are doing and do it at a high level.”
‘As we get closer to our next CPC at Edinburgh Park we wanted to ask what you enjoyed about it and why you would recommend this course?’
GRAHAM: “I enjoyed all the Padelmba UK training videos and that you get to keep these tools given as a reference for the rest of your life. I would definitely recommend it although I think it's best to have some kind of racquet experience going into it.”
‘Do you have any advice for anyone that may be thinking about signing up to this course but aren’t sure?’
GRAHAM: “Ask questions! I can’t stress that enough as you might not get this chance again to be taught by the Spanish masters. My biggest bit of advice would be to be like a sponge, soak everything up and get involved".
‘Do you feel the course was inclusive?’
GRAHAM: “Yes! Everyone was in the same boat. But do get involved, you can’t just stand in the back. Remember, to be a coach you will need to stand in front of everyone and speak.”
‘Finally, have you kept in contact with any of your fellow participants from October's course?’
GRAHAM: “Not really, but that’s solely down to where I am based. If I was in the central belt it would be different.”
Graham shared some key information with us which was how important safety is. “There are injuries in padel, you must be aware of your surroundings. I’ve seen a lot of eye injuries – I was hit in the eye a few weeks ago, I have already ordered new glasses! The course stresses this at the beginning – racket, shoes and safety glasses!”
In rounding up, Graham thought the Padelmba UK course was straightforward, and the teaching video aspect was, “Slick, very professional, good videos.” His tutor, Nino Sánchez-Alcaraz was “a top man” and he especially liked the Spanish flavour to the course and having a Spanish Tutor who had played at a high level gave him confidence.
We thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Graham Ross and wish him all the best with his coaching and padel!
If you would like to enjoy a coaching course with a Spanish flavour then sign up here: https://www.game4padel.com/padelmba-uk
Kommentare