The Coaching Journey

Game4Padel National Development Manager James Rose believes that the Padel MBA CPC (Certified Padel Coach) course is a vital part of “the journey” for our coaching staff.

Held at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis & Squash Club last week, this second course was rolled out under our exclusive agreement with Spain’s Padel MBA – one of the leading coaching providers in world padel delivering unbeatable padel education for both players and coaches.

With the course run by Padel MBA mastermind Nino Sanchez-Alcaraz Martinez and one of his most respected acolytes in Paco Gijon, six of our highly regarded coaches travelled from Edinburgh, Ipswich, and Surrey with one even crossing the channel from Nice, to make the most of 15 rewarding hours on court after first having completed the vital preparatory online modules leading up to the practical element.

With Huddersfield LTC’s president Peter Emsell providing us with superb facilities and warm hospitality the Yorkshire venue proved the ideal location for a vital weekend in our coaching education programme.

James explained: “The course was the second of its kind after a similar one was held in Edinburgh in May. What is important is that although the CPC course is graded, it’s not a pass or fail, really it's part of a journey and the coaches will continue to work with Padel MBA going forward and become part of our padel family.

“In Huddersfield, Nino and Paco provided a great team – comprising six of our coaches – with that extra bit of deep knowledge in tactics and techniques and reinforced the fact they have a great future in the game.

“Our coaches left feeling dynamic, knowledgeable, energised and excited to go on court and deliver what they have learned and bring the padel community together.

“We had different skillsets and experiences over the week ranging from Karen (Hazzard) who has been coaching padel for many years, to some newcomers to coaching.

“What it is not, is turning up on court and being bracketed as good or bad. This course is a welcome to the Game4Padel family, a sharing of our experiences – it provides help and support both on and off court and an understanding of how we create great clubs by interacting with our members and clients and bringing them all together.

“So it is a very interactive course and Nino and Paco are unbelievable – they don’t just teach tactically or technically about shots they teach about the whole game.

“They also shared what has happened in Spain – the good and bad – and this wider network and community is vital to the Game4Padel team in that we can reach outside of the UK and we have such a great relationship with these guys at Padel MBA.

“Eventually the coaches that we train up will be able to take advantage of all this and they will be able to go to Madrid for example and do a weekend or a three-month stint, and they will learn and be mentored on the job from people with great experience who are happy to share all of that.”

James was keen to add a grateful thanks to Huddersfield LTSC whose head coach Nick Holloway and coach Natalie Gill had previously attended our inaugural Padel MBA CPC course at Edinburgh and he said: “We were delighted to give Huddersfield the opportunity to host the course and for us to bring people there.

“In addition to the coaching course we also ran clinics in the evenings and at the weekend for padel enthusiasts. So it was a two-pronged approach to build a relationship with the club and give the members something new and while doing that the coaches on the course could see how we implement clinics.”

Karen Hazzard, one of our most respected and experienced coaches who is based at Withdean Sports Complex in Brighton, shared her feedback from her week in Yorkshire.

“As a coach who has been teaching padel in the UK since 2017, I couldn’t speak highly enough of the PadelMBA CPC course.” said Karen, who is also a star in the Great Britain Ladies veteran team.

Karen continued: “I found the course was full of high-quality content and very concise and it enabled me to get a much deeper understanding of the game of padel and how to structure a session and teach it.

“We also got loads of other ideas for exercises and drills and how to break down certain teaching points. Nino and Paco were brilliant and really constructive and I can’t wait to get back on the court and continue teaching.

“The module work that we completed online prior to the work on court was also excellent. There were a few tutorials and tests that definitely prepared you better for the course and helped you absorb a lot of background information.

“This meant that when you got on court for the practical part, you could reference the online content and you were familiar with it and that was a big help.

“That meant I got more out of my time on court, whereas other courses I have been on might have been 25 hours on court but you didn’t do anything prior to that and so were starting further back.

“The other thing is that the online modules are always there for you to refer to after the course which I think is brilliant. You also get an annual plan which is great. If you have a coach working with you who is newer or if you want to teach something in a bit more depth, for example the forehand or the back wall, then you have that to refer to. So I am a big fan of the online content.”

Running alongside the Padel MBA CPC course were three-hour player coaching clinics and James was keen to give a flavour of these: “The clinics bring the energy and we introduce the players to the game depending on their level and give them an understanding of why padel is exploding in the UK.

“Then we take them on a fun journey with some great drills, some tactics and play points and games that ultimately put a smile on their faces. The players also meet other members they haven’t met before and this brings everyone together.

“On the Saturday afternoon we had more of an advanced group with some players coming from Liverpool and one even from London who made a four-hour plus journey to join us.”

Nicolas Benitez who made the journey from West London such was his enthusiasm to enjoy the expertise of a Padel MBA clinic, provided a glowing appraisal of its benefits.

Nicolas said: “For someone like me who wants to take their padel seriously and enter tournaments this was really invaluable.

“I think because of who the tutors are and how they connected it was just really special. Padel MBA are teaching things from their experience in Spain that are different.

“The technique is different and it is little tweaks which are very specific in key areas that make all the difference. For instance with the Bandeja, they looked at all of us and said we were not applying the proper technique.

“Then without even holding the racket they went into how our body weight is meant to shift from back to front and what we are meant to be doing with our body position.

“That really opened my eyes. I found it fascinating. Even on strategy it was very revealing and I also enjoyed the fact it was a three-hour clinic and more intense – I felt I learnt a lot as a result.”

If you are ready to train with us, let us know. Dates for our next Certified Padel Coach courses:

Game4Padel Edinburgh Park – 3rd to 5th March 2023.

Ipswich Sports Club – 19th to 21st May (TBC).