What would you do different if you could start again? New to padel and looking to focus on the right things.

Take lessons right away.

Take lessons before you start playing matches. Learn basic techniques, especially for overheads so you don't mess your arms up from the start.

There’s nothing wrong with a round, “beginner/intermediate” racquet. I spent a lot of money (and frankly I’m still spending) chasing the latest and greatest racquet, when a lot of them are too advanced for me and my game suffers trying to play with them.

Learn Spanish

have fun, enjoy the ride.

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Started at 1-2x, now 3-4x. Had to cap myself because knees and elbow need recovery. The addiction is real — low skill floor, infinite ceiling, always social. Basically gambling with exercise.

When I first started, I played with friends who were all below beginners like me. I loved the game immediately, but I did something different: for my second match, I went straight to a coach. Even though my first coach wasn't certified lol, he played since he was a kid and gave me the absolute basics: the correct grip, the volley, and how to strike the ball properly. This saved me from picking up “bad habits” like holding the racket like a ping-pong. After that, I took 8 sessions with a certified coach, and eventually moved to a professional Spanish coach. I’m still training with him today. My progress was much faster than people who started 6 or 12 months before me. Because of the solid foundation. My advice to you: 1. Get a coach early: Don't start with an expensive one. Find someone affordable just to teach you the basic mechanics. It’s a waste of money to pay a top-tier coach to teach you how to hold a racket. 2. Execution vs. Watching: You can watch YouTube all day, but execution is different. I used to think I was doing a move correctly until my coach filmed me, I was shocked at how off I was! lol. 3. Avoid "Beginner Tricks": Don't focus on "tricky" serves (like weird spins) that only work against beginners. They will become your weakness when you play better people. Learn to play the right way, not the way that just wins you a casual game today. 4. Watch the Pros: It helps a lot with understanding the game's flow and positioning. Training even for a few sessions will save you months of frustration later. Good luck 🍀

If you are beginner as you said. My honest opinion is. Enjoy. Be humble and nice for everyone in the community. Little by little be more comfortable with the more advanced players. Then enjoy and learn.

1. Buy a decent pair of shoes, I started with tennis shoes and almost injured my knees. 2. For me, the “beginner“ padel rackets didn’t fit for me. Bought a Quantum Nox and immediately loved the feedback. 3. Learn the tactics, learn more tactics.

Everyone's path as beginner branches from if you have other racket sports experience or not. Those without racket sport experience may take a little longer to get used to things unless one picks things up quickly * A few lessons helps to get started, get your technique down first (groundstrokes, volley, lob, serve). Footwork and basic positioning come second or in parallel. Glass walls (back wall is easy to start, but double walls take more time to learn) and overheads (bandeja/vibora, gancho/rulo) would be the 3rd phase. smashes (flat is easy to start, X3 can come later), Tactics, and drills will be the last phase in the starting journey. * stroke technique is the most common mistake. Poor technique can really injure your arm * Gear priorities are shoes first, then the racket + accessories. Picking a Racket requires hands on time so you can get an understanding of it's handing and feel, it's a huge investment and you really want to get the most bang for your buck (and keep an eye out for sales) * As for frequency of play, really depends where you're based out of. In US it's a wallet killer vs Europe or parts of South America --- Here's a video by The Padel School on their tips to the early matches https://youtu.be/cGlKSs9qxgY

A few random tips: Use a control racket to start with, buy padel shoes that are very comfortable, get some resistance bands and stretch every day whether you play or not. Stretch properly before and after matches. If you take lessons, write down the most important tips on your phone and read them all before playing every match. Always play with consistency and avoid unforced errors. Don’t hit the ball hard all the time. Use the lob as your best weapon to win the net. Play with people who are better than you. Watch professional matches and pay attention to where players position themselves and how they move the ball. And most importantly, only those who truly have fun playing, win something from this game.

Most beginners as they improve will reach a certain level and plateau, it happens with even solid intermediates but sooner or later u need to break out and so need something which helps u break the plateau.. im assuming as u play u will improve and avoid getting stuck I will suggest these things as a beginner:: Keep it fun, keep enjoying and don't worry too much about losing recreational games, many times beginners attach the worth of their game to whether they win often.. it's wrong, so just enjoy and move on to next match Understand the basics, get some coaching sessions but not too many.. when u feel ready participate in some local tournaments, getting ur ass kicked in a tournament is THE BEST learning experience Certain non negotiable - correct grip, footwork( split step etc) , certain technique like turning side ways for overheads, i know lot of people will stay these things don't matter but these are the things which impact the plateau i was talking about and trust me these are almost impossible to change if u have build up bad habits from start How are u behaving or thinking as a partner. Getting a good partner is crucial as no matter how much good u are, padel is a game where winning with a very bad partner is extremely tough. Your mindset matters a lot in such situations, work on being a good positive partner but be selfish if you feel things are not working out and drop the partner unless u are confident that the partnership will grow and improve. I have wasted a lot of my progress and tournament entry fees with partnering with players who were not on the same page with me in terms of prepration and attitude. Watch matches, see patterns, work really hard in training on some patterns like playing an overhead and rushing to net or, Chiquita and net, and moving a player left - right. It's been said here many times that watching women's games in Premier Padel is very useful as they rely a lot of tactical play. Have fun, don't play padel as a lifestyle statement cos I see some many morons playing this game just for Instagram and social signalling. It's cringe. Good for them :/

Ce qui a vraiment tout changé pour moi a été de fixer un cours particulier hebdomadaire en plus des sessions libres avec des amis. Le cours te permet d apprendre vraiment et tu essayes de mettre en pratique lors de matches amicaux et ce qui m a le plus frappé au bout de quelques temps c est la difference de qualité des balles que je recevais lors des matchs comparé à celles de mon prof. J ai donc commencé à prendre de l’assurance et a me relâcher et ai senti une grande progression. Apres c est un éternel recommencement même les pris s entraînent sur tous coups basiques du padel. Donc ce qui viendra ensuite sera les choix tactiques lors des match de tournoi qui feront la différence