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David Lloyd Leisure to launch padel tennis
David Lloyd has teamed up with the Padel England Association to launch the sport at David Lloyd Chigwell, Essex, with the potential to roll out to other clubs
Three indoor padel courts have been installed at Chigwell where courses for members will be run by an expert team of coaches specially trained by the Padel England Association, a not-for profit organisation formed by players, padel professionals and sport developers to govern and grow padel in England.
The new facilities are part of a £325,000 investment for David Lloyd Leisure, which predicts that padel will become one of the major sports and fitness trends in 2012 and a great hit with families, all ages and abilities
With an estimated 10 million players worldwide, padel, which originates in Mexico and today is hugely popular in Spain and Latin America, is considered to be one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
A fast-paced game, it is played in doubles, indoors or outdoors, on 20-metre courts – shorter than traditional tennis - with glass panels at each end allowing the ball to bounce off and remain in play. Using a padel bat and a padel ball, the sport also differs from tennis in that the serve is underarm.
David Lloyd Leisure’s head of sports, health and fitness Rob Beale, said: “We’re very excited at being the first nationwide company to bring padel to the UK with capacity to roll out to other clubs. Padel tennis is a great way for the whole family to keep fit and easier to play than tennis or squash as less strength is required. It’s brilliant for improving hand-eye co-ordination, footwork and reaction times.
