Hello there padel friends!
Hope all is well. It’s been a while and a lot is going on in the Padel Sweden. It’s hard to keep up. Major highlights of the past month are the opening of Zlatan’s first Padel Zenter, which has drawn great attention to the sport both within Sweden and abroad, and the Swedish federation’s announcements on national and regional coaches, dates for the first national team training camps and its vision for the coming years. #letsdothis
My Life as a Padel Trainer
I am still struggling with the downpour of interest in padel lessons from all ages and all levels. In Swedish, this is called a “lyxproblem”, a problem of luxury. My teammate and fellow blogger Åsa Eriksson addresses this phenomenon and the fact that the profession as padel trainer is definitely something worth investing time in. Not only do we, as padel trainers, need to take care of the active players who are looking for more training and activities, we can’t forget those players who are on the waiting list dying to get in on the fun. It’s a problem that we are all facing since we are so few, but like I said — a problem of luxury. #surroundedbypadeladdicts
My Life as a Padel Mom
I sent my daughter, Alexandra, off with Team PDL to play club matches in Turin, Italy. Thanks Team PDL for the invite! It was her first time traveling abroad alone and first time traveling abroad for padel. She got to play with national team player and good friend Mari Andersson. It turned out to be great practice and a great experience for her. Hopefully this marks the first of many padel trips for her #paraguaynext?
My Life as a Padel Player
I was planning on playing the first SPT at the end of March with Åsa but just last week found out she is injured and thus, I will once again be “padel-swinging” it. Speed-minton queen Rebecca Nielsen — newcomer from Borås who has recently been playing with my daughter Alexandra — already had plans but luckily for me, she made some adjustments. I met her when she first started up with padel which was not long ago and have seen her development, so it will be fun to team up with her. Although challenging at times, all this partner-swapping will just make me learn how to be a more versatile person and player. Don’t mind adding that to my plate…
Speaking of adding things to my plate, I have a long list, but unfortunately all of this padel fun started taking its toll on my elbow around new year so I’ve been going through rehab and trying to keep a balance of the hours I spend on court as both a trainer and as a player.
List for improvements:
The bandeja — padel’s trademark shot that I still need to work on by getting my feet set correctly and executing better release and better placement
The vibora — this shot I’m light years away from, but would like to learn how hit properly. Right now mine is basically a more aggressive bandeja #babysteps
The smash — this is not my best shot and I blame it on the fact that I’m vertically challenged #iwishiwerealittlebittaller. I want to be able to read the right opportunities well enough and be quick enough on my feet to pressure my opponents with it or even once in while hit it out of the “ballpark” #americanbaseballingo
The flat backhand — a neutral shot that I would like to have to block shots that fall too short of the wall
The offensive lob — a lob not used to gain time in defense but a weapon to push back opponents and give them as little bounce as possible
The offensive volley — a shot with good speed, depth and spin pressuring opponents in the defensive position
At last but not least, I want to learn how to do all these things when tired and under pressure. Not too much to ask for right?
Post-practice with Åsa Eriksson — whenever a team-mate comes to visit me in Gothenburg, I drop everything to make sure we get in some good practice.
Alexandra sightseeing in Turin with PDL gang
Although I have my hands full here at Padel Center Göteborg, I made it out to the new Padel Center Borås and met more padel-crazy ladies #girlsday #funfunfun
