Padel MBA is a company that is synonymous the world over with the finest coaching in padel and now thanks to an exclusive agreement with Game4Padel the Spanish company is bringing its expertise to bear in the United Kingdom.
In recent months the company’s flagship coaching course which has been rolled out in 25 countries, has educated in excess of 2000 coaches and is the fruition of over 20 years of work in the sport, has now been recognised by the United States Professional Tennis Association and the United States Padel Association.
Now speaking to the Game4Padel website, the man behind Padel MBA, Bernardino J. Sanchez-Alcaraz Martinez, or Nino as he is known to everyone in the sport, has revealed just how our special relationship with Padel MBA was forged.
A respected Professor of Sport Science at Murcia University, Nino has also shared the essentials of the ground-breaking coaching course that has already gone down a treat with Game4Padel aficionados in Edinburgh and will soon be rolled out at Huddersfield LTSC.
“It’s very exciting and we are very happy to have this exclusive partnership with Game4Padel. It is a big responsibility to run these courses in the UK but we have plenty of experience – I myself have been doing these courses for 15 years,” said Nino.
He continued: “But I am very confident that we have good quality of content, especially online and also we are very happy with the practical content of the course.
“We have taught padel in more than 25 countries including Spain, Emirates, México, USA, Norway, Italy, Panama, and Chile while now in the USA we have reached an agreement with the USPA (United States Padel Association) and the USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) to develop padel coaching in the United States – with all their courses developed by Padel MBA.
“So, we are very happy about this opportunity in the UK – we believe we can create a very bright future for many new and aspiring coaches through our relationship with Game4Padel and that excites me a lot.”
So what is the essence of the course?
Nino was happy to explain: “The course is 20 hours of lessons online. Once a coach signs for the course and has their password they have the full use of our online platforms and gain access to all the videos of which there are six chapters.
“They cover everything from rackets and balls to the technique for each shot and its mechanics, the technique of the groundstrokes and also of the walls, back walls, side walls and then also the net game with volleys covered.
“Then also there are chapters on padel methodology and in Padel MBA we call it mixed methodology. In this we mix analytics with on court practise and shot drills and also the tactics of the game and the decisions you have to make plus in-game management and playing with different players.
“This is all online content and the lessons are very specific, running for eight to 10 minutes, and once students have seen all the online content we then take them to a venue – in October we will be at Huddersfield LTSC – for four days of on-court work in which we practise all they have seen in the videos.
“We give them the time on court to feed balls, design drills and give feedback to the other players, so this is all the practical aspects, and of course we look for their feedback as well, and then on the last day we have exams.
“There are four exams. One is a survey or test on the concept. Then there are exams on court with one being how to develop a lesson – you have to design a tester lesson for 3-4 players for a specific shot or content, and you have to develop your lesson on court.
“The other two exams are around feeding balls from different areas of the court – forehand, backhand, off the walls and then finally a technique exam to see if they have good mechanics of the shots and once they have completed all of this they will earn their certificate.
“The first course we did in the UK was in Edinburgh in May and that went very well. At that course we met Nick and Natalie who run the padel club at Huddersfield LTSC and they asked us to run one there later this year.
“The aim is to run perhaps three courses per year at different Game4Padel venues, and so the second one will be in Huddersfield this October.”
When it came to the origins of Padel MBA Nino recalled: “Padel MBA is a company that started before the pandemic and we started by recording video content for players and coaches on technique and tactics.
“Manu Martin, who is renowned throughout the world as a padel coach, was the face of the company and recorded most of the videos. We then created online courses that allowed people to sign up for example to learn the volley, or for tactical help.
“Then once we had all this content, we thought we would create courses based on online content for coaches and combine that with on-court practice where we would travel to the club or federation in person to carry this out with the coaches. Basically by combining the online work with the on-court work that leads to a certification and a qualification.
“At the same time, I was in contact with James Rose from Game4Padel as we have a connection from La Manga club. James had explained about the work of Game4Padel but also the fact there were not that many qualified coaches in the UK to grow the sport once the courts were built.
“James was very interested in our work and over here in Spain where we have been playing padel for 25 years and also been coaching for all this time and have a lot of experience and so we reached an agreement to teach the coaches in the UK for Game4Padel.
“Normally we work with padel federations and clubs but in the UK we have an exclusive partnership with Game4Padel to develop and mentor coaches and we are very excited about that.”
Book the Huddersfield CPC course for coaches (25 to 28 October 2022): https://www.game4padel.com/coaching-course
Book a padel clinic with Padel MBA coaches (different levels available) – for players to improve your game (Huddersfield, 26 to 30 October 2022): https://www.matchi.se/facilities/game4padelhuddersfield
While below please enjoy some video footage of Padel MBA coaches in full flow: