Padel Shift comes to the Cotswolds

Here, Jack Chaplin, founder of Padel Shift, explains:

"We have recently opened the doors to our second two-court facility at Elkstone Studios here in Gloucestershire, and it brings me an immense amount of pride to be bringing padel, otherwise known as the world’s fastest-growing sport, to the heart of the Cotswolds.

"The sport is taking Europe by storm with Spain leading the way with over 4 million players and 20,000 courts. The UK has now caught the padel bug with over 90,000 players raring to go, according to the LTA.

"However, with demand growing at the speed of light courts are still limited with players staying up late to scrap over booking slots. We’re here to sort that out.

"Since launching our first site in April at The Club by Bamford at the renowned Daylesford Farm in the North Cotswolds, I’ve lost count of the number of times that local curiosity has piqued at this new sport, asking questions ranging from ‘what is padel?’ to ‘where’s your next site going to be?’.

"Padel is a racket sport, a mix between tennis and squash. It’s usually played in doubles – making it very sociable – on an enclosed court surrounded by glass and metallic mesh walls.

"The court is one third the size of a tennis court and played with a ball similar to that used in tennis, though with a slightly different pressure (for the nerds out there); the ball is hit with a stringless padel racket (often referred to as a bat). Players hit shots before or after the ball bounces off the surrounding walls, which provides an instant distinction from tennis.

"Our mission at Padel Shift is to introduce as many people to the sport as possible. I couldn’t be more excited to see the diverse range of people that have already come down to play and experience padel: from complete beginners to seasoned pros.

"We are lucky that with our newly recruited Head of Padel, Jack Hazlewood, we have someone who coaches both newcomers and seasoned players so brilliantly. Jack was previously a high-level tennis player who caught the padel bug five years ago and hasn’t looked back since.

"Our mission is to increase awareness, education, and accessibility, whilst building the biggest and brightest padel community, yet this is only possible with the support from local communities. That, in short, is what has driven me to set up two sites in Gloucestershire: because the county thrives with people from all backgrounds, all walks of life and so it feels like the natural place to be debuting the Padel Shift experience.

"With further locations planned, we’re delighted that Gloucestershire is our first home."