About us

Think Padel was born from a passion for the game and the awareness that most Australians have yet to discover it!

We strive to provide top-notch service and a friendly approach to answer your questions/needs.

We also bring the latest tech and accessories to improve your game!

Where it all started: tennis and table tennis

My granpa introduced me to tennis when I was very young. I have a recollection watching tennis on a black and white TV with him following the feats of Adriano Panatta beating Björn Borg on clay. I also remember John McEnroe's epic meltdown at Wimbledon, as well as the grace and power of Martina Navratilova dominating women tennis and her duels with Steffi Graf.  

He was a pretty good amateur player who continued to play well into his 70s and undoubtedly encouraged my passion for racket sports.

I believe I started playing with him on a summer vacation and then started to get some lessons. The first big dive into tennis was during a summer camp at Serramazzoni in 1981.

I had a terrible racket, borrowed from my grandpa, which supposed to be one of the best around. But the Dunlop Maxima was oversized, heavy and inadequate for learning, but i showed some talent, reaching the semis in the exhibition tournament at the end of the holiday. 

I was much better at table tennis, but never took the sport too seriously and never really entered the competitive space.

The experience with Padel  

My first contact with padel was in the Club Padel La Cancha, in El Purto de Santa Maria, close to Cadiz in souther Spain back in 2003. 

Courts were quite different at the time, with concrete walls in the back and traditional meshes like tennis courts. 

We used to play once per week with co-workers around lunch time, to keep active and socialise or in the evening, before dinner (spanish dinner time = 10pm), as the seaside breeze cooled down the air and made it bearable. 

You could still cook eggs on the back walls though, which were also much more rough than glass panels!

I occasionally played every time I went back for work, but took a long break after moving to Australia in 2013.

 

These days

A couple of years ago I came across a news piece about padel courts in Sydney's Entertainment quarter (World Padel Club below), but did not have a racket and could not convince any of my friends to have a go. It was fascinating to see how the sport moved and the beautiful glass courts enabling a panoramic view. I also started to follow the World Padel Tour.

However, on the back of the COVID lockdowns, I was ecstatic when Indoor Padel opened its door at the end of 2021 and I had once again the opportunity to rekindle my passion for the game. I took part in a couple of the AFP tournaments and have some fun in the process, however my passion is for the technology innovation in the sport and the coaching and development.

 

Now and the future

A variety of professional and personal reasons convinced me about the great opportunity offered by the nascent state of padel in Australia and finally decided to take the plunge and invest in ThinkPadel.

The e-store is the start of the journey. We want to bring some of the top products in Australia for players to enjoy.

However, the medium-term goal is to create a new club in the near future and we will share more going forward.

 

Please feel free to contact us for any question or follow us on social media!