The Joy of Padel with Patty Llaguno

Patricia (Patty) Llaguno Zielinski is currently the world’s number 18 ranked player on WPT (#17 the FIP tour). Aged 38 and playing in the drive (left side) position, Patty figures among the oldest on the women’s tour and is still regularly competing into the later stages of the pro tournaments. She won the FIP Platinum in Sardegna this year alongside Lucia Sainz. On the WPT this year (its last), she sported a 295W v 141L record. In this chat, we discuss Patty’s career, how to mix and manage her love of football and tennis with padel, the keys to a successful partnership, and the prospects for 2024.

To find out more about Patty Llaguno:

• Find or follow on Instagram: @pattytxu/
• Find Patty’s listing on the World Padel Tour site and FIP

To listen to the show:

To listen to The Joy of Padel podcast, you can use the embedded player above, or go find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any number of other podcasting services listed here.

Send in your questions or reactions:

Please send me your questions — as an audio file if you’d like — to nminterdial@gmail.com. Otherwise, below, you’ll find the show notes and, of course, you are invited to comment. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to review and/or rate it! ¡VAMOS!

Further resources for The Joy of Padel:

drive | fip | Lucia sainz | padel | Patricia Llaguno | Patricia Llaguno Zielinski | Patty Llaguno | professional padel player | sardegna | world padel tour | WPT

SUMMARY KEYWORDS: padel, tennis, sport, play, year, Patty, player, good, minter, feel, love, work, enjoying, court, tournaments, talk, partner, helped, tour, share

SPEAKERS: Minter Dial, Patty Llaguno

Minter Dial 00:10

¡ Buenos días, chicas y chicos ! Hello and welcome, a very warm welcome to the Joy of Padel podcast, spreading and sharing the supreme delight of this wonderful and fast-growing game. I’m your host Minter Dial. And this podcast is brought to you by Padel1969 The largest manufacturer of premium padel courts, one quart for life by Padel 1969. The Joy of Padel is part of the Evergreen Podcast Network. For more information about the network, go and check out evergreenpodcast.com. So, this is the inaugural season of the Joy of Padel podcast. And to start with, we’re going to do an episode once every fortnight. Episodes will drop every other Wednesday at 12 noon, London time. Please let us know what you think about the show by putting up a rating and review. For this 12th episode, and the last of season one I’m excited to bring to you Patricia Laguna Zielenski, also known as Patty Laguna. Patty is currently the world’s 18th ranked player on the World Padel Tour, a number 17 on the FIP tour. At age 38 and playing in the drive (that’s the left-side position), Patty figures amongst the oldest on the women’s tour and is still regularly battling into the later stages of the pro tournaments. She won the FIP platinum in Sardinia this year alongside Lucia Sainz. On the World Padel Tour this year, its last I should add, she sported a 295 versus 141 win-loss record. In this chat with Patty, we discuss her career, how to mix and match her love of football and tennis with padel, the keys to a successful partnership and the prospects for 2024. Vamos. it like you know it’s so great to have you on the show. Welcome. You and I met in Miami. I’ve been following your career you started your life with just your tennis life. Going to the United States we didn’t start there but that you went to United States going to tell us tennis scholarship. You also played soccer or football which is really interesting want to get to and you’ve been playing padel professionally since 2008. We’re in 2023 You are ranked 18th in the world. You’ve had a phenomenal year. Welcome to the Joy of Padel and in your own words Patty, who are you?

Patty Llaguno 02:41

Hi Minter. It’s really nice to have this talk with you. And I’m really happy to, to participate on it. And just the name of the podcast I love it is the joy of peril. I share that philosophy so badly you’re going to it’s just you know, girl, a girl. I got the loves to play padel. Since I’m a little girl, I was lucky that my parents, I grew up on a on a tennis center with padel courts on it. So, even when I was like, really young, and nobody played padel still, I could play padel since I was like, around 10 years old. I used to play more Chinese because my father was a tennis coach. But he made these different courts that he saw in Marbella. And he said, he actually saw to English woman playing on it. And he said, Oh, this court is different. And I think it’s a kind of sport that is going to be easy to play and really easy to have fun with. So, he built two padel courts on the tennis center that we had in a Murcia in La Manga. And I was lucky to have it like at home so I could you know combine both sports since then. And yeah, actually, when I finished my degree in the US, it’s when padel was starting to have like, serious you know, it was getting serious with the professional tour and all the stuff so I kind of started over again training and here I am a few years later, still enjoying it and realizing how big it can get you know, in just a few years and I’m just loving the way it gets, you know?

Minter Dial 04:41

Well you are amongst the legends of padel both on the female and male sides who’ve been playing at this age and for so long. And you know for most people who are listening to the show, padel is kind of the new thing. And they’re very excited. There are many addicts everyone who’s listening nod your head. And, and but and yet it can be an addiction for a long time in the most healthy of ways. What do you think is kept you so enthusiastic and enjoying it? What is it that makes this padel game such a long-term endeavor?

Patty Llaguno 05:18

Well, I think it’s a sport that is really easy to start and have fun with, like, even if you haven’t played any other sport, like, especially in Spain, it happened that many, many women that didn’t play sports start playing it, and they really had, like, fun really quick. And it also had the social part, you know, the aftermath? La cerveza. That really worked out here. And I don’t know, I mean, the thing is, like, you can improve padel like really quick, if you take it like, a little bit serious. I think it’s important not to take it too serious, if you’re an amateur player, because some people get really frustrated, because all they can think about is padel. And I’m like, I mean, you have to enjoy; you should not get obsessed with it. So, it’s just to find the way, you know, in the middle the balance of having fun and wanting to learn and improvement. But yeah, I mean, I think I still have that addiction is I love it. I love it so many, so many years playing and I still think I can improve.

Minter Dial 06:33

I think that is part of the key, you’ll still improve. I mean, it’s not at my age, I’m trying to sort of stay with it, as opposed to necessarily becoming the best or the strongest.

Patty Llaguno 06:44

And it is a sport that is changing every year.

Minter Dial 06:49

There’s new strokes, there’s new teammates, there’s new courts, there’s so much going on. And that one of the things that was interesting to me, so is the fact that you played football, soccer, do you think that that contributed to anything to you? Or is that just sort of like a just a way of having distraction?

Patty Llaguno 07:07

Well, I used to play soccer a lot in school, here in, in my case in Spain. And, you know, it was kind of sad, because in Spain, soccer wasn’t supposed to be for girls. And I was kind of mad about it. You know, when I was 14, I had to quit playing because no other girls play. And I went when I went to the States, and I saw that all the girls play soccer over there. I was like, man, my dream would be to play on the team on the college team. And since I played tennis for four seasons, and I had to stay one more year to finish my degree. They let me do the tryouts for the team. And I still, you know, remember some of the some of my skills. Yeah. And I mean, I had a lot of fun, and he was like, a dream come true for me. But I mean, I think it helped me, you know, to know more about a team sport, because it was more people involved in it. And of course, I mean, it helped me to develop, because I love to play other sports anyways, you know, I love to do cycling. I I play tennis. I love sports. I try to play basketball, but I’m really bad at it. And I want to try golf, because you don’t have to, you know, to run as much anymore. But still, I think it’s a really tricky sport. So, we’ll see.

Minter Dial 08:36

Wel,, you make the smile, Patty by talking about basketball because you are the tallest person on the padel court, much less a basketball court. Yeah. So, you were talking about playing a team and how that can help some one of the things that’s interesting to me is, is looking at the pros, like you, and thinking about how they find the partner. And what is it that makes for success? What do you think is the key element of making success you’ve been playing with Lucia? What is it that you feel is making your team such a good team?

Patty Llaguno 09:15

Well, if you’re talking about this year, I have to tell you, this year, I have three different partners, because at the beginning of the year, I decided to change sides and try to play at the right side. But that didn’t work out for me because I played my whole life and on the left side. And I mean, I felt that I was learning a lot but I thought that I needed a lot of time to feel as comfortable as I feel on my left side, to be competitive. So, I talked to my first partner of the year, Victoria [Iglesias], and I told her what I have to be honest with you and tell you I’m not I don’t feel like it’d be is the kind of player that I want to be easier. So, I think we need to find a solution. So, I decided to go to the left side again, and to play with [Carolina] Orsi, it was like five or six tournaments. And then I had a call from Lucia. And the good thing about playing with Lucia is that we know each other for a very long time, because she has played in the all the tournaments. I think, since I would say, like, as many years as I did, we’re almost the same age. So, yeah. And I think we are kind of like in the same page, you know, with our sports career and mentally with our objectives, and that kind of worked out for us. So, yeah, we feel we’re doing a good job together. And we understand the game that we gave to each other. And, you know, it is really good for a team, you know, to grow to make it work. So, yeah, and I mean, her kind of game, which is, like really aggressive, she has like so much power. That helped me out because I’m kind of like the player that you know, do the dirty job of cleaning and stuff. But sometimes, it takes me a while to finish the point.

Minter Dial 11:27

You’re not the big six foot two imposing player on the left. But what about, the in-game points, and when you’re talking with one another, because I feel like in Spanish and the Argentinians, just to say those two, they definitely get the idea that communication is vital. In the Anglo-Saxon world, we barely ever talk. Yes, you know, thank you for the ball. You know, that’s about it. But you guys talk constantly, during the point, in between the points. And I’m just wondering what kind of insights you might be able to provide that help others to understand the power and the use of that type of communication?

Patty Llaguno 12:18

Well, I would say that, for me, it’s a way to be connected with my partners, after every point, you know, even though if you don’t have to say like, nothing really important is to say, like, you know, just look at each other and make a sign or something that, like, keep pushing or, or, let’s, let’s keep doing this or, you know, just to maintain, to be focused on what we’re supposed to do on every point, you know. I like I would say, when we serve, we always say, Okay, I’m serving this way or that way, just to make sure that you expect the ball from there.

Minter Dial 12:57

What about when Lucia makes a mistake, or you make a mistake? You know, it’s sort of an obvious shot, ah, you know, stupid, you already feel bad for yourself, usually. But what about helping your partner at that moment?

Patty Llaguno 13:10

Well, that’s the thing like sometimes, you know, like, you do see the partner, like doing this reaction, which usually is not like, like a good sign, like, the shoulders go down, or the head goes down. And, you know, we try to just have the reaction completely the opposite just, you still have, okay, the intention was good, let’s keep going on, at least try this. Just, you know, to make her feel the support from your side, because you know, that it can happen to you too. And you don’t want to you don’t want to feel bad about like, you know, like you wouldn’t like to have this kind of reaction. So, I think you always have to think on her shoes to do the same.

Minter Dial 14:01

In a way that does the expression should be talk to them as you would like to be talked to.

Patty Llaguno 14:06

Absolutely the golden rule.

Minter Dial 14:09

Yeah, it is so fantastic. And what would you say is the highlight of your year, Patty?

Patty Llaguno 14:16

My highlight of the year I would say like we had a really fun time in Sardegna (Sardinia), we had a Platinum over there. And it was yeah, the FIP and it was so nice because the tennis center over there where we played it’s so nice, like you could hear the all the birds around it was like first week of October, but the weather was perfect and I mean other people over there was like really nice. I love Italy like I love Italian food. And I don’t know like I felt that that point like I was playing for Lucia for already like it was our third tournament. So, So we found that everything was working out in that moment. So, and we ended up winning the tournament. So, I mean, I would choose that. Absolutely. Mágico. It was a great week.

Minter Dial 15:15

I certainly watched that final I can tell you, well then for that, and what about describing yourself as a player, you always be on the left. You’re not a giraffe. But what sort of how would you describe your play as an animal? What sort of animal do you describe yourself as?

Patty Llaguno 15:29

I saw that question, I didn’t know what. Um, I don’t know. Like, I would say like, maybe Yeah, I know, I know what animal would be because I have a few friends that made T shirts for not in that case with Lucia. But I used to have a partner that I played with her for nine years. Her name is Eli [Amatraian]. And they build it. They draw us as ants. Like we worked really hard and we bring every point like it would be like relevant, important. So, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Minter Dial 16:09

That makes total sense. What about your favorite shot, Patty? What’s your favorite shot to play?

Patty Llaguno 16:14

Well, I would say it all the right-handed shots.

Minter Dial 16:25

Normally on the forehand, everything on the forehand.

Patty Llaguno 16:27

Yeah, on the forehand. You know, when you get attacked, and you get like a contra attack. How you saying? Like when you get a counter? counter attack? Yeah. And counter attack from both sides, but maybe from the right. From the forehand. Yeah.

Minter Dial 16:43

You feel more comfortable down the middle, obviously, then. Yeah. Okay, exactly. Well, what about a shop that Patty Laguna is trying to improve on? You said at the beginning, you can always improve.

Patty Llaguno 16:54

My rulo! For me, it’s like a confidence shot, you know, if I feel confident with a rulo, okay, this going to be a good day for myself.

Minter Dial 17:09

When I get to play left, I feel that so for anyone listening who doesn’t know what the rulo is, you’re playing left, or basically left as a right-hander, and you’re close to the net, basically, and you’re just trying and you’re generally closer up to the net. And you’re just rolling it into the side, netting on the side. That’s the rule of rolling it. And yes, I feel you. I mean, once I feel that I’m like, Oh, I can like you can start doing it from the middle of the court. You start like, having fun with it, right?

Patty Llaguno 17:37

Yeah, I mean, because so many things can happen after the show.

Minter Dial 17:42

Exactly, if you get it right, or it hits the “pico” right or something like that. What about so what are your favorite players that you admire?

Patty Llaguno 17:52

Well, not right now. I would say that Ari Sanchez of the girls, I think she became like the most complete player of last few years. I think she’s going to stay there for a while. At the top. Yeah, it’s going to be there. I mean, she’s so talented and her mental part. She worked a lot on that and you can feel the difference.

Minter Dial 18:20

The concentration, the fortitude, even when she’s down you still see her going. She’s really concentrated and she’s very solid Good lord. What a great solid player.

Patty Llaguno 18:30

And then for the guys I mean, I think that’d be we are all in love with Tapia right now and I mean, what he did in so many like, in not that much time and I mean Coello too, but you know, you see Coello, he’s got that like all this power. You know, but Tapia like every shot he makes. It’s like oh, you just fall in love with him.

Minter Dial 18:57

Well, and in something that Patty done I feel from the outside that a lot of the padel pairs have a charming attitude. When you look at tennis, lawn tennis, many of the pros don’t aspire. I don’t look at them and feel oh, these are really interesting and nice people. They might be but they just don’t come across that way. But maybe because tennis is such an aggressive sport. Whereas in padel we you can’t help but also feel charm oozing out of like an Agustin Tapia. He’s just a lovely character. He is so good and yet feel so humble. Do you do you feel that?

Patty Llaguno 19:40

Well, I think like the main difference is that you have you always have to play doubles and you always have to communicate with your partner. And in tennis it is like more like individual game and you don’t you don’t need to communicate with anyone if you don’t want to. So, padel push you to that. I mean, now is the youngest sport like, we don’t have that many, you know, opponents. But I mean, I think the more it grows up, the more aggressive it will get. I’m pretty sure that will happen. But I mean, it’s like professional sports, makes it much more serious. And people go like and more into his own bubble, I would say. But I mean, since we travel all together all over the world, we try to, you know, we feel like we’re like a big family.

Minter Dial 20:34

Well, I certainly hope that some of that will stay. I mean, just like the beginning of the matches, there’s a sort of an informality, there’s a kindness that four people will stand to get photographed to begin with, at the end for embrace, you don’t see that happening in lawn tennis, and I have to attribute some of that to the Hispanic or the Latino flavour.

Patty Llaguno 20:58

Well, maybe if you feel it. It could be I mean, it could be, it always happens, where, you know, you have some other players and you don’t get along that well. And of course, you just try to be as polite as possible. And I mean, I think it’s okay. Yeah. Everybody can be as whatever he wants.

Minter Dial 21:22

Of course, totally true. What was the funniest thing, Patty, that’s happened to you now and your 20 plus years of playing?

Patty Llaguno 21:32

A few things. Yeah, I mean, which one should I tell you about?

Minter Dial 21:41

The one that comes to your mind? Do you know, let it be let it fall?

Patty Llaguno 21:46

Well, I remember one time with my coach with Neki [Berwig[, she’s a Brazilian coach. And she used to be a better player too. And we were trying like she told us to do this strategy against to like, take the couple that was number one, at that point, that was a failure, right? And Carolina Navarro, and we were supposed to play like over a 15 year writer all the time, you know, and we were kind of like, tired of that tactic. And we, we kind of asked her, Okay, can we play however we want, like, because we feel like we can beat them just with no strike. As she said, Yeah, sure. Just go for it. I mean, I’m not going to say anything. And we were, we were down six, zero on it was like, Okay, you guys want to keep doing this. I just broke my she, she was, like, lay down, like sitting down. And she’s like, I just got broke my pants on my on the back part of my. So, I’m kind of like you guys right now. Like, I can go get another pants or this king with this. Rest of the match. We decided to get going. I don’t know why. I mean, it’s him as we will always remember it was played in Alicante. And I mean, we can be so but yeah, we we decided that it’s important to play with the strategy. From there. It’s philosophy. Yeah.

Minter Dial 23:24

I love it. And did the coach stay with her rip? 1000s. And

Patty Llaguno 23:27

Yeah, absolutely. He was in our team like she was I’ll be there with you guys.

Minter Dial 23:34

Yeah, yeah. Six love six love. Like that. Um, so what and I suppose that might leads into the next question, which is what life lessons? What is padel brought to you in life?

Patty Llaguno 23:46

Well, it’s so many so many lessons. Like, I couldn’t tell you what, but what I’m getting the most out of this journey, I would say like, you know, I saw this sport, like growing up, like, you know, like, nobody knew about it. And, you know, now we’re traveling around the world, and it’s helping me to, to be at so many different places and meet so many different people. And it’s my passion. Like, I love to play by the after, like, so many years. And, I mean, it’s helping me to give my all you know, just to give my all to not only playing I would say in, in all the aspects that this sport involves, you know, sometimes you have to work on, you know, with your partner or with your opponents and just, you know, become a better person every day doing this, you know, so yeah, I’d say it’s, it’s a really helpful tool for my life that it’s, you know, I’m enjoying the ride just that.

Minter Dial 24:56

And what about how do you deal with not getting injuries? What tips do you have for not getting injured? Because I’ve seen I think at the beginning of this this last year, we saw many players getting their arms strapped up and having to, you know, Lebron and others having to retire for a few months. What sort of tips do you have to stay healthy?

Patty Llaguno 25:19

Well, you know, with the years, I kind of learn a lot, a lot about my own body. I would say that, because I remember the first years that I played, and I could run all over the court, like, with, like, I wouldn’t know how much left, I have to play the rest of the game, you know, play, just sometimes. Yeah. And I needed, I didn’t understand, like, I was getting tired of the meat in the middle of the game. And so I think like, every year you learn more about yourself, like how much can you give every point. And you also learn how to take care of yourself to doing like, just adding some stuff. Like one year, I started working with a nutritionist and helped me how to, you know, how to eat well, and what things feel good for myself. So, I’m really curious about that part. Because, you know, I like to take care of myself and feeling well, and I feel every year I feel better. I don’t know how much longer it’s going to work for myself, but I mean, I’m feeling good. And I’m, I’m working also very much on the, on the physical part, like the prevention, you say, your pension moves, and, and mobility and, you know, giving your body the right to talk, I would say, and my body talks to me a lot.

Minter Dial 26:50

Well, I’d say probably most bodies talk, but not everyone listens. Yeah. So, that’s a really lovely tip. What about so the fact Well, another thing that I find really interesting in panel for non pros, another is the conversion or the, you know, I come from tennis, you had a little bit of a unique life in that you played both tennis and padel at the same time you had your four or five years in the states and Georgia, and come back to padel. What are the tips that you have? You’ve got lots of tennis friends who are coming to padel? What tips do you could you provide that helps tennis players to properly get into padel?

Patty Llaguno 27:30

Well, you know, the first one that comes to my mind is when I when I learned when I took my first lessons of padel, like everybody said that you shouldn’t have your backhand with two handed. And I used to have a two handed backhand and play in tennis. Not really good, but I had it to backhand. So, I stopped playing with one hand, you know, like really, really slice one. You know, it was like the classic padel from that point. And now for all the tennis players that are coming into this sport. Hello. I have a friend here coming in. It’s Marina. Yes. Well, now on the tennis players are using this to two-hand backhand, which is like really powerful, and it makes you control attacks. Really, really well. Yeah, like for example, Victoria Iglesias has like really good one. Marta Marrero. Javi Garrido, too. Yeah. I mean, I think it’s really helpful. And what I would say, in my case, when I play tennis for four years, and then I went back to padel. I felt the court was really small. Like, I could run all over the court too. So, that helped me too. And I mean, I think there’s like many shops and the second serve from tennis, it helps you a lot for the rulo, of course.

Minter Dial 29:00

And even, you know, por tres, it’s the same kind of action. Right? So let it go back, and roll it.

Patty Llaguno 29:06

Yeah, that’s the thing about things like the technique is so complex that we’re padel is not and if you have that, you know, ability to do the technique in tennis, you shouldn’t have a problem to reach that part. For sure.

Minter Dial 29:20

So, the word I’m getting there is focus on the good things from tennis when you bring him to padel because it’s sort of obviously also the problem for tennis players, is letting the ball go by you and letting you know have the wall and all that.

Patty Llaguno 29:36

Yeah, I would say like also the preparation of the shots like they’re like really long for the ball, you have to make it make them shorter. But that happens to me so many times like my coach said to me and you bring the racket down directly. I don’t do like all the opening. I’m like, I don’t know it’s a fabric problem. Okay!

Minter Dial 30:00

Well there is an aesthetic to it, you know, when you get the nice big round…

Patty Llaguno 30:03

You think you’re Federer or something?

Minter Dial 30:08

Well, in my dreams, that’s for sure. And what about so last couple of questions, the World Padel Tour is about to be closed down moving to Premier, what do you think of that whole changeover?

Patty Llaguno 30:20

Well, we think it will change that it’s for good is for better. And I mean, in my case, I would say, we’re really thankful to World Padel Tour, because it has been like a 10-year trip, that we’re in my case where I felt that padel went all the way up, all the way out to the world. And we don’t know how Premier is going to be and how he’s going to work, but it’s like an adventure, and we have to trust them and, and also work for them to make it, you know, a really good product for everyone. And I mean, we’re excited about the change. I think. I mean, it took a while to make the story ends with a happy ending. It was tricky, yeah And, you know, we share so many years with the World Padel Tour. It’s kind of sad, you know, that part. But I mean, I guess it’s life, no?

Minter Dial 31:31

Yeah, life moves, life changes. One of the things that I certainly I look at it from the outside, and you know, what, obviously, and see that from a audience perspective or transmission perspective, World Padel Tour has some really good and well done elements that like the highlights they do. And so, and of course, the one big change that I see well outside of the fact that you will have a uniformity and you won’t have to five, which one you’re going to do and have rankings or a unified, deuce or golden point, are you going to be happy as heck, to get rid of the Golden point, or you’re going to regret?

Patty Llaguno 32:05

Well, I’m going to be fine. Either way, like, I don’t really, like when we got the golden point, it was a huge change for the game. And after a few months, we realized we can we could adapt perfectly. So, I mean, whatever they decide, it’s going to be that part is going to be fine. Like we just, were just fighting for other things, like, you know, like being equal with the guys and that kind of thing is it’s the most important for the girls.

Minter Dial 32:44

Last question, if you Patty, what is 2024 have in store for you?

Patty Llaguno 32:50

What is that?

Minter Dial 32:52

What are you looking forward to for next year?

Patty Llaguno 32:54

For next year? I mean, I’m just hoping for health, be healthy. You know? Yeah, and keep the same motivation as everyday, like enjoying the ride absolutely.

Minter Dial 33:12

There’s a Grateful Dead song that goes “I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I’m enjoying the ride.” Hey, Patty, thank you so much for coming on to the Joy of Padel. It is a true joy to listen to you. I love your energy. Congratulations on this year and looking forward to following you hopefully getting to see you again. In live. At some rather performance! Muchas Gracias.

Patty Llaguno 33:33

We will see each other!

Minter Dial  33:36

Thank you, Patty!

So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this Joy of Padel episode. Please don’t forget to subscribe to be the first in queue for the next episode. And if you like what you hear, please do share it around with other padel aficionados. This is a sport that deserves to be played by absolutely everyone. And if you’ve got a story that you’d like to share, please send me an email or a better yet a voice note at NMinterDial@gmail.com With that, thanks for listening. And see you on the next episode of the Joy of Padel podcast. ¡ Vamos !