The Joy of Padel podcast with Pablo Carro

In the latest episode, I had the pleasure of hosting Pablo Carro, co-founder of Playtomic and a passionate padel player. Pablo shared his journey from being a tennis enthusiast to becoming a key figure in the padel industry. We delved into the origins of Playtomic, the growth of padel worldwide, the Global Padel Report 2024 published with PwC, and the unique culture that surrounds this exciting sport.

From Tennis to Padel: Pablo’s Journey

Pablo Carro’s introduction to padel dates back to 1995 when he was playing tennis at a local club. The club built two padel courts, and although he didn’t immediately switch, by 1999, padel had become his primary sport. Pablo’s love for padel eventually led him to co-found Playtomic, a platform that has revolutionized the way players book courts and connect with each other.

The Birth of Playtomic

Playtomic was launched in 2017 with a simple yet powerful idea: digitizing the racket sports industry. Pablo and his team recognized the need for a more efficient way for clubs to manage bookings and for players to find courts and partners. The app has since grown to include over 5,500 clubs and 1.2 million active users per month, making it a cornerstone of the padel community.

Challenges and Innovations

One of the key challenges Playtomic faced was integrating their system with various types of clubs, from dedicated padel clubs to multi-sport facilities. Pablo emphasized the importance of focusing on what they do best—racket sports—and not trying to be everything for everyone. This focus has allowed Playtomic to deliver a superior user experience and foster a thriving community of padel enthusiasts.

The Global Padel Report

Pablo also discussed the recently released Global Padel Report, created in collaboration with PwC. This comprehensive report provides valuable insights into the state of the padel industry, including player behavior, club management, and demographic data. One of the most surprising findings was the rapid growth of padel in the UK, which has become a significant market for the sport.

The Culture of Padel

A unique aspect of padel is its social component. Unlike many other sports, padel encourages interaction and camaraderie among players. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced player, the emphasis is on having fun and enjoying the game. This inclusive and social nature of padel has contributed to its global appeal.

Conclusion

Our conversation with Pablo Carro highlighted the dynamic growth of padel and the innovative ways Playtomic is shaping the future of the sport. From its humble beginnings to becoming a global phenomenon, padel continues to attract players of all levels and backgrounds. If you haven’t already, download the Playtomic app and join the largest community of padel players worldwide.

Final Thoughts

Padel is more than just a sport; it’s a community that brings people together. Whether you’re playing for fun or competing at a high level, the joy of padel lies in its ability to connect people and create lasting memories. Thank you, Pablo, for sharing your insights and passion for padel with us.

To find out more about Pablo Carro and Playtomic:

• Find or follow Playtomic on Instagram: @Playtomic
• Get the Playtomic/PwC 2024 Global Padel Report

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:

pablo carro | padel algorithm | padel app | padel booking | padel clubs | padel communication | padel community | padel courts | padel entertainment | padel growth | padel in Argentina | padel in Germany | padel in the UK | padel in the US | padel inclusivity | padel matches | padel players | padel professional world | padel rating system | padel social aspect | padel Tactics | padel tennis | Playtomic | Racket Sports | social joy | tennis industry

This transcription comes courtesy of Flowsend.ai, an AI service for podcasters.

Minter Dial:

 Pablo Carro, un placer. What a great privilege to have you on my show. Been using Playtomic for God knows how long. Definitely. It’s part of my zeitgeist, one of my most popular apps on my phone. In your own words, Pablo Carro. Who are you? Quien eres?

Pablo Carro:

 I’ve become recently a dad, I would say.

Minter Dial:

 Congratulations first.

Pablo Carro:

 Yeah, thanks. Thanks, man. I would say I’m a dad first, and then secondly, I’m a pilot player, maybe, and third, businessman, whatever you want to call it. But padel lover for sure. And I think this conversation is going to be around that topic. And thanks for the invite, man. I mean, it’s very interesting what we’ve already.

Minter Dial:

 Yeah, we’ll start with your intro into padel itself, Pablo. I mean, obviously thinking you have a Spanish background might have helped. How did you get into padel in the first. What was the first moment you got on? Saw a padel court and played some padel

Pablo Carro:

 Well, 1995, I was playing tennis at a tennis club and they built two padel courts, this hard surface style, Spanish style, all times. And I tried it and I don’t think I started to play very actively. But since 1999 or 2000, let’s say I migrated to padel and I’m still there. Let’s say I’ve also played tennis for a while, but I think 90% of my rocket sports activity, 95% of my rocket sports activity has been dedicated to Palestine since that moment. And then it became my profession. So, at the end, I left tennis, and my dad would be very sad about that because he was a tennis lover. The kind of guys that they were waking up at 03:00 a.m. for watching Rafael in Australia Open. Definitely. And obsessed with tennis. So, he didn’t like Padel, but I’m absolutely convinced that if he was alive, he would be proud of what Padel as an industry has become and. And why. Padel could be also an example for the tennis industry in the sense of transforming the industry. Right. And becoming more attractive for the new users and new generations.

Minter Dial:

 Well, back in July, we heard Djokovic talking about how tennis is under threat. So, not the only person worrying about the future of tennis.

Pablo Carro:

 Yes, I was thinking about that specific quote from Djokovic. I didn’t want to mention it, but I mean, it is true. I mean, what the tennis guys are realizing, including the top players or the legends like Djokovic, is that we have an industry there, massive industry, tennis that really needs to be transformed and more adapted to new generations, being much more capable to compete with other types of entertainment, I wouldn’t say only padel and pickleball. I mean, we’re not talking about just padel and pickleball as the main threats in that sense to tennis. I mean, it’s the way that the society has been built and the way that we want to consume in a very fast way. And we want to start, let’s say, mastering an activity since day one. And we want to consumer rapidly. And tennis, which is a sport that I love, as I said, needs to be transformed in that sense, and more digitized more, I mean, more adapted to, let’s say, open environments and open communities and more, I mean, making it easier for the people that travels constantly, I mean, facilitating the entry of new players. It’s difficult because itself, the sport is very technical, let’s say, and it demands a huge amount of time to become an advanced player. But they have to transform the business, and I think they can learn a lot from the padel

Minter Dial:

 Well, for sure it’s a difficult sport, but I like your word, Pablo, of saying it’s entertainment. And it makes me think that the competition is actually whether you go to the cinema with friends or you go play a sport and have fun, because even if you’re not good at padel you have fun. So, the entertainment component is so key. So, let’s just, we’re going to get into a little bit of that a little bit more just by talking more about Pablo and his padel tennis. You play on the right. Your level on Playtomic is 5.1. Congratulations. Always good to keep that going. How do you describe your play? If you were an animal, how would you describe the padel player that is Pablo Carlo?

Pablo Carro:

 I’ve been constantly criticized by my padel style. No, the thing is, I’m so tall. I’m so tall. I mean, I can say I’m fast because I’m thin. So, I have kind of this. I can move fast, but I’m not aggressive enough. I’m not aggressive and I should be much more offensive.

Minter Dial:

 Which is why you play on the right. Which is why you play on the right.

Pablo Carro:

 Well, I play on the right because I’m left-handed. So, well, as far as I’m left-handed, I need to be forced to play there. And it’s funny because at the very beginning, I didn’t like to play on the, on the right side, but I’m. I’m left-handed. And one Argentinian coach that I had at the beginning said, no, man, if you are left-handed, you have to, you are forced to play on the right. And then I transform my padel a bit because I was more aggressive playing on the left as a left-handed because, you know, the, the bandeja and the vibora, you have more pace for. Because if you, if you play from here and you cross the ball, I mean, it’s. You have more meters to put the ball on the court, more angle and. But I transform my play and I become a much more defensive player knowing that I’m so tall and quite fast, I should be much more offensive and much more aggressive. Let’s see.

Minter Dial:

 Well, it sounds like you’re a giraffe that needs to be more like a lion.

Pablo Carro:

 Yeah, something like that. That’s a great description.

Minter Dial:

 Well, that’s funny anyway. And you obviously follow everything’s going on in padel in the professional world. Let’s talk about the origin of Playtomic because you’re one of the co-founders and congratulations for that. I mean, it’s absolutely brilliant. You’re in a over 50 countries, you’ve got more than 5000 clubs, a million active players per month, which are great stats, which obviously are credit to what you guys have done. Talk us through when and how atomic came into existence. It’s obviously tennis as well as padel

Pablo Carro:

 Playtomic was released in 2017. The thing is that it’s not a disruptive idea. It wasn’t a disruptive idea or a union’s idea at that time. It was just about digitizing an industry. I mean, it was about racket sport lovers thinking about digitizing the industry that they loved in both sides, right? The clubs, the supply of that, of that industry needed a much more efficient way of doing things and they needed the software, they need tech for doing that. And it was nothing delivered in a proper way at that time. I mean, you can found management software, but we thought there was room for a better tool. And on the other hand, which was even more important, I mean, padel players were able to book a hotel room, cinema tickets, I mean, a taxi from an app at that time, but they were not able to book a court using an app, using an app. So, that was logical, that wasn’t disruptive, that just, it was just a question of making it happening and executing a plan. I mean, as easy as that with the vision, that’s the, that’s the important thing with the vision. So, the big picture was, okay, we really want to facilitate the social joy of rocket sports to absolutely everyone. I mean, it wasn’t only facilitated booking, it was about facilitating and promoting the social joy of rocket sports to absolutely everyone with this inclusivity aspect, right? I mean, everyone to absolutely everyone because it wasn’t easy for the guys outside the padel world to find someone to play with. So, then we created this concept which is called perfect match, because match in the sense of padel match, but also in the sense of matching people. Open matches feature from play Tommy. It’s about, I mean, four guys joining a match that they don’t know each other. So, that’s basically the genesis of this company. And yeah, eight years have passed and we have 5,500 clubs, 1.2 million active users per month, whatever, but the business is the same. And the idea that we had at that time about digitizing something that it wasn’t digitized, it’s already there.

Minter Dial:

 So, one of the challenges, basically, you have on the one hand, the users like me, who want to book my courts, open, closed, private, friendly, competitive, all this stuff, and then you have the clubs. So, if you have a pure player club that only plays padel they, it’s sort of simple, at least it’s reduced to your app, it integrates into their system. But you’re going to be going to clubs that might be a golf course and a tennis club and a squash court and imagining you have to sort of mix or match or figure out how to solve the multiple demands that you have on you, both from the customers, the consumers, and then the clubs, because obviously from a club perspective, it’s back end stuff, integration and business issues. And how do you manage that? And do you see in your vision integrating all sports because you said social, do you imagine going to a golf club and saying, oh, you can, you can reserve your tee times with platonic as well?

Pablo Carro:

 That’s interesting angle. The thing is, in tech, we’ve seen an evolution in which, I mean, the companies, tech companies have been focused on what they do well. I mean, previously, 20 years ago, you found huge companies trying to build something that it covers everything. The scope was extremely broad. So, it’s like they were trying to develop customized features for absolutely everything. So, at the end of the day, what you build doing that is a Frankenstein. I mean, so, and Frankenstein in the sense of it’s a mess. I mean, it’s something that the user experience is hurt by that. I mean, it’s really affected by that ambition to build every single feature.

Minter Dial:

 I mean, everything for everyone is not a good strategy.

Pablo Carro:

 It’s not a good strategy for tech. I mean, you have to focus on whatever you do well. And so, we thought about that and we said, okay, we brackets for lowers. There is a need for digitalization of the industry. So, we’re going to deliver what the rocket sport industry is demanding especially padel and putting the social aspect as I said in the center of the scenario and trying to promote and to facilitate the social joy of the sport. Right. So, if you want to do the same for ten sports we will never, we wouldn’t have done the same job. It would have been worse in the near future. I don’t think we’re going to cover more sports than the racket sports. We can talk about the pickleball adventure, whatever. We can talk about the transformation of tennis industry of course but I mean we don’t have any other sporting agenda for sure. Not maybe in five years time, three years. I don’t know. I mean you never know with these tech companies because we try to grow so fast and we try to evolve the business very quickly. But I mean we have enough with this. We have enough. We have.

Minter Dial:

 Of course you do. You have to take care of your kid too. But no, but I mean at the end of the day what’s interesting about Playtomic and of course padel in general is that you generally aren’t reduced to one club like you say in your report, you basically are multi club because what you’re looking for are a good set of players to play in a convenient location and time. And sometimes some clubs are overbooked. You can’t have players that is too inconvenient for them. And basically I’m a slut for the good game so I don’t need to play at one club. I’m prepared to drive an hour and a half for a great game. Still after all these years it’s a crazy thing. The one thing that really is always going to be a problem and it’s obviously not your fault or anything, but the rating system. Yeah, getting that right. You know at the leveling. When I first signed up for Playtomic I remember I was mortified. I think I put in all my, you know that answered all the questions and I came up with something like a two.

Pablo Carro:

 Two maybe is the right letter for you.

Minter Dial:

 Exactly.

Pablo Carro:

 Ouch.

Minter Dial:

 Ouch. But um. But you know I was um, you know it was basically the challenge is there’s self-evaluation and most times we self-evaluate ourselves better than we are and so, and then even in some countries I, you know I would argue I’m a bona fide 4.5 and if I, and I can, I can really I feel good about that. And I, when I go to Spain, I know I manage myself with 4.5s but I think 4.5 in England is really not the same. The people consider themselves differently. So, you have country differences, these clusters.

Pablo Carro:

 You have different clusters, right? It is true. At the end of the day, the mission in this case of the leveling system is, I mean, to facilitate that joy. Right? So as long as your 4.5 is letting you play in good matches and having fun in London, it’s good. I mean, whatever the number is, don’t get obsessed with the number itself. What is important is creating the perfect match, making that happening. It doesn’t matter if the number is good or bad. It’s true that the clusters are different. I mean, the level in Madrid is different than the level in Helsinki or Milan or Cape Town. This is completely true. But there we have the tech for helping us. We have a quite strong algorithm that, as you said, they ask you a certain number of questions for letting you know your initial level, but this level is not reliable until you’ve already played a decent number of matches. Then, depending on the scores of those matches, depending on who you play with, who are your opponents, the frequency that have happened, that has happened that much, because if I play the same match ten days, my levels shouldn’t be dropping or increased every day, you know what I mean? So these kind of considerations are incorporated in the algorithm, and also, very lately, we’ve already started to cross our previous algorithm, asking the other players opponents if they think that the level of the guy was appropriate or not. So, we are putting that altogether, and we are trying to improve, step by step, the leveling system that we have in place in the app, which I have to tell you, 200,000 open matches are arranged per month in Playtomic worldwide. And that’s a lot. That’s 800,000 people meeting up playing padel that they don’t know each other. That connects very well with our vision to facilitate the social joy of racket sports. Right.

Minter Dial:

 And I was just thinking a little extra add on, you know, as if you needed this. But why don’t you add, like, after your 1 hour or two-hour match, 30 minutes for la cervecita (the little beer), you know, because that also should be included, by definition, in all of our matches. That’s my just. But let’s talk. I’m glad to hear about those type of arrangements. And it must be with the algorithm, a little bit like Google, the secret box, the black box of the rating, and then at some level, it’s going to get so big, you’re going to have troubles to really understand everything that’s working, or the cross dynamics. If I paid him ten times already. How does that value differently than if I’ve only paid you once and if I pay with the same partner all the time? Actually, that should count, because I know my partner. He’s left-handed. I’m on the blah, blah blah, and we know each other. We know how the calls or if someone is always playing open. I mean, anyway, there’s a lot of things that’s got to go into it. Let’s talk for the last part about the new report, the global panel report that you did with PwC, with my friend Elena. I’ve had her on the show before to talk about last year’s report, describe the process and challenges of putting this report together, because, I mean, it’s so fast. Some countries are pretty serious, others are completely not. And it must be very difficult to try to figure out all of the different things and counting. What, are you counting the federations or not? And so on.

Pablo Carro:

 It is, it is there we have Price Waterhouse Coopers for doing that hard job. But at the end of the day, well, it’s not rocket science. It’s just about being accurate and trying to do the job properly. And then you realize that the different velocities of the different geographies, and it’s like the state of parallel today, right. Every year we release this saying, okay, let’s see the reaction of everyone involved in the industry. It’s a combination of this consultancy expertise from Elena’s team and our knowledge about player behavior. I mean, I mean, and club behavior. I mean, because we’ve incorporated two blocks in a report about club management and player behavior, which really, I mean, adds a lot of value to the stakeholders. I mean, it’s been really appreciated. I mean, we’ve received a lot of compliments from many people saying, okay, this was extremely useful about, for instance, average price per code, key components for running a public club. Many things that the focus groups and surveys that we’ve invested in a lot, money and time and resources, sharing the insights with the industry, I think it’s something that we, we really love to do. It’s like the state of padel today. I mean, it’s not only a forecast of the industry’s continued growth, it’s a compilation of club players and demographic data. It’s a great exercise from my point.

Minter Dial:

 Of view, when I had my cousin and our mutual friend Nallé on my show to talk about the report, and we were discussing what was the biggest surprises from it, and for him, it was about the US. And certainly, I thought about that. But for me. It was indeed those two pages, the one about the success of clubs. I just found it the most interesting, intriguing part. That was unexpected for me. So, I congratulate you that. Pablo, what was the biggest surprise for you? Did you find something in all the research and the work that was, whoa, I didn’t expect that, or was it all what you imagined? Because you’re kind of in the business as it is.

Pablo Carro:

 Well, over the year, I would say the most impactful thing that has happened to the industry, and I’ve said that many times, is the growth in the UK. That’s something that I didn’t expect. I was anticipating something in 2023, but what we’ve seen in 2024 is the confirmation of the search of real padel and commercial clubs. I mean, not the kind of two padel courts in the middle of a 20-tennis court club from members and in a close environment. I mean, that, that was. I was, it was a big surprise. I didn’t expect this level of, of clubs being open in the UK. And fortunately, you know better than, I mean, the UK playtime is doing amazingly well. So, there’s good news for my company, but at the end of the day, for the whole industry, because the UK is the. I mean, it’s the, it’s a marketing tool for the whole industry. It’s like if the, an initiative and sport is successful in the UK, you have the doors open everywhere, everywhere, everywhere in the world, you won’t have a problem. Yeah. I mean, because it affects the US development, it also affects the Asia development. It’s very impressive that in a positive, in a positive way. In a negative way, Germany. I mean, I mean, I love how it’s being evolved in the last three months, but if we talk about a year, year plus, they supposed to have grown in a faster way. But it is what it is. The licenses, permissions and all the real estate blockers have been affecting it. But we’re getting there. We’re getting there. So, what, it was kind of negative or pessimistic now, I think it’s going to become a good surprise in the next couple of years.

Minter Dial:

 Yeah. And what I was interesting in your report is that you actually describe why and how Germany isn’t as fast as it could have been. Anyway, a shout out to my lovely friend Denise Hoefer, the number one player in Germany and hopefully pushing German padel as I know she is, along with others like Jurgen [Klopp] and such. Yeah. For me, the other surprise certainly was the way you used Google. 45% of all views were American. And when you only have 454 courts in 2023 growing fast. Well, that just seems like a ridiculous difference. And I suspect part of that’s because Google is Google or everybody has a VPN that says, I’m actually in America.

Pablo Carro:

 Yes, yes. No, that’s also very good because it’s the confirmation of the appetite for battle in the US. And the appetite is, I mean, maybe for the size of the US, that number of impacts is just super small. But as long as we’re talking about a huge audience that will be transformed into business very quickly. Indeed. What we’ve seen so far is that 600 cores are going to be delivered in the US in the next, say, 1218 months because we talk to every single court manufacturer and we know the numbers, the aggregate numbers. So, at the end of the day, the US is going to come. It’s going to come. It is, it is, it is. The only uncertainty is, is it going to be huge as tennis in ten years’ time or is it going to be just a secondary sport? But whatever it will be if, if we talk about Florida, Texas and California, thinking about thousand plus clubs is not a crazy thing in three, five years’ time. For sure. Not. For sure. Not.

Minter Dial:

 Well, I’m going to Philadelphia and I play in Padelphia there, or I have a few friends who have personal private courts and then I go play PadelHaus. So, yeah, and of course Natalie down in padel x. So, lots of exciting things in the states. One thing for me, obviously, as a sort of a historian of padel I was definitely surprised not to see much more about Argentina. Tell us how that came about. Because at the end of the day, pattern without Argentina is sort of like space without Russia.

Pablo Carro:

 Yeah.

Minter Dial:

 Yeah.

Pablo Carro:

 I mean, we’ve received many claims about Argentina. Why we’ve not incorporated Argentina in the numbers. Basically, I can tell you that speaking with Price Waterhouse, Cooper, Elena’s team, it was pretty complicated to get solid data about the market. I think they tried to find out a real number, but at the end of the day, they tried to cross databases and they saw that there was not enough comfort on that numbers to be published and to be incorporated to the report. And these guys, they know what to do, right? I mean, they are consultancy firm and we decided to not include Argentina. But I mean, it’s not something that we’re not going to do, is that this report and previous report was not incorporated in Argentina. But you are right. I mean, Argentina deserves to be included in that report because if it is the bible of the industry, Argentina is, is something important in the, in the sport, right?

Minter Dial:

 Yeah, I mean, you know, and of course, I’m happy to see Mexico in there because of the origin and Acapulco and all that. But, yeah, I feel that Argentina, I mean, you know, back in the. When I, before you were born, Pablo, you know, there were 30,000 courts in Argentina. And so, that was back in the days when it was just cement, three-meter walls and all that. But, you know, obviously their situation is very different and building new courts and all that. So, anyway, looking forward to having more Argentina in there, let’s just talk about one last thing, which is about padel itself and why it’s so successful. The question that comes to me is, is there such a thing as the culture of padel Is there a specific culture of padel that can be internationalized? Or do you see padel is being sort of cultivated differently in each country? You know, the Swedish version, Argentinian version?

Pablo Carro:

 Well, I mean, if you think about the nature of the sport in the essence is, I mean, as we spoke, it’s a combination of fun game while you do sports, it’s real sport. I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s extremely physically demanding, but it is a sport.

Minter Dial:

 So, it can be.

Pablo Carro:

 It can be, yeah, but not always. And the third company is this social aspect, right? The social aspect. It makes it real different because the combination of the three, in my point of view, is what? It makes it extremely successful. But those are the three components. And let’s say that those three companies, they generate, and it’s already studied by doctors, I mean, it generates a high level of endorphins, dopamine, etcetera. I mean, it’s already tested higher than any other sport. Higher than any other sport. I’ve seen reports about that. So, if that is. I mean, if that is the secret of the sport, and those are the components that makes it absolutely amazing. In Playtomic at least, we’ve seen the behavior of South Africans compared to the Mexicans, compared to the British guys, compared to the Italians, compared to the Finnish. I can tell you the behavior of the base is very similar. I mean, very similar. Very similar. I mean, the sport is the same. The chemical effect that is generating their bodies is the same. And the behavior playing pilot in this global community is almost the same in any country. The UK is a great example. No one was expecting that the best country for open matches worldwide, in Playtomic, in terms of percentage of open matches compared to regular organisms, was going to be the UK. And then we’ve seen the most social guys in the UK. Impressive, right? Impressive. And that allows us to say. Allows us to say that there will be no blockers for the social component in any other market. If we’ve already tested in South Africa, England, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Mexico, we are everywhere and we have volumes. So, it’s not just an experiment. We’re talking about 5500 clubs. So, I can tell you, answering your question, I mean, the behavior of the player is very similar, very similar. What is true is that this global community, this thriving global community, is not wanting to copy the tennis dynamic, closed clubs, membership schemes, kind of aspirational behavior. No, no. They really want to play, they really want to have fun, they really want to do sports and they really want to socialize. And that is already confirmed.

Minter Dial:

 One of the observations I’ve made is it’s possible for me in those open games to find myself with, you know, quote unquote, a janitor and a CEO of a big company. And there’s no protocol around that. You know, it’s, the game is happening. And the idea, you know, I think of things that for me come more from the Hispanic origin, not just, you know, the happiness and so on, but, for example, that you hug at the end of the match, you don’t just shake hands, you hug at the end of a professional battle. And I would love to see that kind of element which is for me more recognition of padel than the match itself. This is like, we’re here for people who enjoyed battle. That is the meta story. And even though I lost the match, we’ll talk about points that I lost and won with joy, with some sort of alacrity. I mean, obviously there are other people who are so competitive that they need to win every point. They scream, they break the rackets. Those people, I feel, don’t have the full vibe of the padel culture. And I suppose you see that everywhere, though.

Pablo Carro:

 Yeah, no, you’re right. I mean, and the inclusivity that we spoke before is perfectly reflected on what you said. I mean, you can find anyone playing with you, against you as an opponent from any kind of social layer. And that’s the beauty of this sport as well, in also physical condition. I mean, you can play very, very competitive matches according to your level with people that physically they are not talented. Let’s say they annoy the best, say it doesn’t matter because as it has a kind of game component apart from the sports component. I mean, the tactic, the tactic is so important so people that they don’t have a very good physical condition, they can be very competitive.

Minter Dial:

 I have one last comment, though, and I’m going to let you go after that, Pablo, because I’m sure you have a busy life. Is the issue of communication. It is my observation that proper, good padel relies on good communication. If you don’t have communication, I don’t care how technically good you are, you will be eventually undone by your opponents. And from one country to another, it feels like I can come into any Spanish game and they’re going to be talking, you know, whatever, and we have all the terms, but in many of the other, more, less mature countries, the idea of talking on the court, talking while I’m playing, it’s almost sometimes considered, like, rude or what are you trying to tell me to do? Or. So, that’s another point. What do you think?

Pablo Carro:

 Well, I mean, it’s true that you can find people that they talk so much, but you need to communicate on the court. I mean, you’re a coach. I mean, you need to. It’s critical because sometimes you don’t have the capacity to see what your opponents are doing and your partner has to tell you that’s, I mean, that’s part of the, of the sport itself. That’s part of the tactics. Sometimes you, you can feel that your opponents are talking so much or whatever, but I feel that the, this will be adopted by other countries as long as the sport is developed. Why? Because it’s key. If I’m going to hit the ball, I don’t know that the guy is on the net. My partner had to tell me if I have to hit slow, and I don’t know that because I couldn’t see the guy, my partner has to inform me. So, I think it’s part of the game, but it’s true that they are much more quiet in certain markets than in others. Right. If you play in the Nordics, it’s absolutely true that they have a different, let’s say, sound, right?

Minter Dial:

 Indeed. Anyway, lots of things to enjoy. Paolo, thank you so much for coming on. Tell us, how can any, you know, anyone who doesn’t know Playtomic I mean, because most people who are listening, they know a little bit about padel but, you know, go find Playtomic. What’s the best way to do that? What’s the best way to follow you, Pablo Carro, or get in touch with you? And also, how can people download the report?

Pablo Carro:

 Okay, so the most important thing is, I mean, to download the largest community, the largest player in clubs, community app, you have to find it in Apple Store or Google Play. Easy, easy. It’s an app so you can find it very quickly. I think it’s been downloaded 5 million times, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem finding it. For the report specifically. You can google it and you’ll find it a way to download it. The comprehensive report about the industry and myself.

Minter Dial:

 I’ll put a link into the show anyway as well.

Pablo Carro:

 Great, thanks for that. And I mean, the only, let’s say, social network that I have, apart from my profiling Playtomic it’s LinkedIn. So, if you want to find me, I’ll be there. I’m trying to become much more active because I’m not so expert on that matter, but I’m trying to improve. I’m doing my best.

Minter Dial:

 We always have to improve, Pablo, every time. And that’s what life’s about, is the enjoyment of understanding our imperfections, teaching our children such things, and keeping a smile on the face. Pablo, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on.

Pablo Carro:

 Thanks for inviting me. Extremely interesting conversation. And I mean, I like this. I mean, I like to talk about our sport in this way. I love it. Thank you very much.

Minter Dial:

 It’s a passion and a profession. Exactly.