The Joy of Padel podcast with Rafa Vega

In this episode, I chat with Rafa Vega, a top-ranked padel player and coach in the UK. We explore Rafa’s transition from competitive tennis to padel, his coaching strategies, and the differences between the two sports. Rafa offers valuable insights on maintaining sharpness as a coach, the challenges of switching from tennis to padel, and the importance of enjoying the game. Our discussion also highlights the social aspects of padel, the sport’s growth in the UK, and Rafa’s experiences at the Hexagon Cup. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with personal stories and practical advice for padel enthusiasts.

To find out more about Rafa Vega:

• Find or follow on Instagram: @rafaotaola
• Rafa’s official profile on 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:

Harvard Club Chelsea | LTA rating system | Minter Dial podcast | padel challenges | Padel Coaching | padel communication | padel court dynamics | padel equipment | padel events | padel fun | padel growth | padel in the UK | padel juniors | padel Partnerships | padel player development | padel social aspect | padel strategies | Padel Techniques | padel tennis | padel Tournaments | Padel Training | padel vs tennis | Rafa Vega | tennis background | Tennis To Padel Transition | UK padel circuit

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

Minter Dial:

My dear friend and coach, Rafa Vega, you are my absolute favorite coach I’ve had the chance to play with you, get coached by you, still learning at the ripe old age of 60. You are currently ranked number two in Britain under the LTA rating system. You have been number one. Congratulate that. You have had a lot of success and lots of tournaments and you have such a way about you. But Rafa, in your own words, who is Rafa Vega?

Rafa Vega:

Hello, Minter. It’s a pleasure to be here today. Thank you for having me. Well, so currently I am working in Harvard club Chelsea, and as you know, I’ve been working also in some padel events at x seven cup, and I currently also playing around the UK in the main circuit here, some fifth tournaments as well, while trying to be a bit more involved on the padel event sides.

Minter Dial:

So, Rafael, you came to padel at the age of 15, but you’re not a pure player. You came from tennis, so talk us through your movement. So, while you started, I mean, you were a very competitive tennis player. Well, up until, let’s say, the late teens. Youll tell us more. And then you picked up padel when you were 15. So, talk us about how you got into padel and when you transitioned basically from tennis to padel.

Rafa Vega:

So basically, ive been playing tennis since I was like six years old and ive been playing all the way through until uni. When I finished uni, I stopped playing and I’ve been always playing padel with my friends just for fun. Since I was like 15 years old. I wasn’t combining like padel and tennis while competing because it was a mix that I didn’t like it too much. So, just when I didn’t have tournaments, I used to play padel with my friends. And then in 2018, where it was when I moved here to London, like, in order to improve my English and everything. The club that I was working in, Bishop Park, Roxane. Bishop park? Oh, yeah, they put up Pavel code there. And with actually Enrique, like Javan Gila and a few other coaches, like Crystalis Burrito is now in the Europes. We were playing for fun and this all padel wave, like started to happen. And I’ve been playing since 2018. Way more padded than tennis for sure. And now I obviously, like, I do a bit of coaching, but I look after myself in terms of like, playing wise, like going to Spain, to some other academies, playing the main tournaments here of the LTA, a few fibs, and that’s what, like, how I got more into the last six years, I’ve been playing like quite a lot.

Minter Dial:

Well when you’re a coach it’s, it’s often difficult to stay sharp in the game because coaching obviously a lot of beginners and, you know, nobody’s at your level so you have to keep engaged and you do with your personality. But keeping your game sharp is different and difficult because it involves so many things and of course you’re having, having the chance to play with people like Enrique of course, must have been quite fun as a way to start. But in the transition from tennis to padel you said you didn’t like the mix. I sometimes feel that I can bring some elements of my tennis into padel and some of my elements of padel into tennis talk us through where there’s good and where there’s bad between tennis and padel.

Rafa Vega:

Well when I was like playing tennis like I didn’t want it to touch the racket before, like the padded racket before a tournament. I don’t know, it was something that, it was getting into my mind, the fact that the swing is different. Like in tennis you open your arm way more in parties where like a bit more tight, more like a bit of like flat slice. Like I didn’t like it really like really much the combination and, but look, like, as I said, like at the beginning, like when I was a kid, like I wasn’t like really focusing to like padel that much for me to care much about that. But nowadays like it does make a difference to play. The transition to padel to tennis is okay but tennis to padel like I find it a bit more difficult. It was maybe just a personal feeling, maybe. Djokovic, I saw him playing like at the Mutua Madrid Open, like playing for fun and his division there in the Mutua Madrid open and then he was playing against Rafa. I mean, you know, it’s like, so it’s not like that much that it’s going to make a huge difference. But it was just a personal, personal thing.

Minter Dial:

What strikes me and I’ve had now a fair number of people on my show is the number of times people are playing tennis and doing having fun on the pedal court. So, such that like tennis isn’t really that much fun. It’s a grind, it’s hard, it’s long distances and you’re solo basically out there whereas the fun is on the padel court.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah. So, look, that’s what I was doing by the age of like 15, having fun with my friends and look into like here in the UK we are being called like a few times to go and help out in some corporate events like team buildings, and we do events, like, say, 100 people coming. Never play padel before, never play a racket sport before. Some of them, yes. And we get them onto the padel corps, and pretty much like, all of them, they have fun. Like, if you try to do the same event with the same people on the tennis court, it’s not the same. Like, the fight of picking up the padded racket, like, explaining the rules, like, what is in, what is out. Like, if the ball hit straight, if you look at them always, like something, like, funny happened. Smiley faces, like, the social aspect, like, everyone plays, like, I think it’s right. Like, tennis is more like the competitive side. If you play this level, you have fun, but if you don’t have, like, the level, you’re going to struggle a bit more, but still you’re going to have the fun. Of course.

Minter Dial:

I wonder if that sort of. If there’s a singular element that makes it more fun. It’s how many times you screw up the easy shots.

Rafa Vega:

In battle, you mean? Yeah, it’s like. It’s funny because there are so many times that you see like, oh, I’m going to kill this one. And you really don’t kill, especially coming from tennis to padel, like, in tennis, like, how many bullets, like, you’re going to do on a tennis point now? No more than two, three. You can finish the point, but here you are all the time, like, hitting kind of like ball and back and back, and then you look like. It’s like an easy one. Oh, I’m going to kill this one. Boom, straight to the glass. Like yesterday we’re playing at all here in the UK. I smash one ball to the glass, like, straight. That I probably. I do 100 and I don’t miss it. But that time you miss. It’s true, like, easy balls and boom, you miss. It’s fun. Make it fun as well to see.

Minter Dial:

That kind of points 100%. And it just makes you giggle and remind you to be humble, because we can all screw up. So, how you play when you play in the English tournaments or when you go traveling with, do you have a regular partner?

Rafa Vega:

I try to. I try to have a regular partner, but being honest, like, we all been struggling a bit. Finding the rapine. I think the only ones, probably, that they are more of it together is Chris and Alfonso Patacho. And I’ve been playing a lot, like, well, the last two players have been like Sam McNeil and Louis Harvest. They have been more like, okay, I’ve been playing with them quite a lot.

Minter Dial:

And you play on the right. When you play with Louis for example.

Rafa Vega:

With Louis, for sure, we started, like, playing the first 2 hours on the left and then the third one in Guernsey, I play myself on the right.

Minter Dial:

You know how you. Sometimes you meet up, hey, you want to be left, right? I don’t care. And I played yesterday with a friend, and I sort of said I thought I should play left with this guy. I played on the left, and we won. Then we won handily. And then, like, let’s say 6-2, 6-2, then we switched sides and we won. 6-0. I said, oh, I guess it means I should pay on the right.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah, I think, look, being honest, I think it’s a bit of, like, ego. Like, a bit like. But like, with Louis, like, for instance, like, we all like the smiles, and it’s like, okay, whatever. But we both go 100% with whichever side we’re going to lose. And it was funny, like, in west of Scotland, actually. We play a great one there. And we said, if we lose the first set of the match, we switch. On my mind, I was losing, so I wasn’t going to go to. I wasn’t going to let him have the bike left. Yeah. So, that one went well. We didn’t have to switch, but it gives you, like, active. I don’t want to lose. I want to keep, like, this spot. And if I have to move to the right, which I’ve done it, like, a thousand times here in the UK when I used to play with Chris on the right, he has the mask, like, he’s fine. I can play any. I don’t think you need to just be in, just focusing one side. Look at Juan Lebron now. He’s been playing, like, all his life on the right. But then obviously, like, at the beginning, he was playing on the left as well, so he’s been playing both, basically, yeah.

Minter Dial:

So just finish on the tennis story, because I’m sure you coach the majority of players who, if they’ve played any racquet sports, they’re coming from tennis. And while tennis, the ball is a little similar, you have the net that makes it similar. There are some similarities. What sort of insights do you have about moving from tennis to padel? If you really want to sort of improve in padel, coming from tennis, whatever level you were at and where you want to go, what insights do you have for tennis players to really convert?

Rafa Vega:

Tranquilo. That’s what I say. Tranquilo. Like, it’s always like, okay, slow it down. You know, like, you don’t need to hit it that hard. Something. You are actually making it easier for the other one to get the ball back because it’s rebouncing too much with the glass. And also another one I like is the glass is your friend. Don’t try to be a goalkeeper all the time. Trying to. Don’t be like, okay, don’t let the bosses know. Actually, it’s tough to play, obviously, like coming from tennis to padel with the walls. Okay. It’s tough because like you don’t have the wall basically in the tennis court and, and they like, the best advice I give to the tennis players is like, don’t do the big swings and when you’re at the net, try to get the double glass in place. Like try to actually make the ball bounce like in the sidewall and then back wall or back wall to the side wall because people get, if people struggle with one glass, imagine with two, especially here in the UK.

Minter Dial:

And one of the things that I personally am trying to work on is, is to be fixated on the ball coming off the opponent’s racket such that I can then immediately activate. This is a ball that’s going to my left and it’s going to go fast enough that’s going to come off the back wall. And I have to start going forward because at my age there’s a little bit of a slowness, right. Adjusting for, oh, God, I got to go forward to get to this ball and make sure you let it go right so it goes through your feet or by you and had that, for me, that first instinct of oh, this is a wall shot. All right, I’m going forward as opposed to sit there. Let’s see. And then all of a sudden you’re being the goalkeeper that you talked about and then you get into trouble and if you let it go by, you don’t have time to get onto it because your momentum isn’t the right way.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah. So, I always say when the ball hits the back one, like I say go back in order to come forward, like meaning something, people get stuck like on the near to a service line hoping that the ball is going to rebound more and they are flicking it. So, if you go back, you will hit the ball in front of you and if you have to go forward a bit more, then that’s fine. But I know what you mean and there are many people like, yeah, judge where the ball is going to go. To anticipate yourself is key as well, especially when you get to your level that you want to keep getting better and better. Right.

Minter Dial:

Well, at least I want to keep competing with the youngsters.

Rafa Vega:

There we go. We need to play soon. As well.

Minter Dial:

Love that. And so how about, how do you describe yourself if you were an animal? What sort of animal are you? On a padel court.

Rafa Vega:

Interesting. The first one comes to your mind is like the lion. Classic, right? Like, it’s like, okay, like trying to smash the walls and to finish the ball, like, the point, like, quite quick. And that’s probably the animal. Like, I try to be aggressive. I try to be, like, quick@the.net. not spend too much time, like, at the back. And I think it’s kind of how the game is play nowadays. There are not many, like, all, like the old school, let’s say. Like, when two players at the back, two players at the front, you play way more bandeja, like Chiquita. Now it’s way more like way faster, which is something good for my game, let’s say.

Minter Dial:

Well, it brings up a point for me, which is that my feeling is when I travel and I play in Spain, there’s still a lot of old school padel going on. What I see in Britain in particular is mostly tennis players, very accomplished tennis players coming into padel and bringing, I think, the aggression from tennis into padel. Dominate the net. Good hard volleys all the time. Big smashes. And there’s less that tranquilo, less that patience I see than I see in all my Spanish friends in Spain.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah. So, it’s interesting, right? Like, yesterday we were playing, we were playing a tournament here in London, and there was a guy from Spain called Martin Piñeiro. Like, probably many of the Spanish, like people, they know him because he’s played against the best in the world. So, we were playing against him. And the way how he was making the winners, it was by, like, looking after the ball in terms of, like, okay, with the slice, with the. More, like the beaver, like, staying a bit more at the back, which is like, what you’re saying, like this t. Like the people play that, that game, like the. Okay, up, down, especially thin. The older you get, I think more. More than you actually do, because your fitness obviously doesn’t require you. But then you go to the other side and you go to Chingo, to Galan against Tapi and Coelho, and let’s see how long the point lasts, because they are all the time like, looking Chiquita coming in, ball against volley. So, I get both sides.

Minter Dial:

Well, there was a computer, there is a computer company that has been looking at trying to get more statistics on how long are the average points, for example. And the team is called dartfish, and they have that technology that they were counting the average number of points in the men’s tour and the women’s tour, and women tend to have 1 second longer average rallies. And what you’re saying, it sounds like, especially when you start looking at how Chingaland are playing and so on, that there may be a lowering of the number of exchanges on the court.

Rafa Vega:

It obviously depends of where are you playing. Like, how fast is they go, like altitude. Like, it depends on many things. If you go to, I think there was a tournament in Mexico, like two years ago or something like that, that the points were lasting. Like they were like three minutes. Yeah, like so long. So, it depends a lot of, like, how fast are the calls and everything. But lately, like, the last tournaments that they’ve been playing is like, not every player, obviously, not everyone is Chingoto, Galan and Tapia Coello, obviously. But I think the game is played quite quick. Like, obviously it’s something you need to be more at the back and everything. But Sanyo, for instance, he was saying, like, they need to do something with the rules. Like, they need to do, like, like, I don’t know, extend the court or put it one more meter up. But he was saying that if he. One day he becomes a coach, he will. He will say, like, okay, I will teach my student, like, to fiddle up and then going bigger. Yeah. Internet. Because, like, the game is played, like, and obviously for Sanyo, is nothing ideal how the game is played nowadays. His game is way more like vibora, you know? He likes more than long running.

Minter Dial:

As do I. Yeah, yeah. And it will be interesting to follow how and when they do do those changes. I spoke with, of course, as you know, Enrique Buenaventura. And by the way, we were talking just now about Sanyo Gutierrez. For those who don’t know exactly, but where you are, where Enrique and the team you at Hexagon decided to have a slower pace environment, even though it was in Madrid and it was a conscious decision to have slower. And maybe having this conscious decision of slower padel courts, especially when it’s hot, maybe you can change the ball pressure. Maybe you can. I mean, you can’t exactly change the weather if you don’t have any other options.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah, yeah.

Minter Dial:

But let’s talk. Talk to me about the Hexagon cup and your involvement. And what did you think about that experience?

Rafa Vega:

Well, like, being honest with you, Minter, it was one of the best experience I ever had as a worker. Like, so obviously, I knew Enrique since day one that I came here in the UK. Like, we were always, like, as I said, playing abyssal park, and he was always saying, Rafa, like, I’m going to do something. I’m going to do something with Padel, you know, classic, I give you mine. And then last December, like, he told me, like, okay, that first thing, like now is like the time come to canon ball. Like, it’s happening, you know, I think it’s a great, great experience for you because in the end is what I always wanted. Right. And me personally, he’s always been guiding me, like on the right way, like advising me. I had different opportunities and I think it was one of new formats. The fact that it was by teams bringing Eva Longoria, Andy Moore, Lewandowski, it brings the fans together, the social aspect, but at the same time competing. So, in the end, like, with the spinning of the DJ, like, I think it was like great, great experience, to be fair. And I think they are looking like they are working hard to make it even bigger for next year. So, I think next year it’s going to be even better.

Minter Dial:

Well, of course, the first time is always a challenge. And did you get a chance to play with any of the players or are you just off the court the whole time?

Rafa Vega:

I just played with Aran, who is the founder of the advantage team, which I’m close to. Luckily. I was quite happy that at the end they ended up winning the event, but I didn’t have the chance to play with any of the other prospect, obviously, like, they are obviously working.

Minter Dial:

It’s real work.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah, of course, all of the core, but I spent a bit of the time with them. Like some of them, they were quite friendly. That was a good thing. You could see Eva Longoria going through the fans like that. That was quite cool for the fan, that they could take pictures as well with them. It was different. It was quite great experience.

Minter Dial:

It strikes me as speak to, first of all, anyone knows how to get in touch with Eva, I want her on my show to speak.

Rafa Vega:

Enrique. There you go.

Minter Dial:

But in my experience, as it’s still somewhat new, that proximity with people, important people, successful, famous people, happens because it’s all about the padel. I mean, in Paris, I was talking to somebody, my friend Camille. We were talking about how the CEO of Renault plays with just anybody as long as he gets a good game. And so you can mix it up with people because it’s all about the padel.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah. Like Minter, if I will tell my friend that I was going to two years ago that I was going to play in the same court with John Terry or with Nicolas Latifi or Jimmy Anderson, which I didn’t know who he was, to be fair.

Minter Dial:

The bowler of cricket.

Rafa Vega:

Exactly. Yeah. Like, we did an event in Harlingen. Like, I had a chance to play the series so much with him, such a legend. And this is what I mean, like, padded puts everyone, like, at the same level. You know, it doesn’t matter who are you playing with or against. That is, like, it’s great fun. It’s really social. I think that’s why one of the main things is why every, like, it’s one of the fastest growing sport in the world right now, right? So, make it fun for everyone. Doesn’t matter who you are, like, the level that you have, like, you’re going to have fun.

Minter Dial:

So, you are ranked number two in England, but quite far off the top hundred in the FIP. The fact is England is still way behind the rest of the world. What’s it going to take for a country, a smaller, minnow type country, let’s say Denmark in England, Belgium, to have top. Top players getting in? What’s it going to take?

Rafa Vega:

I think it’s going to take quite a while. And I also don’t see the process in terms of getting coaches in. In terms of, like, because as you know, like, Brexit, since Brexit happened, like, the fact that if you want to pay someone to come to be a coach, I think it was 28,938 or something like that, and just talking loud. But I think it’s tricky. It’s not like me, like, in 2018, where I wanted to improve my English while giving some lessons is now it’s tougher. Like, you need your certificate in English. You need someone to sponsor you. So, in the end, how are they really going to develop the game? Like, since you cannot get Spanish people or Argentinian, or it’s going to be like, tennis coaches for, like, getting the certification from, obviously, like. Like the LTA, which is doing a good job, like mano Martin, like padelMBA and so on. But to get to the stage where you get the top hundred or something that’s similar, you need to invest a lot in the juniors, I think. So, who is looking after the junior? I think they are doing camps, which is great, that give the motivation to the juniors to one day maybe, you know, I will be there. It’s nice to see them coming to watch the tournaments as well, and you ask them, how you doing? And it’s like, yeah, but I cannot find, like, enough people to play with.

Minter Dial:

Enough good people, enough good people or.

Rafa Vega:

Even just to go and play, right. Like in Spain, you could see a lot of people like going to the clubs and just hitting against the wall right here. I don’t think that that really happened because first of all, like there are not enough courts and also probably if there are enough courts, you cannot do that because you’re not paying for that call. Right. I think it will take. It will take a while. I think they are all trying to push in the same direction. Hopefully one day we will see top players coming through. We have Christian that he’s like obviously like looking. He’s the closest one that Great Britain has, actually. We grow together. We are from the same town as well. And I’m really happy for him to see him playing against Capra and Maxi Sanchez are obviously top ten in the world of 15. So, it’s great to have that. And now to see them on the Europes, for instance.

Minter Dial:

Yeah, we will see. So, coming back to your game, Rafa, because it’s always interesting to talk to a coach or a very good player about their game. And so, we talked about you as a lion on the court. But what is the shot? What’s your favourite shot and how do you play it? Well.

Rafa Vega:

It’s a classic. Like, I was ready for the question and I could go easily like say the smash. Okay. But I’ve learned in the last year, like how to, as I’m a tall guy, I don’t want to lose the net. Something I cannot get ready for the smash. You do kind of the picada, which is kind of like you are going backwards. You try to get over the top of the ball and you go down in order to like try to find the fence and that the ball goes down. That’s kind of my favorite shot, like right now. Because it’s not. It’s one that is giving me a lot of points because again, as I said, like, I don’t like to lose the net. And that’s what I. What I practice a lot. I enjoy myself because I can see that people struggle with that shot.

Minter Dial:

Nice. That’s interesting. What about the shot you’re trying to improve? The one that’s the. You’re still saying I could do better on that one.

Rafa Vega:

I wouldn’t say the shot. I would say to be at the back of the court, like me as a tennis player, like background in that. Like we suffer a bit more when we are at the back and now trying to be a bit more open standing, trying to leave the ball, move with the wall and so on, and try to apply myself. The advice that I give that the class is your friend. So, for now, like, I’m trying to do that, like for myself, trying to be more at the back, like patient. When is the right time go forward?

Minter Dial:

You know, it’s funny you should say that, probably. I love playing at the back. And if I were to say, you know, what, what shot do I really need to improve on? It’s playing against a left hander at the back when you’re playing with right and left. I just, my head gets, it gets screwed off. I mean, I don’t know what’s going on. Oh my God. Wait, he’s hitting. Leftist is a, this is a vibora. All right. And then I, oh God. And then, oh, and then by the time I’m thinking through all this, the balls zip by me over.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah, I suffered a lot. That would have left here as well. Right at the beginning when we, when we were like, it was at the beginning of playing the, here, the LTA two we’re playing is a lefty, which was Jorge Martin now. And oh my God, the spinous, like I can know, like the ball comes with something else, right. But obviously, the more time that you are on call, the more that you practice, the more knowledge you get, then you are. You can handle that better on call, I would say.

Minter Dial:

Well, a word to the wise. And what about finding your partner? You talked about how you’d like to have one. You don’t. It’s not always easy, especially with travel. And if it’s not the prime, you know, they have to work for a living yet, finding the right partner. But what process, what advice do you have in trying to find the right partner?

Rafa Vega:

You know, like, I think it’s a guide that obviously you get along well because in the end you don’t want to spend just the time playing. It’s usually the time traveling time at the airport, at the hotel, dinner, lunch, and obviously then performs on call. I don’t think that’s the key thing to get along quite well. But if you do great and then on call. For me, what I look is like, obviously someone who can be at the back a bit more and I can be more like at the front where I can get my potential. Like basically, like with a bullies and smashes. That’s what I try to look, but obviously it’s not. We are in the, again, we are in the UK. We know, like I’ve been playing, I would say half, half on the right, half on the left during all my time here because it’s not easy. It’s not easy to find players. If you go to Spain, you knock the door of any club, you’re going to find, like, decent players. All over here, we are not many. So, in the end, you need to find like. Yeah, and even though if you don’t like something, you try to work on it in order to get the best out of both. So, I would say, like, someone who get you, if you get along with him well, better, because he’s going to help. Encore.

Minter Dial:

So what I heard, what I heard there was, first, this idea of getting along, especially if you’re traveling and everything. And secondly, what I heard was complementarity into what, how you want to play. But then finally, you have to adapt to whatever for now. What about communication, Rafa? Because as much as we might be talking about technical skills, complementarity, you’re at the back, I’m at the front, or vice versa. What about communication? And when you start up with somebody, how do you gauge that? When do you bring. Hey, listen, when are we going to do the calls? How are we going to play? This is what I want to do.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah. So, I think it helps when you train on court with the same person and the same coach. So, you know, okay, if he’s playing the ball to here, like, I should be playing to the, like, to the other side. So, communication is like, you need to have, like, a plan, plan a, plan b, like, okay, let’s. If the plan a doesn’t work, go to the other one. But it’s important, as you said, communication, body language, like don, like, even if we miss, okay, let’s try to make it work. But if you start putting, it’s classy. Like we can see in the premiere padding, like to put the faces. But here’s one interesting one that means, I think when you get angry on a padel court, it’s tough to actually, you need. You like to get out of there, right? You have two people that they are trying to make your life impossible, okay? Trying to beat you. Then you have your partner that maybe he’s not having the best day and you are not. You cannot control that. But in tennis, I used to have my own space, and even if I play doubles, that which I did a lot, like, I go out of the court, I see myself, and then I go back and I go with my partner, okay, here in the padel corps, if you want. If you want to get out, like if you go back, you have the backward, if you go forward, you have the net, you go to the side, you have your partner that you don’t want even to. At that moment, you don’t want even to look at, like. No, look at him, but you don’t want to. It’s not the moment, you know? Yeah, give me a bit of space. So, it’s normal. I think that sometimes I like, like, come on. So, like some place in the tour that you see that. Oh, he’s putting the face. Okay. And what, like, it’s like, it’s normal. It’s like a. Like a little jail, right? Like, it’s like it’s tough. You have the net there. The other, the other. The opponents make it difficult for you. So, what you said, communication, so important.

Minter Dial:

Let’s take the example of your partner. Had an easy volley and hits it in the top of the net. What sort of communication should you be having at that point? Oh, don’t worry or no problem or not a big deal or fucking hell.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah, it depends, obviously, at the moment of the match that you are on, if it’s on a tiebreaker. But I always, always try to be positive. I keep trying. Okay, keep going. Next point. So, that’s. To look back is not going to help you to put an excuse. It’s not going to help you, like, look what is ahead. We’ve lost the first set. There was an easy shot. We had match points or whatever. We had the match already. Doesn’t matter. Like, keep going. Like, we keep trying our best. If we look like. Like, what can we do? But give yourself opportunity, but don’t put, like, with the mindset. This is obviously, I always been driving by, obviously, like, the big, like, Rafa Nadal. He. I’ve been like, obviously, like, really Tony Nadal and all of that. And it’s like, never an excuse is going to make you to win a match. So, why are you going to say, oh, yeah, but I have an easy ball on the top of the net. So, what? You know, like, we missed one. Next one. There is an interesting one with Rafa Nadal that I been reading and many people has been posting it. And it’s like, Tony Nadal went to a tennis tournament, I think it was in Mallorca. And Tony Nada was with several players, and one of them was Rafa. So, Rafa was playing his match, and another coach realized that he was playing with the broken. With a broken string racket. And the coach, the other coach said to Tony, tony, you know that Rafa is playing with that broken, with the strings broken. And he’s like, what? So, he went there, he went to see the. To see Rafa. And he said, Rafa, you playing with rocket broken? He watched the racket, and then he changed it. In the end, he lost 6-0, 7-5. And he said, what happened? Look, Tony, I’m that used to. That is always my phone, that I would never thought that it was going to be the racket. So, it’s like he. Like, that boy, like, it was like 13 or whatever. Not putting an excuse, like, thinking, okay, maybe it’s not my forehand not playing right or my backhand is not. I’m not moving well. But he was never going to look at the rocket and say, like, oh, it’s a racket.

Minter Dial:

You know, I love that story, Rafa. It reminds me of my friend Camille, who is a horse rider, and she does show jumping. And so, this is a sport where it’s a human on an animal, and they’re jumping over high barriers. And what Camille says, and I think most horse riders will say, it’s never the false horse’s fault. It’s always the rider’s fault. And taking responsibility like that, it’s a beautiful thing. That’s strong. I think that’s strong for life. I love that. That would be my life lesson from you. What about. Since this is the joy of paraphrasing, what about a funny moment that’s happened to you or a joyful moment that’s happened to you on or about padel.

Rafa Vega:

Wow with Chris Salisbury. I have a few buddies. Of course, like, most of the time, I don’t know. Of course, we featured in, like, I don’t know. There was one time that we left one club, and we were in the middle of nowhere, and he was on an angle that he couldn’t see his car, and I could see the car, and it was like, he was like, well, we are in the middle of nowhere. Someone, like, he thought that the car was stolen. We actually won that tournament, so we were happy. But at the same time, like, what are we going to do? You know? Like, I was lousy because I could clearly see the car. He couldn’t see it. Like, look, it’s silly. Things, like, happen on, like, off court and on court, things with the net. You fell over. Like, you get, like, that happens so much. And then you try to hold, like, I think Padel brings you, like, so many, like, good memory, like, on the court, but also, like, of course, that’s why he’s saying you need to get along with it with the partner in order to have a better experience. Especially me. I know a professional pilot player. I’m just someone who is having fun, play it around the UK, giving myself a chance to play in some professional tournament when I can, because obviously I’m working. And that’s what I always try to do to have a few of them. You know that in DNA, that’s what I’m going to have, right.

Minter Dial:

That, Rafa, is why rule number five. Well, Minter’s rule number five is so important. Go and have a beer after you play, because it’s not just about encore.

Rafa Vega:

Yeah, 100%. Like, yesterday, we played a tournament here against probably some people will know here, like, it’s Martin Piñeiro. He has played with absolutely everyone, like Lebron, tapia, Paquito. And so, we finished the match and we were having, like, such a nice time, 4 hours. Like, we were at the pub, which is a classic thing here, like, and he was, like, saying, like, so many issues that he had in Argentina. Oh, and for us, it’s like, oh, how is this player? How is that player? So, it’s good. It’s good to always have a beer, like, after the match.

Minter Dial:

So next time, while you’re at the pub, you get. Bring your phone out, which is a no no, but next time, send a message to Minter to come join you.

Rafa Vega:

I will. Because I promise that you will have an interesting conversation with him.

Minter Dial:

I bet I will. Rafa, thank you so much for coming on. I look forward to playing with you some more. I look forward to following you in your continued success and hopefully even get to go to Hexagon with you, or at least, you know, see you in action down there.

Rafa Vega:

Great. Thank you so much, Minter.

Minter Dial:

It’s been a pleasure.

Rafa Vega:

Thank you.