Whilst browsing the decathlon site last night like all the cool kids do on a Saturday night I fell into a deep rabbit hole of alt racquet sports. As well as the above I saw frontenis and speedball sets.
I’ve played Padel on holiday and it’s bloody brilliant, but sadly needs a special court. Speedminton looks ace but needs a big space. My ideal racquet sport would:
- be accessible to all ages. Padel seemed like a great equaliser. My 80yr old mum can still beat me at badminton and table tennis sometimes.
- playable outside in a normal grassy garden. Badminton is great cos it doesn’t take loads of room and doesn’t require a flat surface for even bounces.
- Can still be played in reasonably high winds. Like speedball or Padel
Is there one racket sport to rule them all? Also is it racquet or racket?
Also I found a fan powered £1250 tent with a massive window in the roof for stargazing, but that’s for another thread.
I used to love speedball but that was on the Amiga .....
Swingball.
Swingball
The game for those with pampas grass in their garden!
Swingball and speedball are all about smashing the ball as hard as possible, not much room for technique or finesse.
This is a fun rabbit hole to fall down, I've done it a couple of times. First time I bought a Speedminton set which was fun but despite claiming it can be used outside it isn't really the case. The set came with a ball which was less blown off course by the wind but then we lost it!
I've just bought a wooden beach bat and ball set (beach tennis?) and that is much better outside but still hard to master (or my 10 year old is just rubbish at it!). More fun than the speedminton as you can control the power of the racket/bat slightly better.
Played Pickleball a couple of times & enjoyed it. Never played Padel but there are currently some courts under construction 5 mins from my place which is exciting!
@zilog6128 that’s awesome, Padel is like all the best bits of tennis and none of the bad bits.
WHen I was at sixth form college in about 1982 the PE teacher set up a small court indoors at lunchtime with portable cricket stumps holding up a low-level net up across a badmington court, and with wooden bats we played something that was like pickleball doubles - not sure where he saw the idea but it was a lot of fun.
I started playing Padel recently, as I was looking for a sport to play with my family and as a social activity as I get older. As a plus, there is a club with 3 courts about 10 minutes away from where I live.
I really enjoy it. I played a lot of badminton when I was younger but never gelled with tennis or squash. Tactically, Padel is similar to badminton, and the speed is similar as well. It's not about baseline power shots, like tennis can be, more serve and volley - with an underarm serve so the receiver can usually return the serve. Also, the novelty of hitting the ball off the back wall never gets old.
There are courts popping up all over the place. Here's a map:
https://www.lta.org.uk/play/ways-to-play/padel/padel-courts-in-britain/