Why Does Padel Need So Many Apps? Part 1

Playtomic. Playbypoint. Rankedin. Padel Fast. Areas Padel Manager. PadelMix. Americano Padel Manager. Padelboard by MATCHi. Tournify for Padel. Padel Ranking. Swana. CourtMaster. PlaySight Padel SmartCourt. PadelIQ. PadelAI. SPASH Match Analyzer. Dartfish. SportCam. Padel Record. Save My Play. Padelplay Sensor. Tennibot Partner for Padel. Spinfire Padel Ball Machine and App. Padelmaster. PadelShooter. Sportbot Padel Ball Launcher. Volley for Padel.

Other than the first two, I don’t. I have no idea what they’re for.

I’ve been playing tennis my whole life. When I want to play, here’s how it works. I decide when I want to play. Let’s say Tuesday at 6 p.m. Then I decide who I want to play with. I text that person, or if it’s doubles, those people. If they’re in, we either meet at a public court or, if one of us belongs to a club, we book a court there. If the club has an online reservation system, we use it. If somebody can’t make it, we find somebody else.

That’s it. For 50 years.

If you play tennis, you do it the same way. Right?

I’ve been playing padel for just over two years. When I first started, before I knew anybody, I used my club’s Playbypoint app to sign up for Men’s Night and Sunday morning socials. I didn’t take lessons, but if I had, I probably would have used the app to book them.

What I didn’t do was use the app to set up matches, determine my ranking, or explain why I screwed up that lob at 30-5 in the third set.

I don’t use apps for pickleball either. If I want to play, I text people I’ve played with before, or I show up for Pickleball Night at the local public tennis facility and reload. I put them in my phone.ne. Then, when I want to play, I text them, set up the match, book the court, and play.

When I started playing padel, I quickly got sucked into various WhatsApp groups in this order: Intermediate, Advanced, Advanced with No A$$holes, and finally Tuesday Night Adidas League.

I set up padel matches via those WhatsApp groups or via text. Sometimes I even set up matches in person. “Hey Darko, what works for you next week?” Madness, I know. The only thing my friends and I use an app for is to book the court, unless we’re already at the club, in which case we walk up to the front desk and do it that way, like lunatics.

So here’s the question: Why are apps such a big part of the padel ecosystem? Because when I talk to padel players, club owners, and people in the know, apps seem vital to the whole experience. Clubs sign with Playtomic and announce it on LinkedIn. They put up posters around the club. Playbypoint sponsors pop-up courts next to Coachella. Apps aren’t just a convenience. They are a vital part of the padel infrastructure.

Maybe it’s because we do everything with apps now; make doctor’s appointments, buy shoes, order food, meet girls... Padel is new in the U.S., and it arrives at a time when we already run most of our lives through our phones.

Maybe that’s all it is.

But based on my personal experience, I don’t think so.

Is there something structural about padel that makes apps more important? Maybe it’s the scarcity of courts. Or the scarcity of players. Maybe it’s the fact that most padel players are just starting out and don’t know enough people yet, so they need organized play, ratings, leagues, and matchmaking, not forever, but for right now. Maybe clubs need apps to maximize court usage, process payments, fill dead time, manage clinics and keep people coming back.

Tennis has run forever on human interaction: people calling each other, texting each other, booking courts and playing. I do, however, have one friend who started playing tennis a few years ago and refuses to do it that way. Every time she plays, it has to be in a drill, a league, or a lesson organized by her club. When I suggest that there would be less drama and more fun if she would just pick a friend or three and call them up, she looks at me like I’m insane.

Maybe it’s a matter of level.

Newer players, especially players who don’t know many people yet, maybe aren’t as picky about who they play with. I lose plenty in both padel and tennis, but I’m still reluctant to play with someone I don’t know. They may say they can play. They may say they’re a 4.5 or a 5.0. Or number one in southern Wyoming. That they won some USTA league or USPA 1000 division 2 event. But that means nothing until you’re actually on court with them. I need to see them play. Because if you book a match, singles or doubles, tennis or padel, with someone who is way better or way worse than you, the next two hours are going to suck for everybody.

Then you have to go to work the next day.

And the gym.

This is an opinion column. It’s based on my experience and about half an hour of deep thought while knocking out chest and back. I’m sure I’ve missed stuff. I know the apps listed at the top of this article do a lot more than book matches. They help people find games when they’re on vacation, manage ratings, wrangle leagues, book lessons, analyze video, run clubs and feed balls at you. Stuff tennis players have been doing forever without them.

I’ll write a second article after I’ve done my homework and talked to people who know what’s up: players, club owners, operators and industry bigwigs like Austin Edwards and Scott Colebourne. That article will include data points, quotes, and the other journalistic magic you’ve come to expect from me.