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The importance of pre-season in padel
- Categories : adidas Padel , adidas Padel Team , Ale Galán , Alex Ruíz , Martita Ortega
The new padel season is still a few weeks away but the players are already putting in the work to get ready. Pre-season is a crucial period as Ale Galan, Martita Ortega, and Alex Ruiz look to the the ground running and build on their success last year - Ale finished as the world number one for the third year in a row, while Martita won the Padel World Championship in Dubai with Spain.
To earn those victories, they need to put in the hard work, and much of that happens in pre-season. But what is that exactly? How long does it last? And what do players typically do in this period?
In this post, we’ll explain about the importance of pre-season in padel, and what goes on behind the scenes.
Base fitness is key
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Just like in any sport, pre-season is normally a six to eight-week period that starts with building up the base fitness. The first week or two are dedicated to gym and fitness work. Ale even admits that the players focus so much on fitness work that they “sometimes forget the sensation of hitting the ball with their rackets”.
Sessions with the fitness trainers last between 90 minutes and two hours, and usually take place first thing in the morning. But why is there such a focus on that at this stage? Martita tells us it’s because during the season, there simply isn’t enough time to work on a proper fitness regime. “Between coming back from one tournament, going to the next, you maybe get two days off. Throughout the season the focus is more in maintaining and recovering”.
Most players find this aspect of pre-season the toughest because of the demands, but Martita adds that she’s actually a fan of the fitness aspect. “I like the feeling of having been in the gym for 90 minutes and having really worked out”, she says. She also admits that even over the summer break or off-season over Christmas she keeps up her gym regime.
Double sessions on court
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Players are gradually introduced back on court again to work with the racket and ball. Because of the lack of tournaments during this period of the year, players tend to do double sessions on the court working on all aspects of their game and tactics. The first session takes place before lunch and normally lasts around two hours, while the afternoon session is slightly shorter.
For Alex, the on-court aspect is his favourite part of pre-season. “It’s what I enjoy most. I love being on court playing padel so this is my favourite aspect of pre-season”, he says.
As Ale admits though, it’s not all easy even on court. “Sometimes we have to work with weighted rackets, or wear jackets that weigh a lot. There’s a lot of padel-specific exercises we do, but also working on fitness,” he reveals.
Other elements of pre-season
As well as fitness and padel sessions, players also use the pre-season weeks to improve many other aspects that all help elite athletes reach their targets. One of those is working with sport psychologists. As Alex says, throughout the season players experience an emotional rollercoaster and there is plenty of stress that goes with that. Psychologists are able to help players find techniques to block out the external pressures they face and focus on what they need to do to bring success.
Another aspect are regular trips to the physio, not because of injury, but because, as Martita tells us “otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep up the rhythm”.
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The importance of rest
All three players typically have 12-hour days during pre-season between the fitness work, on court sessions, physio, and psychologist. So, when the day is done, what happens next? Martita says an early bedtime is vital - rest and recuperation, and getting enough sleep - are also essential for the top padel players.
