Hey, paddle en enthusiast. Welcome to Paddle's Smash Academy. My name is Cez Paddle Club owner and entrepreneur. Next to me is Julian Paddle Master Coach, and we're all about Paddle. Welcome back guys to Paddle Smash Academy, and today we're gonna be talking about the history of. We get asked so many times. I mean, what, what, where Paddle started and, and, and how they became so popular and all that.
And, uh, we're gonna give you a little bit of the background of how Paddle became what it is right now. Uh, the most important thing is for you guys to know the history because it's, it's great to know how the paddle became, what it is now, and how is it gonna go growing from here. We know that the paddle was created by, uh, Mr. Que, he's a, a Mexican. Wealthy guy who, uh, built up the first paddle cor in his house. How did he came to?
He wanted to, he was a, a crazy about, uh, tennis and, and he wanted to build a tennis score actually in his house. And he had only 20 meters length by 10 meters width. So he actually created sort of like a mini tennis score on his house, right? Yeah. And he put an net in between. And he started playing tennis in this type of mini tennis part. He didn't, because with a tennis record, he will be hitting too hard.
He got from the United States, a platform, tennis paddles, you know the, they're very thin paddles for paddle tennis. And he started to play like that and all his friends, and it was his summer home. People started getting loving the, the sport and he started coming up with the rules and, and things like that.
Some of his friends, they were from Argentina, from Spain, and then what happens is, Uh, the, the, the sports immigrated to those two different countries, but just to give you a little bit more of the back. He had the 20 meters in length and the back wall was the neighbor's, the neighbor's house. And the other back wall was the neighbor's house as well, the, the other side neighbor's house. So he started playing this type of, he call it in initially paddled tennis.
He started playing off the walls, right? And, and he start building some side walls as, uh, uh, as, as well for not to, for the vegetation, not. Coming to the court. So he had some very small side walls on the back walls. And how the, how's that the, the sports evolve. Uh, the first paddle court, so his friends took it to two specific places in, in Argentina and, and, and, and Spain.
One, it was Marbel Marella, which is sort of like, um, similar to, let's say to Miami, the place it's, it is a very holiday place where people from all over Europe go there to, to vacation. I'm Mar Plata, which is also in the coats of Argentina. It's a very holiday place where everybody goes on vacation. And those are the first two courts in Argentina. In Argentina. Uh, it was built first in 1969 and 1970. Marvea.
Just to give you a little bit of the background right now, Argentina has over 10,000 quarts built, and Spain has over 20,000 quarts built. Um, what happens in the past 50 years is pretty, pretty crazy. Uh, you know, and, and Argentina had, uh, in 1989, uh, the sport became really extra exploding all over the country and, and.
Because of the limitations of the walls and all that, it was very hard for people to watch it because you can only watch it from the sides because you have back walls and, and side, side walls made of cement. So, uh, one of my dear friends, actually, his name is Alva Clemente. Uh, He was the one which we're going now to Spain. In the Madrid paddle tour. We're organizing a Mad Madrid paddle tour where we're taking 12 people to play paddle in different academies. We're going to his academy.
Oh, okay. Actually to play paddle in, in his academy. Um, he's an Argentinian number one, former number one in the world. Paddle, paddle player and all that. And he was the one who created the first, what we call it, the crystal palace, which was uh, an entire. Cord made of Crystal the way we know it now. Yeah. Right. And that, that's the interesting part. That, and the way he financed that thing, he reached out to the C e O, the c e o of Coca-Cola, which his name was, uh, it is Ma Maria Rossi.
He's a dear friend of mine, actually. He was a c e O of Coca-Cola back in the late eighties, and he was the one who actually sponsored the. Crystal palaces what it's called back then, and created the first professional paddle tour in Argentina, was the first professional paddle tour. And, and, and the funny part was that now they saw this niche where now you can watch paddle. 360 because from every single view you can really actually watch and enjoy paddle.
And, uh, Argentina had this first professional circuit back in the late eighties, early nineties, where all my friends, uh, that we grew up playing tennis. My background is tennis. Uh, they move into paddle and, and some of them, they became actually professional paddle. As we know when, so, so let's talk about, um, the changes right. In paddle, you know, it, uh, it first started Mexico. I think it's became a lot more popular in Spain and Argentina than Correct. Than is now in Mexico.
But let's look at the gradual changes of the paddle court. You know, uh, first it was a mini tennis court, right? Correct. And then maybe they put up some walls to avoid the ball. You know, you know, uh, passing over to the neighbors and keeping it in play. And is that where kind of platform Tennis and Paddle kind of evolved from, I assume?
I think Platform Tennis was, was developed before, uh, uh, Padel and, and he made the walls called Query made, his, his walls, uh, just for vegetation not to play, not to come into the. But then people and his friends start playing off the walls, and that's how we start evolving. Gotcha. And then, uh, they started with cement walls, and then the, the flooring, I assume was, uh, asphalt or, or cement. Cement. Right. Cement. Cement, yeah.
And, uh, the, the paddles or the rackets were, I think, made out of wood or, uh, well, the actual, the, the actual, uh, platform tennis paddles, which are a little bit bigger. Gotcha. And they're very, But the difference between platform tennis that you play with a rubber ball and where paddle, right. They started to play with a tennis ball. Tennis ball, which was really, really heavy and the vibrations were really heavy when you hit that, that ball with a very thin paddle racket.
So actually in, in 1989, uh, the first rubber foam paddle to prevent vibrations, uh, was developed actually in Argentina. It's called the bronzes. Which it still exists. S a n e san, uh, which they have the manufacture paddles in, in Spain, in Argentina, and, and the rest of the world. Uh, those were the actually first foam paddles that, uh, they, how they, the, the sport was developed. And so how did the balls change?
I mean, I, they used the tennis ball first, I assume, and then it, was it bouncing too much or not enough and did. Have more pressure, less pressure in the new paddle balls. Now, the, the, the, the transition of the pa of the, the tennis, I mean, they started for many, many years. They always played with tennis balls. But I think, uh, when they came out with the rules in 1991, 1992, they start trying to put all the rules together. They created a sort of like a, a niche paddle ball.
Okay. Where, which is just, it's a tiny bit smaller, but if you put 'em next to each other, can barely tell the difference. You, you can't even tell the difference. Okay. And, and actually nowaday, they, uh, some people actually play with tennis, tennis ball, some of the tennis wall. They're a little bit too fast. But, um, I mean, honestly, you can play with both. I mean, you won't, you won't even see the. Gotcha. Gotcha.
One of the things that interesting that happens, it's, uh, because it grew so fast in Spain and Argentina in the late eighties, early nineties, uh, both associations are both sports, even though they were called the same actually, they were not called the same, but they were played the same way. They had different rules. And just to give you an example, Argentina Paddle, first of all, let's talk about the name. In, in, in Argentina, it used to be called Paddle.
P A D D L e. Like an actual paddle, like an English, uh, paddle. Exactly. In Spain used to be called like it is now, P A D E L, like Patell. So that was one of the things that when they got together, they said, okay, we have to standardize the sport and we are gonna call it either or. So they decided to paddle. The other thing, they have to, they standardize are some of the rules in Argentina and paddle, um, similar to pickleball, what it is right now. The servers cannot come up to the net.
So you ha they, you know, after you serve mm-hmm. You have to stay back and you, you can come up after the third ball. Is that what happened in, in paddle at the beginning in Argentina? Yeah. Oh my god, I didn't know that. Yeah. Wow. So that sucks. Yeah, it is. But in Spain you can serve and come up to the net. Gotcha. So when there were playing each other, they have to readjust to, are we playing the urgent Indian rules or the Spanish rules. Right, right, right. And that's how the, the way.
So when did they go get into turf? You know, for a long time. Cement. So when did they get into that? Well, but let, let, let's just review a little bit. Okay. Another of the rules, which is, is pretty interesting that in Spain's the side wall, so the side screen, it's, it, it was three meters. Ah, right. Three meters or that's what, nine feet? Yep. Right? And, and, and, and in Argentina it was only down to. Mm. So in Argentina it was much easier to hit it by three.
Right, because the wall was mak Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And in Spain was much more difficult. So that was the other rule that they have to agree. So I'm glad they changed it to higher because the paddles became a lot more, uh, uh, you know, um, uh, more tactical and stronger. Everybody be taking the ball out by three. Exactly. You know, it was so easy for the Argentinians because the, the, the, the side cream was lower. The other thing that they. Which were very, very interesting.
The si cement wall, back then it was a cement wall in Argentina was um, a lip, no, it was three feet more in front of it. Ah, gotcha. So now when they set cross score to you, if they hit that wall, you have to step right now, you step only once before you hit it right off the side wall. You, you gotta make two or three steps for you to hit it because the walls were much more in inside. Inside. Right. So that, that was the, the, the other rule that they have to agree.
Okay. Which one are we doing it in Spain. It, it, it was playing the way we play it now? No. Okay. So with that, with that, so I see that they made a lot of, uh, changes based on the way the Spanish played, right? Yeah. They have to adapt too. Yeah. Yeah. But the other thing that the Spanish need to adapt. Spanish courts in between, on the sidewalk, in between the the cement. On the screen there was a five centimeter gap. The lip. The lip or lip, they call him pico.
Where actually Spanish players, they will hit play right there. Yeah, they'll play that. That's part of the thing. And they will, that ball will hit that lip and just move forward. Come back to your, to your side. Exactly. The Argentines didn't have that. So now when they play the Spanish, they were, they were going crazy. Try to that, so that's one of the things they adapted and they shuffled, you know, in the same line. Argentina had it on the same line.
So it took a while for them to get to the, so did they both play on cement floors? They both play on cement floors in the beginning, cement walls and all that. Argentina was the one who came out with the Crystal Palace. Mm-hmm. Uh, by, by Raio. Yeah. Uh, and then that was, it was a, uh, It was a huge change because now you can enjoy the game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. From all over the, so how so How about the turf? You know, when did they say, Hey, we're gonna use turf? Now?
Initially, in the beginning, a lot of, because you were playing on cement, floored and walls, people will get injured pretty fast. Yeah, yeah. You know, because of the turns they jumping and all that. Imagine trying to play that all in cement. I, I could, I probably couldn't.
You know, and a lot of people are, they were trying to get injured, so, They decided to put some type of turf and they play for, with different options, different heights and all that, until they came up with a, you know, the 10 millimeter turf, uh, with sand. So you can be, you can bounce a little more, bounces a little more and all that. So that was pretty much the, the, the big changes in the beginning until the standardized the, the sport.
So another, another question I guess people have, and I have, and uh, maybe, you know, you know the answer. Why didn't it really take off in Mexico like it did in Spain and Argentina? That's a very interesting question, which I don't know. Um, I think Argentina and Spain had much more tennis players back in the day. Okay. You know, where it was easier for them to start playing this older sport. Gotcha. Uh, that it wasn't, uh, that it was easier to pick up for a tennis player.
Same thing is happening right now where Mexico never had any good tennis players. You know, tennis wasn't. Part of the society. Gotcha. And, and, and Spain and Argentina had a huge, still has a huge, you know, tennis population. Right. But as a matter of fact, padel in Spain. Right now it's the second most played sport after soccer. It has passed tennis after 40, 50 years that tennis has been the second most played sport in Spain. So let's talk about that.
Why is tennis kind of decreasing in popularity and, you know, and where are these viewers going and players going to, you know, to paddle and, and and pin pickle and, um, and why is that happening? You know, um, I remember, and I'm gonna give you my experience, um, back in the. And I'm not sure if this is why it's happening or this is, this is the reason why I don't, I'm out of the loop when it comes to tennis is when I was younger, uh, that's when I started playing.
Uh, there was, you know, I used to watch Thelen and McEnroe and Connors and, and Chang and they had all different, Styles of playing, right? They have personalities, you know, um, which was great. Brought great drama into, uh, that sport, you know? So it, it was, you know, you were, you were going for this type of character because you, you, you liked him, right? And I think, and it was different styles of playing. There was, you know, at the net there was love, there's all defensive.
Now, um, as it went moving forward, it started to get more, um, baseline playing, right? Um, everybody kind of plays the, the same way almost. I mean, I don't see anybody else playing any other way besides baseline, so it can kind of get a little. Boring to watch, I think. Uh, and then also I think, you know, big sponsors came in like in Nike and other brands, and I think each player had to like, behave, right? They, they couldn't like show their character, you know, like McInroy or Connors, or.
Or whomever, you know? And I think that that left the drama and excitement out of the game. And I think that's, I believe that's one of the reasons why I kind of, you know, stopped watching tennis and started moving into a, you know, a different, different sports. Um, now I watch Paddle and you see them, I mean, they're very. Emotional, you know, they're very loud. Um, it's, it, it's pretty awesome.
Awesome to watch, you know, so that's my view on why I think, you know, maybe tennis is getting a little bit less popular and are moving to, you know, different sports. What do you think? I, I think that the tennis industry, for quite a few, a couple decades, I will say it's been either, On a St. Mate, or, or, or decreasing.
Yeah. Uh, because of the difficulty to, to really play the sport and, and the amount of time and money that you have to spend at least to start enjoying the sport, where now you have these new racket sports, like tennis, uh, like, like, uh, Patel and, and, and pickleball, which are. Within half an hour, you're having a great time. Well, that, you know what I mean? That hasn't changed in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and now.
Yeah, there's always tennis courts and the costs are always the same. Yes. But that was the only option. You know, when tennis, tennis was the only r only racket sport actually, you know, now, I mean they're squash and racquetball and so forth, but tennis dominated that, you know, yes. But I mean, they're not as popular as, as tennis has become, you know, from the sixties and seventies and eighties and, and. The way the media pushed, you know, the sport.
It's, it's, it's, you don't, I mean, who would like to see a squash game or, or a racketball game? I mean, it's not as exciting as watching a, a, a tennis game. Well, not now. Not nowadays. No. I, I would rather watch Mero play counters or, or Agasy, cuz you know, you're gonna have some great drama. Then, let's just say some of these newer players just sitting the, uh, the ball back and forth.
It's, you know, but, but you gotta also take consideration that Tennis's been around for almost 200 years. Yeah. And, and, um, you know, you go to Roland Ross and it's, it was built in 19 mm-hmm. 1902. Wimbledon has been in the 18 hundreds, late 18 hundreds. I mean, those are, are, are cathedrals of tennis. They've been pushing the game for so long.
Same thing as the US Open, you know, first in Forest Hills, then flashing metals, uh, you know, it has the, the, the length on the background there, which, but now it's, it's another competition. You know what I mean? They have to compete and they have to stay. To stay, you know, put up with it. Yeah. I think it's also the ease of starting to play. I think you definitely right on that. I mean, it's a little bit dar uh, more difficult to start playing tennis.
And you go out there and you want to, you've never played tennis and you wanna start, and you're picking up more balls than anything, you know, but it's true. But if you play paddle, uh, you can get a game going, you can get a rally going, you know, it's a little bit easier to, to start. Um, for for sure. It's ex extremely fun. It's easy to pick up. And like I said, I mean me, when I'm in the court, I'm, I'm coaching a, a, a. Within half an hour, they're playing, they're playing paddle.
They're, they're having a great time. I mean, they're, they're, they're really enjoying the game. Where in tennis for you just to keep the ball inside the court. It will take you a long, long time. Definitely. You know, it's, it's, it's definitely, it's interesting. So let's, let's talk about tennis players on, uh, playing tennis on the paddle core. Yes. And how, uh, people are transitioning and learning how to play paddle. Some people are not in the difficulties.
Uh, it is, uh, you know, transitioning cuz uh, I went through that and I think a lot of tennis. Playing paddle, uh, go through that or are still going through that. Um, you know, there's a few shots that are, you know, unique to paddle, you know, that are not in tennis and uh, those are some of the shots they may have difficulty with. And uh, but the biggest thing is probably the walls, right? It is. So if you come back, if you've played racquetball before, that could help you a little bit.
Uh, or even squash, even though the ball doesn't bounce as much, but, or platform tennis or platform tennis, that's right. Um, it'll be helpful, but if you're playing tennis, uh, your reaction is not, not to let that ball pass you, you know, and, and, and so you're hitting, you know, shots that are, are high risk shots because you don't want it to pass you instead of taking your time and. Playing off the back wall.
And if they do, it's, it's trying to figure out where the ball's gonna go, especially if they're hitting with a slice or what have you, or if it's coming from the angle. So I think the back walls is, is really a big thing for tennis, tennis players for sure. I, I, I think for the tennis players, there are two major things. First of all, they need what I, that's what I tell 'em. You know, you gotta change the tennis chip in your brain. Mm-hmm.
You have to be able to slow down, you know, it's not, In tennis, you're trying to win the point as fast as you can in paddle. You can. You have to be patient. You have to, yes, you know, prepare the point, set it up, wait for the right moment, when to execute it and put more pressure. That's the thing that it's easy to pick up, but it's difficult to master. Understand that part. You know what I mean? A hundred percent. You even talked about a chip. That's exactly what it is.
They need to take that, that tennis one, and put the paddle in because they've been used to planes so fast, so everything. Fast for them. Yes. And, and, and they don't underst until they understand, okay, the ball's coming high and the balls, I'm gonna, I gotta meet the ball. Right? Uh, versus I gotta chase the ball. Right? Uh, and so until they get that, um, You know, and slow down the game, as you say, and be a lot more patient when it comes to winners. Correct.
Cause it seems like they want to, everything's a winner, right? Yeah. For them. Yeah. Uh, uh, that will, that'll better their game. Yeah. Until they get there, it's, they're gonna make a lot more, uh, uh, forced error. And I think the major difference for the tennis player, I mean, know when, when you're coming into the, the paddle court as a tennis player in tennis, you're accustomed to what we. The collision, meaning that in parallel you have three ways the ball is coming to you. Right?
In tennis, you have only one way. The ball's. You collide with the ball, the ball's coming in front of you and you strike that ball in front of you, right? In panel, you have three different ways. Same thing as standing. When the ball's coming to you and you strike it, then the ball's coming from behind you that you have to chase that ball, which is the ball's passing you. So you have to go forward to chase that ball or learn how far it is gonna go forward.
And then you have the ball that is coming from the side, either to the left or to the right. So you have three different angles that you have to really master. In tennis, you have only one Right. Balls coming. You hit it. Yeah. In paddle balls coming, you hit it. Balls coming from behind. You hit it. Ball's coming from the side, you hit it. Yeah. The dynamics completely different, you know? Yes. And And that's what the tennis player needs, needs to learn a hundred percent.
It's also about defense. You know, most tennis players are. They don't play defensive anymore. You know, they're mostly offense, offense, offense. So paddle is a lot about defense, you know, uh, you have to defend, you have to know when to defend and when to attack. Right? Exactly. So most tennis players are just attacking and until they learn to defend and wait for the right opportunity to attack, uh, they want better their game.
The other very important point that, and I see on tennis players every single. You're trying in, in, in, they're playing as, as a tennis, in a paddle court, and you're trying to win points from the baseline, which in tennis you can, right? You can win points from the baseline. You do same thing. You, you know, your returns, you're trying to return as hard as possible for you to learn to win the points. In paddle, 99% of the point, you win him of the net. Mm-hmm.
Very few points you will win from the baseline. Because if you're at the base, at the, at the baseline, you have two players of the net. Yes. So you have to be able to defend. Well, going back to your point. Yeah. Defend him from the baseline. And attacking at the net. And the tennis player is trying to hit passing shots from the baseline. Yes, yes. And then the paddle play, what it does is just let it pass and that ball is coming back. Right. And you haven't gained anything.
You know what I mean? So, exactly. That's exactly what happens And, and I see these guys trying to hit. You know, 150 miles, a full swing, A full swing, right? A full swing return. Right? And the guy just let it pass and then brings it back and they steal at the net. So that's all the little things that they have have to change. The other things are the aerial shots, you know? Oh, yeah. Um, they, they, I mean, tennis players have, have, you know, transitioned are, are great paddle players.
Once they learn these things and great, they the great. And great smashes, right? But they want to smash everything, you know? Um, and that's the other thing. It's understanding what shot to hit and smashing at the, at the baseline on the back is a high risk shot unless, you know, you can take the ball out or bring the ball back, you know? Um, so most time they're, they're doing this and you get an experienced paddle.
Uh, as soon as they see you arc your back and you're gonna hit that ball hard, they're already running up to the nett and waiting for the ball. And you'll learn that very quickly. Yes. Uh, and then you'll, you'll feel like, okay, well what do I do at this point? You know, they're, they're not sure what to do, um, and. You know, uh, hitting a smash is a high risk shot. Uh, at the back. You know, even, even a tennis player is gonna be maybe a 50% correct.
They're gonna, they're gonna make it or not. And in paddles sometimes, uh, you win with, uh, other people that your other people's errors. You know, and so a, a lot of times these tennis players, um, are smashing the ball a lot. And, and, and there's, you know, there's the Ekk, the Vik, which is unique to paddle, which, uh, needs to be learned to. Uh, it needs to know when to use, uh, you know, the smash, the band or, or the Vida.
And I, and I need very important for you gu, you guys, tennis players, if you're coming in from tennis into paddle. You need to be able to slow down. Okay. Not to, not to rush it. And, and I think for you guys to understand the concept of paddle compared to tennis. In tennis, you have a maximum of eight complete strokes that you need to master. Four and back and slides. It's about eight, eight different shots. In paddle, you have 32 shots that you need to be able to master.
Yeah. Only within the four from the base. There are seven, seven type of shots that you need to master, which is the back wall, the, the wall's coming from you, double side wall, double backside wall, and and so on. So, so those are the things that you have to understand, and the only way you to understand that is just by practicing and taking lessons. Very, very important because you will never. You will pick it up very easily, but you have to understand the concept and how the worlds work.
Yeah. And you can always watch our video lessons that we have here on our YouTube. Um, but that's a really important, uh, Uh, important thing, I mean, I think me coming into, uh, as a tennis player into a paddle, um, I've only knew my eight to 10 shots, and that's all I used and I did well because, you know, tennis players, uh, do well in, in paddle. They, they'd make great paddle players and they make even better ones once they start learning how to play actual paddle.
Yeah. Um, so now let's go with a pickle, right? Pit from pickle. To, uh, to paddle, right? So that's, uh, I, I played with, uh, pickle players and they seem to have the Chiquita and, and, and the slow playing, uh, down, down for sure. Um, even the Vols as well. Uh, but it's the aerial shots that they have difficulty with. And until they learn that in the back walls, of course, I don't think you don't get any. Still either, so. Right, exactly. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, exactly.
And, and so they're, they're, they have anticipation of course, and, and they have good touches with the ball without a doubt. But, uh, they lack the aerial shots and the back balls. Yeah. And, and those are the areas there that, you know, I think they have to work on to improve their, their pack game. Yeah. You know, another question that we get very often, it now is, let's go back a little bit on, on the history of paddle. When is the World Cup of Paddle? When does it, when, how does it work?
How does it play and all that? The World Cup of Paddle is played every two years and um, it's been played since 1992. Uh, and they play in different parts of the world. And the pa in the first few 10, 15 years that they was, it was played either. In France or, uh, Spain or Argentina or you know, Italy and things like that. Um, so it's every two years. Last year, Argentina, beat Spain.
And just to give you a little bit of the big difference right now in paddle compared to the rest of the world, um, since they started in 1992, Argentina in men's Argentina, won 11 times. The World Cup and Spain won only four times and in Women's Argentina won eight times and Spain has won eight times. Those are pretty much, that's it. The only two champions and running raps on the World Cup. In the past World Cup, what we have seen an an unbelievable level of new countries and new players.
Coming on and I'm playing at a level, at a professional level, at a workup level like, uh, Sweden, Italy, France, Brazil, uh, Uruguay, um, Uh, Qatar was there playing, uh, Saudi Arabia was there playing. Uh, it's pretty, uh, Japan was there playing pretty interesting what is happening worldwide with Paddle and at a, at a World Cup level. You know, that's something very interesting to start paying attention.
But right now, Because of the history of those, of the sport in between Argentina and Spain. You know, they had already 30, 40, 50 years of paddle heritage on their blood. So that's why there is such a big difference. But look, that is, it's, it's coming, coming to an end pretty soon, you know? Yeah. I, it's pretty exciting. I've seen all those other countries now participating Yeah. In the World Cup, and that's, that's awesome.
And, uh, just recently, I think we talked about this, about, you know, paddle being in the. Yep. Because we have enough countries now that the upper play and enough continents at play it. So that's really exciting. I think that's going to give a lot of exposure, uh, to paddle, uh, which it needs. Um, and uh, we hope that people get excited about it. Yeah, I think it'll make a lot of noise. You know, and hopefully, uh, inspire people to create, uh, more clubs.
Just to give you a little bit of the background, how a sport becomes an Olympic sport. Uh, for a sport to become an Olympic sport, um, it has to be. Play, or let's say in the men's size, it has to be playing at least four continents and at, in at least 75 countries only for the men's size. To become a men's Olympic, Olympic sport in the women's size, it has to be playing in at least three continents and in a minimum of 40 countries around the world.
And just to give you you, uh, uh, a context what we are, where from now today, more than 50 years since, you know, paddle has been. We have over 30 million players playing worldwide and in over 90 countries. Uh, if you think about it, 90 countries out of a total of 195 countries. That's a huge, huge number of mm-hmm. People playing paddle around the world, 90 countries. It's, it's a tremend. Tremendous. One, almost half, almost. Yeah. It's pretty much half.
Um, Another good, good, good sign is that the International Olympic Committee has recognized paddle as an international Olympic sport, and the status was obtained in, uh, September 13th, 2019. So therefore, the sport paddle is only steps away from being, uh, recognized as a li, as an Olympic sport. Now the big question is this, is it gonna be an Olympic sport in 2024, which is next year? I hope. I think it is. I hope so.
And if not, it's gonna be an invitational Olympic sport, but it will be at the Olympics. I guarantee you that because I got that throughout some good sources, that's gonna be really big. If it is in 2024, it's gonna bring paddle to another level. Oh yeah. For for sure. And it needs it. It needs it. Yes. You know, it, it's already going forward. It needs another push.
Yeah. You know, um, so, and, and honestly for all of you listening to these podcasts, uh, here in the United States, Uh, the part's very low in the United States to become a, a paddle player, meaning a, a good paddle player because the competition is, is not a, as a, you know, still amateur, it's still still amateur to the world, right. Compared to the world. So maybe if you get star playing paddle Yeah, it's true. And you become very good at it.
Yeah. You can be in, representing in United States in next year's Olympics. Definitely. I mean, so I know some of you. That they're playing great paddle. And I told you before that you, you have a good prospect to become an Olympic paddle player, um, in the 24 Olympics. So in the 2024 Olympics, it's a great opportunity for somebody because this is great timing. Yeah. Uh, you know, it's just getting there. You could ride right on that train. Exactly.
Same thing happened last year in, in the, in the World Cup of Paddle. In, in, in Abu Dhabi, I think it was Abu Dhabi or Qat. This is one of the first times the United States participated at, at that level, even though we got killed and they kick our butts. Mm-hmm. But we had experience, we have, we had the, the, the. The entertainment and, and the experience to take some of the players that we have here playing at the top level to go and play with these monsters of the World Paddle Tour.
So that was a very, very good experience. Yeah. If you do make it to the Olympics and you become a professional player, and let's say the top 10 or 20, uh, best players in the World pedal tour, how mu how much do they make? How much can you expect to, to make out of a living? And now, uh, and how much were they making? Five years ago. Cause I think it's a big, big difference. And then how much do they expect to be making in the future when this gets more popular?
Well, I mean, I got the rankings from, uh, 2022. How much, uh, professionals play in, in price? Money, uh, just to give you the number one capital, LeBron and Golan, they made $350,000 each. So now is that just price money or only price? Money. Okay. So not, not sponsorship. So no. What percentage is price? Money? Maybe 30 or 40%. And then, no, even more they, they make at least five. What they make in prize money on sponsor. I mean, they're huge.
That's why you see their shirts with all different type of sponsorships. Sure. And we can talk about on a next, uh, next podcast about, you know, sp sponsorship packages and how much that works. They charge works and all that. That will be interesting. Uh, but yeah, they make at least 5 5, 5 times. Five times more. Yeah, five times more or so they, they're over the, so you're looking at like 1000001.5 in sponsorships. So maybe 300,000 in prize money. Yes. So they're, they're somewhere in there.
Yeah. That's, especially if they're top play, obviously it's like compar. RA dollar a ov each 10 to a number 50 in the world. And, and do you know where that, that, you know, where those numbers were maybe five or 10 years ago before this, this, you know, less than half. Less than half. Less than half. And we're hoping for the future. Yes. Uh, this is gonna grow. And then the price, money is, is, is already starting to, to, to go up, you know? Oh, yeah.
Yeah. We, especially with the Premiere Paddle tour and all that. And let me, let me give you a little bit of, of some history here. What is happening right now, um, with the Professional Paddle Tour, with the w you know, PT and, and the Premier Paddle. As you know, there is a premier paddle now, uh, competing with the World Paddle Tour. And just to give you a little bit of the background story here in 2005 is when you know the paddle. Professionally recognized worldwide.
You know, they, they started with the, the Paddle Pro Tour, uh, started in, in Spain and in, you know, uh, France and Italy and, you know, three or four countries. Um, that's when they started with the Pro Paddle Tour, and that's when it became really well-known worldwide. Um, and the, the tournaments that were played in Spain, Argentina, and, and the first, the first. Um, we had, uh, Catalina, Navarro and Ra one from Argentina.
The one from Spain becoming the number one couple in the world, and Juan Martin. Mm-hmm. Future, the Reserve. Reserve. Uh, yeah. And Fernando de las became number one, couple that the ProPur lasted for about, um, quite, quite a few years. So those were the pioneers, right? They, they were the, the pioneers.
And, and something happened that, uh, then the World Paddle Tour showed up and they start arguing in between each other and, and swing each other and the World Paddle Tour, start playing, paying more money. To the, actually to the Paddle tour, uh, player. Sounds like Premier Paddle and Will Paddle right now it's played, that's what I'm trying to go with. Sorry. Its is happening again. You know, it's happening again.
And, and it happened already in 2005 with World Paddle Tour coming into play and it start convincing the players to make more money and that's why all the players, they became more politic. Competition is always good. It's always good. Mm-hmm. And now something. Exactly. It's happening with the Premiere Paddle Tour now players. Playing the World Play Tour and also the Premier tour because they're making almost twice as much more money. Mm-hmm. Uh, playing the premier.
Yeah. And then, and Premier, premier has a good backing, you know, they acquired part of World Paddle Tour. Yes. So, uh, I think they're going to figure things out and I think it's gonna be better for Paddle. Yeah. For paddle the players and all that. One of the, the, the things that it, some of these players are very happy, especially know the top players. Obviously they're making more money.
Know the second tier players or the players that they make in one or two rounds, now they're making enough money for them to travel to different tournaments. Right. Where before in the World Paddle Tour, they were not making enough money for them to, they had to, you know, become a professional. They had to sleep in the cars. Yeah, exactly. Their couches, they were complaining that in between they have to play their, their fur. You know, hotel accommodations, food coaches and all that.
They were just breaking even. Yeah. Barely. Yeah. So that's something exciting that is happening, is happening as we speak right now. So that's super, super exciting. Great for Paddle. Great for Paddle, great for Paddle guys. If you haven't already, make sure that you hit that subscribe button and turn on your notifications. And remember, it's free 99. It doesn't cost you anything to hit that subscribe button. Thanks for tuning into Paddles Smash Academy.
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