The past few months the Mr and I have spent more time playing racquet sports called Pádel. To be honest I have never heard of it until our apartment building built a pádel court in our premise.
A quick google revealed that the game originated from Mexico and is extremely popular in Spain and Latin America. Good! It looks fun so we decided to give it a try.
Personally I think it's a cross between (threesome among) tennis (but with shorter swing), squash (for the wall-bouncing part), and badminton (for its agility and frequency of lunging).
The Mr and I have been playing casually with friends for about a year. I decided to take a leap and get a formal class with a coach on September 1st to prepare for a tournament I was registered to play on September 3rd. If only I knew I needed a longer prep than 2 days and definitely more than 1 class 😆 to get myself more prepared. Two strikes and my partner and I were out of the tournament. No importa. There is always the first time.
After taking some lessons, I am humbled to learn the lessons in pádel are so much in congruent with the lessons in life.
These are my coach's words, not mine. They keep ringing in my mind as lessons in life too.
1.Con calma
When the ball came in and headed to bounce off the glass, I tend to move too fast towards the glass and rush to hit it. Often at the expense of being in a very uncomfortable position to make a good swing. His remark was always, "what's the rush"?
Indeed, what's the rush? The ball need to bounce on the floor first and then the wall. I have time to gauge what direction the ball is going to bounce off and reposition myself.
In life, what's the rush? "Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished" - Lao Tzu
2.Con tranquilidad!
Similar to number 1 above. But this is more in general of the existence on the court. There is (hasty) power and there is power with a flow. The latter is achievable con tranquilidad!
3. Si tu pareja no quiere subir, busca otra pareja! 😅
The game of pádel is different from tennis in that it is better if two players move forward at the same time to attack. To "fill" the court. In general, it's a game of both players move forward together and both players move back together. So if the partner never wants to move forward and always want to play defense, look for another partner 😂
In life, if the partner doesn't want to evolve and step forward with ease, maybe it's time for another indeed.
4.Prepara!
The act to prepare is more important than the actual swing. Racket open, footwork and reposition.
This is very similar to one yoga teacher's remark. "The flow to get to a pose is important. More so than the final pose itself. Like in sex a lot of people think the 'coming' is more important when in reality the 'going' is more crucial"
I had to laugh but there is a sense of truth in it.
For now, I enjoy the game as much as I enjoy the lessons coming out of this process (if not more).
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