Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Padel Smash TV is the media arm of Padel Smash - a platform dedicated to the people, stories, and innovation driving the growth of Padel worldwide.
On this channel you’ll find racket reviews, player interviews, club features, industry conversations, and original shows that explore both the sport and the business behind it. Our goal is to spotlight the players, brands, entrepreneurs, and communities shaping the future of padel.
Padel Smash is built on four pillars:
• Padel Smash TV – original content and storytelling from across the padel world
• Padel Smash Pro Shop – a curated e-commerce platform featuring gear tested by our team
• Padel Smash Clubs – community-driven clubs designed to grow the game locally
• Padel Smash Academy – coaching education, training, and player development programs
Together, these pillars connect content, community, education, and equipment to support the continued growth of padel.
Subscribe and follow along as we cover the sport from every angle.
Exactly.
Yeah.
There, there, these are complex markets
because it's, there are a lot of cultural
things that to, to take into account.
But for, for now and, and then the next
years we are very focused in the US Okay.
And also the new markets that are
blooming in Europe, like, uh, the uk
which is growing a lot and, and Germany,
which are two countries with a lot of.
Tennis tradition and now they
are discovering, uh, paddle.
Hey Pablos, we're here at Rocket
X with Alfonso, the global
marketing guru for Knox Rackets.
Alfonso, welcome to the channel.
Tell us a little bit, what is
the vision for Knox globally?
Well, the vision for Knox globally
is to become, uh, the best
paddle racket brand in the world.
I mean, uh, we started, as
you know, with Padel, uh, in,
in, in 20, uh, 2008 back then.
Then in, in 2020 we started
with, uh, beach tennis.
And since the last two years,
we are starting to introduce
a new pickle of our range.
So we are present.
Three main paddle sports,
uh, in the, in the world?
No.
So, but you're saying number one, you're,
you're probably somewhere in there, right?
I mean, but, but, but
you are there already.
You have the number one player and
you have the number one racket now.
So what else do you guys wanna do now?
We have in parallel, uh, and in
which tennis also we have the
number one player in the world.
And hopefully in some years we will have
the number one player in Pickle as well.
So what is your market share right now
globally with with Paddle compared to the
Bull Paddles and all, any other brands?
Well, it's, it's, uh, it's
around 20%, but you know, it's
a very fragmented, uh, market.
So yeah, it's 20% and depending
on the category, we are number
one or we're number two.
So in, in high range powder
rackets we are leading.
And also we, we did a very good
job with, uh, with shoes, which
was a pretty new, uh, product line.
We started in 2021.
It's only five years, and we are one of
the top three brands in pattern shoes.
And so what's your goal?
You said 20% of the market share, your
goal is to increase that and how high.
Uh, well, of course we want to have as
much market share for 26, but there are
a lot of competitors and, uh, we see
new brands, uh, launching every day.
So our goal is to be leading the
high range of the, of the product.
I mean, so, so in this, in this range
where fathers are more in the $200.
$300. This is where we
want to be, number one.
Always.
It's smart.
Now, what areas globally are
you looking to penetrate into?
What's a hotspot?
What's a new thing for 2027?
The new areas geographically?
Yes.
Of course, uh, the US it's
a very important market.
We, we've seen that, uh, in one
year, uh, the number of courts
have increased more than 100%.
It's still small compared to other
countries because there are more,
more cars import well than in the
us but this will change very fast.
So how about Indonesia?
How about India?
How about those areas that
are really booming in pedal?
Are you looking to
penetrate to those areas?
Yeah.
E exactly.
Yeah.
There, there, these are complex
markets, uh, because it's, there
are a lot of cultural things
that to, to take into account.
Yeah.
But for, for now and in the next years,
we are very focused in the US Okay.
And also the new markets that are
blooming in Europe, like, uh, the uk
which is growing a lot and, and Germany,
which are two countries with a lot of.
Tennis tradition.
Mm-hmm.
And now they are discovering, uh, paddle.
So what, what is your strategy to make,
uh, no's growth here in the United States?
Well, ba basically, you,
you need good partners with
distribution partners and, and, uh.
You have to, to make things a
little bit different to what do
you, you do in Europe, right?
So, of course, having the number one
player in the world and our roster of
players, it's, it's very important.
But you have to work very closely
with clubs, with coaches, and
make a very good grassroots work.
Uh, something that probably you
don't need to do in Spain because
everybody knows the brand, uh,
in, in the US you have to do it.
If you talk about pickle, you have to
do it even more because the pickleball
player doesn't know nothing about nav.
So what are the plans to compete
with our established brands here
in the us A and paddle like Wilson
Head, even baby that's from France.
How do you, how do you com How are,
what are your plans to compete with 'em?
Well, if Americans know that brand
already and you feel comfortable Yeah.
Well, of course we have to have
the, the best product possible.
So the, the good thing is that
we were born as a power brand.
No.
So, so, but American
market does not know that.
So if American Market goes and looks
f. Had Wilson Knox and, and this first
time we going play, they're gonna
choose something they're familiar with.
How do you guys not
gonna compete with that?
What is the plan that this is something
that we have seen, uh, around the
world in every country where, where
paddle starts losing the traditional
tennis brands are there because No,
they are, they have the distribution.
They have.
Uh, the history exactly in the country,
but there's always at one point where
the paddle player starts to mature.
Yeah.
And they look for something specific
and something that is, uh, created.
But can you wait that long?
'cause sometimes what happens is they
buy a ahead or a Wilson or something
and they somewhat, even if they do know,
they become a little loyal to that.
Not all of them will switch over to that.
But can you wait that long?
No, it's not that, that we are
waiting, it's something that it
happens, uh, let's say naturally,
but we are pushing it by having the
number one player in the us Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, VIN, who you already know.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, so, so you have to push a little bit.
Or, or than you guys have, right?
Sorry, Orella.
The, the youth?
Yeah.
Or you guys have, now we have good
expectations with, yeah, no, tell us
all about, I mean, that's a new sign
in, or, or Tino number one in Spain.
I think it is one of the
best players in the world.
She's only, I think it's 13.
12. 13. Uh, what is the projection there?
Well, uh, we have, we have a
project called The Next Future
Academy where we are bringing.
All the new talents around the world and,
but similar to tennis academics as well.
And we put them in our facilities
in, in Barcelona to make them grow.
But in the specific case of Ella, uh,
but I don't want to put that too much
pressure on, on her, but, but, uh,
the strategies is, uh, it's clear.
We want to have the best.
Players in the world.
So you have to have a huge range of,
uh, young players because you never
know, uh, they, they are too young.
Yeah.
Uh, or, or looks fantastic,
has a, a very promising, very
promising, very promising future.
But you know, they, they, they, they
are just teenagers and you never know.
So you have to bet on, uh, a lot
of them make a good environment
for, for them, make them grow.
And God knows, uh, what
happens in the future.
Right.
So something interesting, uh, your
number one, uh, selling racket.
It's obviously the AGU in Tapia.
Yes.
And, and, and let's say, how do you
deal with, let's say last year's Tapia.
Everybody loves it and now you guys come
out with a new one, it's a little bit
different, but you're still selling the,
the last year one h you still producing
that, the old model or you just get that
out of the system and, and get new models?
Yeah, we, we combine the, the, they
coexist in the market, but there,
there, there's the, the product
cycle is you launch a new one.
You still keep the, the last year one, but
at some point, you, you, you, you finish.
How, how long do you wait?
Is it, do you guys have, have
a, like a process as a policy or
depending on how well they sell?
No, I, I, I would say it's, uh,
like nine months, more or less.
Okay.
Because then introduce a new one.
The new one has, uh, new technologies,
new molds, new, new everything.
So you don't want to, to.
Keep the old one forever.
Yeah.
You don't want compete against
each other, but, but at some, at
sometimes some customers, they,
they want to have it for some time.
Yeah.
So you produce a little bit more of that.
But, uh, of course we are always
pushing consumers to have the new one.
Right, right, right.
But I mean, sometimes like.
Sometimes somebody gets so used to
one brand, and I remember I used
one brand for 3, 3, 4 years before
they, I couldn't find anymore.
Then I had to jump over to that.
Yeah.
Did you ever find one collection
or model that people just love and
say, okay, you know what, we're
just gonna keep this forever.
We, we did it with, uh, MLT broke out.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10 program.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Which, uh, this is a racket that we
cannot modify anything on it because
there's people that they have.
Bought, uh, 20 units during their lives.
They're always using the
same, the same racket.
So this is like the, our legacy
racket that never changes.
Gotcha.
So now the Du Alonso, I
think, is that racket.
It is selling pretty well.
I mean, and I, I would love
to get my hands on it and try
a little bit what is what?
You got it, but I wanna play with it.
So what is the difference between
this one and that was Tapia.
Well there, there are several differences.
Uh, fir.
First of all, in the new
Augustine Tapia, we introduce
the weight, balance, uh, system.
So it comes with these weights, okay?
Oh, interesting.
You, you can, you have, uh, two pieces of
two grams and two pieces of four grams.
And how you, you glue him
or how you put him there.
You put it here.
You have the, the spots
here to, to put it.
Okay.
You can use a racket as
it is if you feel okay.
Okay.
But in case that you want to have higher
balance because you feel that you need
it for, for smash or for, for, uh, b
or then you, you can customize this.
Okay?
So this is something that we are
introduc, we introduce it only in
the 80 10, uh, range on this one.
And, and, and this one, the, they
have the differences in the materials.
Okay.
So this one, it's uh, it's
the, uh, 12 square carbon.
This is the aluminized carbon.
So the, the feel is different,
but it's, uh, but they both are,
uh, hybrid, uh, shape bracket.
So in that, so they're similar, but
with some specific differences in the
touch in the field and also in the
system of, uh, customizing the balance.
So one of my favorite racks
was attack 18 K. Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Is this one?
It, it looks like the shape, but
I couldn't, is that this one?
It.
This one is the attack?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
One of my favorite rackets
out of overall collection.
You have more the balance up here.
So they are the same bracket,
exactly the same racket.
But you have the two shapes
in case that you prefer.
Yes.
This, this shape.
Yes.
Yes.
How about, how about now let's talk
about different products, shoes.
I have.
Try your shoes.
And they're tan.
Fantastic.
Yeah.
Uh, how much r and d are
you putting on the shoes?
How much you know, uh, push
are you doing with the shoes?
Well, it took us 13 years until we
launched our first shoes collection,
and that was because we understood
that we could only launch something
to the market that was specifically.
Developed for the sport.
So we went to the best PO in Spain,
which is, uh, Marta and the, the
family, the, the Theta family, they're
very famous in, in Spain because they
work with, with football Barcelona.
They have, uh, help mess Garvin.
They, they, they've worked with
ton of, uh, tons of athletes.
And, uh, they studied the movements
of paddle and they did all the
recommendations for our shoes.
So we, we implemented, of course, they,
they didn't design the shoe, but, but they
told us what were the key technologies
that a good paddle shoe should have.
We, of course, we, we.
Okay.
What is the technology there?
Well, there are several ones, no,
starting by the, the drop, we increase
it a little bit, the drop because of
the, uh, waiting, um, positioning paddle.
So you have to be always ready to
go through the net, but also we
introduce it, uh, the, the lateral
super to avoid the, I dunno, um, the,
the sprain or the twist of the arms.
Exactly, exactly.
And also the, the level of, uh,
motivation because too much a motivation.
Can feel comfortable, but
it's not good for, for health.
Yeah.
Cushioning.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Say Yeah.
Cushioning.
Yeah.
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry for my English.
So, a question, uh, what was
this decision, or why did you
move into the, the sneaker wear?
I mean, you have a lot of big brands, huge
brands, really dominating that market.
What was it?
Why was the decision to enter
into that category and what are
the strategies to compete with
those other really big brands?
Well.
The fact is that we had all
the products that you need to
play paddle except the shoe.
So you are giving a
space for a competitor.
When you are in a retailer or a
club, if you don't have all the
products, then you are giving a
space for someone else to come in.
Well, you have shoe, shoe
companies that just do shoes.
Yeah.
For record sports.
And that's all they do,
and they dominate that.
So you guys are do rackets now
you're moving into the shoe space.
I mean, how are you gonna
compete with those bigger
brands that dominate the market?
You're talking about the, the Nikes and
the, the Asics and just focus on, on shoe.
That, that's because we are very specific
to the sports that we are, uh, operating.
I mean.
We, we, of course, we, we, we know
that paddle is growing, but globally
speaking, it's still a niche sport.
Yeah.
So, so we are specializing in this
niche sports where we are presented.
Gotcha.
But I, I am sure that at some point
these big brands will put an eye on
paddle and they will come in as well.
Yeah.
So we have to be ready with the right
product, with the right performance.
And be in the minds of the
consumer as a specialized brand.
And you guys are gonna, um, focus
on clubs to carry these, or how, how
are you gonna, uh, uh, market these?
How are you gonna, uh, sell these?
Well, shoes?
Yes.
Shoes, you mean?
No.
Well, I think, uh, there's no one
specific tactic that will, will work.
Uh, at the end of the day, we are,
uh, selling our shoes as something
that is good for your health.
It's not just.
Fashion, you know?
But, uh, if I could sell it
through, I, I know, uh, in, in
Spanish, the pharmacies, I dunno.
I dunno.
Yeah.
Pharmacies.
Pharmacies.
I, I would, I would, I would do it.
No, but, but, uh, I, and I, and
I think this, these big brands
don't, don't have this approach.
No.
It's, it's more a massive
market, but not that specific.
So we, we are always, uh, marketing
our shoes on that, like something
that it's good for health.
To prevent or decreasing
the risk of having injuries
and also being comfortable.
Great.
Well, thank you so much for your,
for all the information and, uh,
we wish you the best of luck.
Hey panelists, we're here at the stand
of Knox Paddle at Rocket X, and we're
here with Philip Knox is one of the
leading paddle brands in the world.
Now they're here big in the United States.
Philip, welcome to the channel.
Why don't you tell us a little bit,
what's the vision for NOx in the us?
Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Um, it's really a great privilege
to have the exclusive license in
the u uh, of Knox and United States.
Obviously it's the number
one brand in the world.
Augustine Tapia.
He does what nobody can do on
the court and just watching him.
It's really relates really well
in the parallel of the NOx brand.
So when you think about NOx in the US
we think it's at really it's infancy.
We're really building a world-class
team to really just accelerate the
growth of not just paddle but pickleball
and we're really excited about what
we're doing and really excited about
the team we have in place and all the
different channels that we're pursuing.
And we just, in the first month
of having the license, we've.
Really exceeded our expectations
from a B2B perspective, and we
launched our D two C today, so
couldn't be more excited about that.
And just thinking really
strategically about the brand and,
and, and how we're gonna position
ourselves in the next 10 years.
So you talked about B and b uh, in 2026.
What is the strategy here in
the US A when it comes to b?
So the first thing we did was
we completely re We, we built
everything from the ground.
So the team won the work
and we built a B2B platform.
It's completely proprietary
to our distributor.
Um, just some simple things as live
inventory management, giving really good
visibility to our B2B clients, making
sure there's no inventory shortages.
Um, I, I'm very big on communication
and having really good visibility, so
that's what we want to give our clients.
That's great.
So now distributors, when they
wanna order products, they can see
exactly what you guys have in stock.
They can order right
there on the platform.
It's all live, so, oh my God.
Is that, is that the prietary or
is that a third party company?
The other, our team built
everything from the ground.
We, we think like engineers and, I
mean, I like to say in our company
we have domain expertise and I don't
helicopter monitor anybody and we have
brilliant people on the team that.
I th I know pound for pound,
they're the best at what they
do, so we're really excited.
Excellent.
So, one question in the pa in the past
few years, I mean, um, you know, you
guys are originally from Spain and other
brands are from Spain, and sometimes
the, the inventory was a big issue.
You know, you know, Spain wasn't
se selling, sending you enough
rackets and things like that.
How are you solving that problem?
Because that, that has to be
a partnership between Knox,
Spain and, and you guys, right?
So first off, Oakley is an
extraordinarily strategic partner.
Oh, Oakley Sunglasses.
Oakley Capital.
Oh, Oakley.
So Oakley is the new
main partner for Knox.
We think very similarly across the
line in in terms of just how we want
to build the business, how we want to
build the brand, how we think about
it globally, how we think about it.
The US market, you know, their
thesis was we're investing.
A big reason is because of the US market.
So we have a responsibility
to deliver on that.
And, um, when we think about
like inventory, in the past we
weren't have enough product.
That's all in the past.
We all think go forward and, and we're
working together as a team from corporate
to the distributor to really make
sure the way that we're thinking it is
gonna be able to fulfill all the demand
that we're seeing in the market today.
Now talk to about these products, to
these rackets and any new products that
you're gonna have in 2026 for the us.
So I, I think the most important stat,
and we learned this recently, was so in
2024, Knox sold 400,000 paddles worldwide.
Wow.
In 2025, they sold over
530,000 rackets worldwide.
That's a 30% growth.
Yeah.
That is extraordinary.
And this year we're expecting that we're
gonna sell 700,000 rackets worldwide.
So the growth is extraordinary.
And, um, when we look at just the
racket specifically, so the Alonso.
This is when we were in Barcelona.
Yvonne likes to say this is the
an amazing all around racket.
It's just a great feel, control, power.
The Tapia, obviously this is the
number one racket sold in the world.
Yeah.
You have here the 12 K, which is more for
control and feel, and then you have the
18 K, which is just a power racket, so.
I just actually got the 18
K and I can really feel a
difference with, with the Alonso.
So it's just a different style
and I actually play both of them.
But the Alonso is one of the best
selling record so far, right?
I mean that, that record sell pretty well.
It was the first one that got sold
out, so we're outta stock right now.
We had, we have another
shipment coming in in two weeks.
This one was the, the blue and the
red are just instant hits and we're,
we're, we really love the white
happens and I always love how this
always tells you how to hold it.
Like this is a er if you're right handed.
This is a serve.
Spot.
So you hold it like this
and that's how you search.
Yeah.
So it's always such a cool small detail.
You know, the, the product really aligns
with how we think every details matter
matters, and we curate like the product to
make sure that the player is in control.
So even like you look at, we
have the light for the woman.
So for the woman, we have the
light and you can even still
like, feel the difference.
And we're really just
focused on the player.
So how about any new products
that you guys are excited, uh,
to release this year, 2020?
So I know you got sneakers, you got bags.
What, what are you looking for?
So we're looking at it,
the shoes right here.
These are, we feel that we've
developed the best shoe in the market.
Um, the shoes will be coming second
half of the year and we feel with.
The highest conviction that we have the
best shoe in the market, not just for
Paddle, but for Pickleball two, which
is a new space that we're entering.
So we're really excited about that.
So, so United States being such
a huge country, you know, if you
compare to the Spain or France,
I mean United States is huge.
How do you plan to strategically.
Expand all across, you know, the United
States because, I mean, one thing is
to be strong in Miami, but now you
know, you have Washington State, you
have the northeast, you have the, you
know, the, you know, the west coast.
How do you, you nos USA, how do,
how do you guys plan to expand
all across the United States?
Yeah, so when, when you think about the
macro market in the US there's roughly
a hundred, 150,000 paddle participants.
Um.
Any expert will tell you in the next five
to 10, five years, there's gonna be one
to three to 5 million paddle participants.
So Knox, in the first two years
of being here, we captured roughly
15% market share of racket sales
in the US doing absolutely nothing.
It just shows how strong of a global
presence it has, and really the expat
community really understands it.
The greater challenge
that we're seeing is.
If it's, if the sport's gonna
grow to one 5 million paddle
participants, the majority of that
growth will be Americans, right?
It's not the expat community and we
have to introduce the brand to them.
So what our team is doing, and you see
Nick here, you know, I call him Bulldog.
He can get an any door.
We, we have an unbelievable
sales team that is.
Anticipates every new account
without them really feeling that
they don't know anything about Knox.
We treat every new account, like
we don't take anything for granted.
So we go from the bottom up building up
just credibility in the brand from nothing
and, and we're really planting seeds all
around the country with these new clubs
that are being built by American operators
to really teach them about the brand.
So that, but that's on
the B2B side, right?
Then you think about D two C.
Which is just online marketing.
So we're investing heavily with a
very strategic marketing partner
to bring brand awareness of NOx
through D two C. So that doesn't
require you purchasing at the club.
What we feel is the club, it builds
brand equity, it builds credibility of
the product to the player, and we're
investing a lot to build that brand equity
and to gain the trust of that customer.
So we, we've been around the,
the country and we visit.
Almost every club, rather Northeast,
Miami, uh, the West coast, Texas.
And what we're seeing more and more is,
uh, some of the clubs lining up because
more American, second, third, fourth
generation Americans lining up with the
American brands like Wilson, Adidas, even
baby each and not brands that kind of,
the, the Americans kind of understand
how do you, how, what's a strategy in
trying to penetrating that and trying
to get those people to know about Max.
No, that's great.
So when I first got into
Paddle, I bought a baby Lott.
Yeah.
I didn't know NOx.
So it's exactly to your point.
So when I, when you put a NOx
in people's hands, they feel it.
When you, when you ask these
collegiate tennis players that
know Wilson, Babylon here put Knox.
Yeah.
They'll play and they say, oh my goodness.
I can tell the difference.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The product speaks for itself.
Yeah.
The quality's outstanding.
Yeah.
So we just have to put the
product in people's hands.
Yeah.
That's what we're saying.
Okay, but how are you gonna do that?
Because we're such a huge country.
So what happens is we have an
unbelievable sales team, boots on the
ground, that are opening up all these
accounts with all these B2B clients.
And we're also just from like
a grassroots perspective.
Yeah.
You see we're, we're
sponsoring a lot of the best.
Amateur players in the country.
A lot of the pros in the country, like
we're we're, we're investing significantly
in marketing in the youth too.
I see.
The youth recently saw that.
You just saw.
Exactly.
So we're investing law in the youth and
really focused from the ground up and
really like the grassroots approach.
Okay.
So let's say, um.
Viewers, listeners that wanna purchase,
uh, NOx Rockett, where they should
go, Instagram, social media website.
What, what is it?
So we have KNX four USA launched today.
Again, we have live inventory, so if we're
going low on stock, you're gonna know.
And we have our Instagram
that launched to NOx four USA.
So please support us.
Um, we're lucky to have you and
look forward for you to get a Knox.
Good luck and less Knox.