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Hey Padel enthusiasts welcome to Padel Smash Academy, I am Cesc and I am here with Julian and we're all about Padel! Whether you're new to the sport or an experienced player, you've come to the right place. Our goal is to provide you with the best tips & tricks, news, and weekly lessons to help you improve your game and take your Padel to the next level. So grab your Padel Racket and let's get started with all things Padel on Padel Smash Academy.
Hello everyone.
Welcome to another exciting
episode of Padel Smash Academy.
Today, we're so excited to have Luis
Ramirez, the head national coach of
the National team that is going to play
the world cup championship in Qatar.
Thank you for having me and
exciting to be in the smash academy.
Back and forth for a while, right?
We did the course together.
Follow me.
That's right.
That's where I met you at the beginning,
you know, uh, paddle MBA, right?
Learning paddle.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And how did you like that anyways?
How was that?
I think it was a great experience.
You know, an experience that we
don't have much in the, in the States
yet, but it's, I think it's coming.
There are a few, uh, outlets right
now out there and it's always
good to learn more, more paddle.
People that were enthusiastic paddle in,
in every level because there weren't not,
not just coaches, there were players,
there were people that were just wanting
to learn a little more about paddle.
So it was a great experience
to network, to learn and.
For example, we got to be, you
know, friends during that weekend
and talked a lot about paddle.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're right I mean there is there's
a lot of people that were into tennis or
that were into other racket sports and
you could see that But you could see them
exciting, you know to play paddle now, you
know or becoming a coach in a different
club I mean, I met a lot of people there
100 percent which was a great experience
I thought the class was really good.
The online class was great.
It is.
It is a great tool.
For us coaches, it is a great
tool to prepare classes, etc.
Let's talk a little bit about you.
Where are you originally from?
I'm from Venezuela.
I came to the United States when I was 18.
So right now I'm a dual citizen.
I'm a U.
S.
citizen and a Venezuelan.
I came because of tennis, on a
tennis scholarship to play in
New Mexico State University.
Uh, that's a division one super amazing
experience and what they do here with the
NCAA, it's beautiful and they actually
bring the best talent and level to, to
compete and it makes you grow a lot.
Uh, then from there, I played
three years of professional tennis.
That led me to having a green card here
as a resident with a special talent a
special time That's how they call it.
I don't know.
I mean that's not easy.
Wow.
No it is It was actually an amazing reward
and an accomplishment for me because
venezuela wasn't going through the best
times at the moment Still isn't but at
that moment, especially and it was for
me an escape And a solid escape because
it wasn't easy to find alternatives.
I was only a venezuelan So I started
a master's there in the university of
miami here in miami, and that's why I
moved here in sport administration, then
they Continued on with life opened up
a tennis academy, uh worked in wealth
management after that now i'm doing
real estate and paddle came in my life
in 2018 and has been Following me hard
and trying to get me in more and more
and more and more and today i'm the
national coach of the Like Julian said
of the men's national team and super
excited because we have, uh, the world
champion championships coming up and, uh,
I think we have a good team to make it.
So tell us a little bit, how
did you, how was in 2018, how
was that transition from tennis?
How did you get involved?
Okay.
So more importantly.
How far did you get into tennis?
And then at what point did you
say, you know what, okay, I'm
going to start living my life or
I'm going to transition to paddle.
How did, how did that whole thing happen?
So back in 2018, I'm sitting
with a tennis academy that
that was operating in Brickell.
It was super successful and got
me to, to meet so many different
people from different nationalities.
It was prior to COVID right before COVID.
So that's when some of one of my students
took me to To a paddle court for the
first time ever in my life 2018 going
to real paddle with you know The OG
club and the cradle, the cradle paddle.
That's where you have to begin.
So were you still competing
in tennis at that time?
Just coaching at the, at the moment.
But I started right away competing
in paddle since day two, I guess.
Uh, I went to play there for fun.
I lost that match to people that
used to play tennis and I used to
be easily and then got me real quick
and, and I'm like, okay, I got you.
I went right away.
I went to the USPA, you know, website
and got into the first tournament
available and that's how I started.
So how was your transition,
uh, from tennis to paddle?
Because, you know, at the beginning,
whether you're playing squash,
racquetball, or tennis, you're kind
of, you're playing that sport inside.
So how long was that transition
or when you learned, Hey, look,
okay, this is paddle, not tennis.
You know, the transition still
happens because when you are a tennis
player, like me, that, that since I
was three years old, I was playing
tennis, your instinct and you're
born to, to not let anything go.
You know, anything has to be.
You need to touch it,
put it back in the court.
Mm-Hmm.
and competing.
I got to play in every level of tennis.
In, in I-T-F-I-I-I was top, uh, 200 in
the world and in, in division one in NCA.
Then I was up to 585 in the world in a TP.
So I got to leave and I
played Davis Copi, Venezuela.
So I got to leave like
every aspect of tennis.
So the transition to paddle, I think
it's going to continue for the next
10 years because tennis was, you know,
so structured and the way you have
to prepare to be a player that we're
still learning, you know, in paddle and
people are still adapting and learning.
And for me personally, to play
paddle in a better level, it
takes time because adapting to
the walls, adapting to the lobs.
Adapting the instinct of being a killer
the entire time to now you have to
control the pace, control the points.
But you've been playing
now for how many years now?
For, well, yeah, since 2018.
So I've been playing for a while now.
And, and obviously right now, you
know, you think you, now you master
the game and you understand it more,
but you have to watch a lot of padel.
Oh, yeah.
And get in the core a lot and listen
to a lot of people like, for example,
Julian and directors here and there in
every club that, I tend to give you know
that advice that comes from paddle, but
you mixing what you have from tennis,
which is the big one, is the big one.
One of the things that, that, that
coming from tennis happens, it's, it's
learning the, the tactical aspect of
paddle, which is the most difficult part.
You know, everybody can return from
the waltz and all that, but returning
with a purpose and, and, and, because I
always tell my students, you're not even,
You're playing against a net, against
two players, and against the walls.
It is.
Imagine that.
You had to keep it away from
the walls, away from the two
players, and above the net.
Yeah.
And it's, that's very, very complicated.
I find it super tactical.
You know, paddle, it's, and that's
what got me, gets me the most about
paddle, because you have to really
think what you're doing and what's going
on, and How do you approach a match?
You have to have at least six, seven
strategies, you know, so you can
actually adapt to what they are doing,
to what you're doing, to what's working,
to what's not working in tennis.
It's a little more like two, three plans
that you have plan A, plan B, plan C.
And then if not, you're screwed.
You lost, you know, because
you have time to adapt.
I think from that
aspect, tennis is easier.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
You know what I mean?
The thing is that you're obviously,
you have to be extremely more
precise in tennis, uh, because.
The margin of error is,
is, is less and, and, and
it's in paddle.
I think it's, it's that's in reverse.
No a hundred percent, but you have
to go for winners and you have to
take more risk faster in tennis.
So you have to be well prepared with
your feet on the ground established
to be able to hit a winner.
And the guys that are playing right
now professionally are prepared,
like, like animals, you know?
So, yeah.
I, I think I, I think the
tennis is more stamina.
More hundred percent power.
Yeah.
I mean, in, in paddle it's
you using legs a lot more, you
know, you're getting really low.
You're using muscles that
you've never used in tennis.
A hundred percent.
It's and so's it's, it's a
little, yeah, it is different.
It's more strategic.
And if you're talking this, it's, this
is, I think it's, it's what talks about
a, a point in tennis lasts in average
five to four seconds in the tour.
In, in Premier, it's 15 to 20 seconds.
I mean, you can have a rally that,
even on intermediate level, like
6, 7, times over the net, where
in 10 it's maximum, it's 3, 4.
Yeah, in intermediate, even more.
Yeah, it's more strategic.
It's much more strategic.
It has more power and much more thinking.
If you know all the shots,
it's, you're trying to figure
out your opponent's weakness.
You know how to get leverage.
And meanwhile, you're still the game is
going now for 20 30 40 seconds, you know,
and it doesn't seem like a lot but when
you're moving around getting really low
defending and and trying to It puts it
all a lot on you, you know the one one of
the things that that it's very important
to understand the concept is that In
tennis, power is your friend, right?
Plays with you.
You can overpower someone, right?
In padel is completely opposite.
You cannot overpower someone
because it will just come back.
So it's a such a much more
precise and tactically more.
You know, refine because power does it.
So the moment you take power away
is now using your brain, where to
find the whole way, where to find
the gap for them to make a mistake.
And even though if they can return it
from the back wall, so it's even more
difficult, you know, at a higher level,
I think it's more patience depending on
the side that you have, it's tactical
that that right side is more technical.
And that left side is just waiting for
portresa for quarters waiting to put
it that person's like, you know, Comes
from tennis or is tall or very powerful.
You've seen it, you know,
I just came from Mexico.
I seen it with Vinny, right?
You know, he could put any opportunity
has he's putting the ball out.
Yeah.
You know, so if you have the capability,
but you have to have the patience
and know when to do it and train, you
know, so that way that, that, that
risk of it not going, you know, coming
back and getting counter smash or
hitting that back wall net is reduced.
Your exposure is reduced to Yeah.
Um, and that's where some of
the young guys kind of like.
Uh, they want everything over,
you know, and some of them
are capable of doing that.
You usually tend to trust your power
and your, you know, what you, what
you think you can put in the table.
But as soon as the label keeps
matching up, and it happened to
us, the tennis players, we started
coming in to the USPA circuit with
just a few players, and we would do
semifinals, finals every single time.
Now there is more pattern players involved
and it's, it's harder, you know, like I
always say, you have to read the book.
If you want to go out there and beat
Luisito, Nico, or you know, the Eagles,
now you have to know what you're doing.
You cannot just go out there
and, and beat the hell out of
the ball and get away with it.
You know, you learn very quickly that
from another sport and you're doing well.
I mean, you have that, that anticipation,
the balance and timing, you have
all that and eye hand coordination.
But then once you start
playing some of the other.
That's not how to play parry.
Like, Oh, you know, I got to go
back to the instruction manual.
Is this that?
So tell us, how did you
get involved with the USPA?
Well, the USPA, uh, got to
me when I played my first
national match with Venezuela.
I actually got to play with the national
team of Venezuela as a player, the first
ever national team that got formed.
We did a friendly game, uh, in Texas.
against the USA.
And that's where I met the people
that were involved at the moment.
They told me there was a need, you
know, for volunteers to join committees.
And, uh, I right away jumped in,
in one of them in the competition
committee that was in 2022.
Alongside with Scott Culliburn,
who has been a big help over
there, Nick was at the moment.
Marcus was just leaving.
Martin Sweeney was getting into
the presidency at that moment.
And we were just a few people, you know,
at that moment when I got into the USPA.
But I think I brought a lot of experience
of what I have left in the USPA.
In tennis and, uh, try to, uh, give
that experience towards the USPA, you
know, as a volunteer and trying to
structure, especially at that moment,
my task was to structure a, a better
and more solid, uh, competition, uh,
tour, you know, that right now you have
at least a tournament spread around
the entire us and you, everyone has
possibilities of competing and playing
and getting some points towards the
ranking, which was extremely important.
And, uh, making some sense of what was
going to be required for the national
teams to be able to jump in and, and be
a part of that national team, you know?
So that was when I started, uh, I've
been, uh, evolving since then, right now,
apart from being the head coach of the
national team of the men's national team.
Uh, in the absolute level.
I also, uh, volunteer in the Governance
and Finance Committee, uh, help them
a lot with, uh, you know, everything
that the, the, the USPA requires right
now, especially that we're hopefully
heading into the Olympics in 2032.
As a, as a sport from the USPA,
we need to be ready and prepare,
you know, to, to confront that.
But you played for
Venezuelan national team?
Yes, sir.
Was that just a friendly and that's
why you could play for the USA or
did you have to wait a couple years?
Yeah, that was a friendly, okay.
At the moment, Venezuela didn't even
have a federation, so they were.
Forming the federation at that moment.
Uh, so I got to be involved in
the first few, you know, friendly
games that they put together.
All, everything was here
in the U S at the moment.
And now they have done an amazing
job back home in Venezuela.
And I have to congratulate the
federation and the players over
there because I'm super proud
of what they're doing recently.
I don't know if you were there
in, in, in the Panamericanos,
the Venezuelan under 18 team won
actually the, the, the tournament.
The open tournament, which was
a huge accomplishment and a
reward for what they're doing.
And I'm super proud of, of them.
Yeah, that was pretty amazing.
Seeing the young kids
there, how they play.
It's like, wow, this is like
some of the kids in the future.
It's like, wow.
What happens is that right now
they, they see a future on it.
You know, now they, there
is a hope and a dream.
And so now, now kids from when they're
14, they're professionals, you know?
And my, my goal, my mission here with
the national team is to get these kids
to be professional since they're young.
Because in, in order to be able to compete
when you're out there against teams like
Mexico, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Argentina,
that are preparing since they're 13,
you're going to have to put that work in.
Okay.
So that's, that's a good point.
And I'm going to ask you a tough
question is how do you do that?
How do you do that when
there's other sports there?
That there's scholarships and there's
money for and you can make real money
or You know, we you end up losing a
lot of athletes to those other sports.
And how do you get these juniors?
To kind of like start playing and start
getting really, you know, uh, passionate
about it and say, I want, I want to play
this sport when there's, I mean, we're
hoping there's a future financially for
it, but right now it, most people paddle
players here in the USA and the top five,
10, they can't do paddle a hundred percent
and make, you know, living off of it.
They're rather doing a side
thing or coaching or whatever.
So what motivates them to do that?
That's number one.
Number two, you have the juniors.
And it's not made for everybody.
I mean, it's very costly like how can you
have, you know, these juniors, uh train
You know twice or three times a week if
the courts cost so much money So there's
all these like hurdles And i've been
trying to figure out how do you do that?
You know, so number one You talked
on how do you do it all you those
two points combined, you know,
obviously price is a big Step in
the way that we have right now.
It's a high end entertainment sport,
you know It's made only for affluent
families and it's not touched on
the mainstream yet because the
infrastructure just started building
2019, you know 2020 So it takes time.
The biggest city that took on to paddle
was Miami because we have the Hispanic
background and we have, you know, a, the
capability to promote the sport easier.
But Miami is a expensive place
to, to be the evangelist.
Let's say it.
So.
In order for us in, in, as, as a paddle
world to, to get juniors and to get
people involved, obviously we're going
to have to create this spaces where
juniors can participate right now.
They don't have spaces, so I'm a
bit advocate for that right now.
Obviously club owners have a, a,
a, a big, big task to do, which is
how do I return my investment in
while generating spaces for kids
also to participate and play well.
People that are involved like you are,
you know, you fell in love with the
sport first and now you have your kids,
you know, going to the Panamericanos
and involving them, getting them
involved in, in, in the national teams.
That's amazing.
And that's what I need to see more.
You know, I need to see more
parents that get their kids and
make the effort to bring them in.
And I think they do.
It's just, it's cheaper to, you
know, put your own court in your
backyard and that's going to play.
And that's going to try.
And that's a, that's a, that's a, that's
a step in the way, a step in the way
that's, that's obviously there, you
know, but the infrastructure, it's
going to be the best way to solve.
Yeah.
But we have to understand one thing.
I mean, it's the natural evolution of any
new sport is, is the chicken and the egg.
You know what I mean?
You can't have junior development without.
Paddle courts.
That's exactly the more
paddle course that we have.
It's going to be much more accessible
to To juniors and everyone else
right now It's the the natural trend.
It's it's it's where United states
is 10 years behind and the paddle
evolution compared to the rest and
we're the early adopters You know what?
I mean and then after that when we
get the the the high end and middle
income people Now they're bringing your
kids and now you know, that's how and
how goes down to the bottom, which is
another great point that you brought up.
How do you compete with other sports?
It's hard.
You don't, you can't compete with every
single sport, but you're not expecting to
bring in a hundred million kids, you know?
No.
Right now we have five if we can.
Week, five or 10 per club, I'm saying,
but you can bring it up to 100 per club,
then you're doing, you know, a big job.
I love, I love this sport.
I'm very passionate about it, you
know, and that's why I do this.
And, but I see it.
And I used to like other, I
play squash tennis, of course,
little, even racquetball.
And racquetball was, is a dying sport.
It was never a growing sport.
Well, it got pretty strong in the 80s.
You know what I'm saying?
But to build the
infrastructure was tough, etc.
And it's indoors, you
can only see one way.
So, right now, it's a business.
It has to be a business.
These investors are coming in.
They have to have their money
back, a return on their investment.
So, how do you make it, I guess,
available for, uh, you know, all kids?
And, you know, maybe, I've seen certain
clubs do it at certain times, where it's
like, dead, you know, uh, like, the dead,
dead times, and, and giving a discounted
price, which I think is great, but
somebody has to, has to run that, right?
Exactly, that's a problem.
Right, and then, right now, the way
it is structured is, like, you go
to New England, it's twice as much.
Yeah, as it is here in Miami,
you know what I'm saying?
And you go there is even more.
There has to be, there has, there
has, there has to be some incentive.
The, the USPA who is the governing
body, who's not in charge of
running, you know, how clubs operate
or how do they produce talent?
No, they're just the governing body who
puts the rules basically, you know, and,
and it's making sure things are happening.
It's trying to promote from a committee
that was formed just for juniors right
now, and it's going to incentivize
some clubs by providing some grants,
especially Especially to incentivize
the junior production in the clubs.
So when you say grants, is that
federal grants or corporate?
Let me not lose this point because
I think it's super, super important.
How do you approach the opening
of a club or the putting the
investment of a club right now?
People are looking location,
location, location.
It's a thing that I hear in every
single place, trying to find
the most elite and best places.
You know, the moment we start shifting
away from that a little bit and start
touching on cities and trying to get
that, you know, underdeveloped land
that you can step into, you know, like,
The type of volunteers and Valentines
and get involved with what already
is in tennis, pickleball, racket,
sports, soccer, et cetera, and just
get involved and having the kids to
actually see what's going on with paddle.
Yeah.
We felt that already when
we step on a paddle court.
We don't want to leave the paddle
court, you know, I think the first
of locate location you say, but
there's a reason why yeah, because
the investors that's what they want.
It's part of the model.
So yeah, but it's our mission to teach
the cities that we can create a community
out of paddle, but here's where it's
going to be the big differentiator.
It's when you get for the last hundred
years, all country clubs in the United
States, there were always golf and tennis.
Yes, sir.
Anywhere in the country.
You know what I mean?
When you go to the typical country
club, you can remember and all that.
Now the tennis clubs on those country
clubs are adding pickleball and padel.
That's correct.
So now they're becoming racket clubs.
That's correct.
Yeah, that's gonna be the big
differentiator where that's
that's which is already happening.
Yeah, that's already done.
They're just adding padel to it.
Exactly.
If I go to all the racket
clubs in New England, they have
they have What do you call it?
Pickleball.
Pickle there.
Yeah, they're renting
out to health insurance.
And they're like, because
honestly the, the tennis club
theme is kind of a dying Yeah.
Club.
The club version, club parties.
It's, it's increasing
now in, in, in offerings.
Yeah.
And it's happening to a malls too now.
The malls have to be transforming into
us offering retail to entertainment.
No, and look, and look, I mean, all tennis
clubs, private clubs and, and memory owned
club, they know that tennis is dying.
And, and let me give you just
Mm-Hmm, just a quick number and I
was looking at it the other day.
It's.
Around the world, there are half a million
tennis clubs, I mean, tennis courts.
That's the maximum of courts
that you have around the world.
280, 000, they're only in
the United States, right?
So more than half, more than half
of the tennis courts around the
world, they're in the United States.
The USTA has on hand 360 million
dollars every single year.
We should have at least a top 10 in
the world, they should be Americans.
Yeah.
They're doing something wrong.
And now it's when these other
racquet sports see that gap,
that we're gonna start coming in.
Because if you're a club owner
and now you added pickable and
paddle, now you monetize it.
Now you can increase that
revenue coming to the club.
Now you're offering three
different racquet sports.
And that's going to be the exciting.
That's what's going to
happen in the near future.
What I think happened with tennis,
what you're saying is beautiful
because what you're saying is
exactly why Pickleball exists.
Pickleball exists because they
got into an old infrastructure
of tennis that was underutilized.
Like I was saying before with the cities
and they jumped in there and offer.
Something that people were not
finding in tennis because tennis
has become extremely difficult.
And when you see the guys playing
there every single time is better
and better and better, you find
it like impossible to get there.
And then when the news come out and
you see, Oh, only a hundred players
are making money, but they're that
good, you know, I think I'm not going
to play tennis, you know, so that's
something that tennis has to deal with
and they're trying to create these
different scenarios and people jumping in.
But, you know, it is.
Exactly like that.
You know, so now Paddle has, has that
opportunity to jump in and you're seeing
it in cities, like you're saying in
Raleigh, North Carolina, in Atlanta,
they're doing public facilities,
only rackets and Paddle is in there,
you know, so they're seeing it too.
And the good thing, I mean, it's, it's
the future is we're still early on,
but the train has already started,
you know, we're, we're, we're jumping
on the train and we know where
it's going, it's going to go up.
And it's, it's, it's
a very, very exciting.
So now going back to, let's
get into the juicy stuff, man.
I mean, so now you're going to Qatar.
When, give us the dates of
the Qatar, uh, World Cup.
First of all, uh, to Qatar, we
had to play a qualifying and
the qualifying was in Monterrey.
That was, uh, A couple of weeks ago,
we were super, I'm still super excited.
You know, the performance and what I
got to see over there from the players,
both in the men's and women's side,
the women's did an amazing performance.
They had one less spot than to qualify
or available to qualify to a world
championship and they had to beat Mexico
and they did it in Mexico, which was huge.
And talks about us in
general, you know, the U.
S.
paddle as a, as a whole, because
what Mexico, for example, does to
their national team, it's amazing.
They have them.
Support it all the way through and
they play tournaments every single
weekend and they train every day
and they have various coaches and
various trainers and conditioning.
So it's a big push, you know, that they
do and going out there to compete with
players that are self funding, even
the tickets, you know, uh, to go and
compete against them and beat them.
It's, it's, it talks about the talent
that we're, we're capable to create.
You know, if we actually.
Do it right, you know, and set the
right structure going again to Qatar.
Eh, I think we have a great opportunity
to showcase, you know, probably
something that we have never done over
there in the world championships game.
My goal to, and the goal that I have set
up to my team is to be a top 10 country.
It's a super tough task,
but I think right now.
We brought in two additions to a team, uh,
that are going to make us super strong.
Uh, and I'm confident, I'm confident
on the work that we are putting in and
that the players especially are doing.
And, uh, it's gonna be
a super fun experience.
Alright, buddy, you have
to tell us the players now.
Come on, give us a, to us,
give you the juicy stuff to us.
Who are the players?
So the, the guys that are gonna
come are, uh, be Francesco that
you were with him right now.
Yeah.
Great player.
Great player.
And I have super high hopes on oh yeah,
on the future that he's a monster.
That he can bring, he's only 18, right?
He's only 18.
And right now, and I'll jump on the
players soon, but right now the FIIP rise,
uh, ranking came up well end of last year.
And we had two players in the top 10,
you know, Argentinians, Spanish guys, and
two USA players, which are Matias Segura
and who is the second player that's going
to the, to the team and Vinny Francesco.
And that tells you the, the.
Talent and the capabilities that those
two guys have and the the You know the
benefit that we have of having them with
us, you know Yeah, so we need to give
them that privilege privilege That's the
word they didn't grow up in the united
states and they trained somewhere else
And they decided and they decided to
come and play for us and let me tell you
that people think they don't They had the
opportunity to go and play for argentina,
you know, yeah, but they Like we are
seeing the eyes of paddle are, are, are
with us right now and they wanna be there.
The U US is a market.
Yeah, it is.
It is a market for any,
any, any, anything.
And including Paddle.
Exactly.
That's what they see and they trusted
us and we have to trust, uh, them.
So it's them two.
Then we have, uh, Mr.
America, captain America, uh, Nico Elli.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
, come on.
Who's my captain?
And, and a, and a and an amazing guy.
You know, he's a true
professional paddle player.
Made in America.
Came from tennis.
Adapted beautiful to paddle and right now
he's training like an athlete, you know,
and that's something that you can see
on the court on every single tournament.
He's in the finals, uh, competing
at a high level and, uh, super
high expectations on him too.
Then we have a JP Arispe, JP comes,
uh, with a lot of experience.
He has been there a lot.
Uh, he said are only lefty in, in my team.
So it's important to have him.
Being number one in the USA forever
until these kids come, came in and,
and took the, he spot his spot.
But now he's, he's trying
to fight back for it.
I, I always laugh with him about it and he
tells me he's gonna come back . I'll see.
You know?
But, uh, he's coming in tough
and tougher every year, you know?
It is.
It is.
It is.
But he's a great player.
Oh, yeah.
Has so much knowledge of the game and with
the team, you know, he has a lot of, eh.
He transmits, you know,
that experience to the kids.
Yeah.
Then I have another kid that I
have a high hopes is Sebastian
Castaneda, who is from California.
He plays half of the year, he
in the USA and half in Mexico.
So he plays a lot of that Mexico tour.
Uh, Which has him, you know,
improving, improving a lot.
Uh, he's, uh, 21 years old.
Uh, then we have, uh,
let me see, let me recap.
Vinny, Matias, Fernando, JP,
Sebas Castaneda, Raulito Ruiz.
Raulito Ruiz, who has been also
growing as a player a lot and has been
super committed to paddle, you know,
in the Bolivian American superstar.
That's exactly right.
You know, big guy, you know,
he has a, a, a, Strong tools.
And obviously there is a lot of work to
do there, but he's, he's working towards
that, you know, then we have, we like
to tell you the brother of the brother
of Nico, he got into Paddle also in 2017
and, uh, It has been improving a lot.
You know, he's become a paddle player
and a paddle addict in that family.
I think they only talk
about paddle right now.
It's a big problem.
I think they're having with the
different wives, but well, not Nico,
but, but Will, but, uh, uh, yeah.
So we'll, and the last one, uh, it's
going to be, who didn't I mention?
Let's see.
Vinny, Matias,
JP, Fernando, Sebas, Will, and Raul.
Those are they, yeah.
Beautiful.
Great team.
Thank you.
So these guys are going to
be competing with La Creme De
La Creme, the top of the top.
That's right.
Spain, Argentinians.
Uh, I read that Argentina
is going with Tapia, Dineno.
How do you prepare?
Tell me that.
I know, right?
How do I prepare that match?
Yeah, Withejo, Chingoto.
I mean, it's, man, that's the dream team,
the dream team over there, you know?
Yeah, it's, it's going to be,
it's going to be fun to watch it.
You know what I mean?
It's, it's, uh, at least
it's just showing up.
It's going to be a great experience.
I'm super happy for the experience.
Not, not just for, for me, but for the
kids, you know, to leave that experience.
I felt like every single time, time
there, they step on the court over
there, they're going to increase one
level and they're going to leave the
experience and they're going to feel
what it takes to be, just learning.
Yes.
Going, getting on a court and
watching and be like, wow.
And learning, you just learn.
I just want the best for myself.
I was watching some of these
players and I'm like, wow, you
just, just learn the new, the
different way that they're playing.
You know, they're younger,
their minds are different.
They're their styles, different grading.
And they move it the way they move.
Yeah.
So it's like, wow.
And you'll get to see the flow.
It's like, you know, they're flowing
through that and you'll get to see
them how they prepare before a match.
How do they warm up?
How do they stretch what they're drinking?
What, how they carry the bag, you know?
So you can, I'll take the opportunity
to, first of all, congratulate the
guys because they earned it, you
know, they earned to be in that spot.
They, they earn it through a tough
season, which is the USPA, a brutal
calendar because you have to go all
over the States, self funding these.
No one is sponsoring them as of now.
Only maybe Niku has a sponsor, but
the rest, they're doing it by itself.
And they fight to be on the
top of that ranking and to
be, to be There is a reward.
They also got the way in by beating
a Canada over there in Mexico.
And I want to shout out to Radu and
Jose de Armas who are not coming, but
we're part of that team and, and we're
amazing teammates and, and, and guys,
you know, committed to the USA and.
And supporting us in
every step of the way.
And Jose D'Armas, I heard that
he jumped on the, on the train.
Uh, it was already leaving
and he was a last minute call.
That was a tough situation
that you have to deal with.
You know, as a coach, there are
situations that come and arise and
you have to just find a solution.
One of my players that was elected,
uh, in that case was Mateo Colts, uh,
uh, who is a guy that's been preparing
hard to be a paddle professional
player and that I respect a lot too.
Had to pull out one literally a
couple hours before we, we, yeah.
So I, I, Jose has been informed
beforehand that he was one of the possible
candidates to be a replacement, a sub.
You even had to send a list
of three possible subs.
Thankfully I had, including him, him,
there because, uh, As soon as I called
him, he bought a ticket and he was there,
you know, so that shows the commitment
of him to be a part of the national team.
And obviously the excitement
he had to be, to be there.
And he got to play against
Mexico in a great match.
And, uh, and then that experience
will remain forever, you know?
So big question.
Are you going to the US Open?
I am going, I'm not going to go play.
I'm going to go watch, but, uh, I'll
be there with the, with the guys.
Uh, in two, in, in a couple of
weeks, you know, we can say,
yeah, we might go to, part two.
We'll do it there.
A short, short interview
to see what we're seeing.
So Luis, tell us about your paddle vision.
Where do you see yourself five
years from now, 10 years from now?
Not only just promoting this,
but financially being able to
support yourself with paddle.
Do you see that?
And what are your goals there when it
comes Look right now as a, as a, as
me personally, you know, I see myself.
Mixing what I have done my entire
life, which is, which is sports
at a high capacity, you know,
and the past four years I have
been involved with real estate.
So my idea is to combine those two
passions and hopefully open a few
clubs or join a group of people that,
that are, that are opening up clubs.
And so your goal is to open up a club.
I would, I would dream right now after
five, six, seven years with paddle, you
know, you, you, you fell in love with
it, you know, so That would be the ideal,
uh, way of doing things I want to do as
an operator or, uh, just, well, I think
when you're doing an entrepreneurship and
especially in a, in a raw market, like
paddle list, because right now, Mark, uh,
paddle list as Ross, he gets, you know, so
you have to be on a kind of an operator.
Me being a national coach obviously
helps, you know, to run things
a little smoother, I think.
And, uh, but I'm not close
to anything right now.
You know, I'm, I'm.
Seeing opportunities that what I think
is that you have to do it, right?
You know if you're gonna put your
name and everything out there Oh, so
yeah, so would that be locally here?
Would that be anywhere in the world or no?
No, obviously right now I'm super
compromised with the usa, you know, I have
a a Small investment in a, in a club that
we opened with the family in Venezuela.
Uh, but because my parents are living
there and my uncles live there and we had
a piece of land, so we basically used it.
Uh, and that, that was a great experience
because it's a learning experience
on how the process works, how do
you, the logistics works and, and.
It's something that I think the U
S is going to be the big market.
And we have, if we do it right, the
promoters, because we are all promoters
here, you know, if we do it right and
get to the right amount of people, it's
going to be a big market for all of them.
I see a pedal moving from Miami up,
up more, more North, you know, and
I'm seeing other coaches or friends
of mine or people I play with.
Moving up to those areas as well, you
know, and I see that's kind of the
trend and I think it's going to continue
Happening like that because those people
they're in the north need coaches.
It's need the person has experience, you
know, and uh, And so that's what i've
been saying i've gotten i have gotten
calls from different clubs here and there
that are opening and you know I'm super
happy when I see that a club is opening,
it's like, you know, this is real.
This is going to continue to be real.
Someone is putting up the money in
Kansas, in Virginia, in Arizona.
I read they're, they're opening up a
few clubs in California, what they're
doing with Tattica here, Ultra, Reserve.
You know, it's, you know, We're all
adding towards something, you know,
and we need to do it right though.
We need to interconnect a little better.
We need to have a better ecosystem.
And imagine if right now we're
starting, we already have, you know, a
little conflict here and there, we're
just starting where we should, we
should right now be all friends, you
know, because we need to be friends.
Yeah, we, that's a very,
but it's a tough one here.
I mean, it's very competitive.
How, but you here in Miami you
have at least 25 clubs or, or now.
Now you see how the com So so
what do you think about that?
I mean, when we first started a paddle
smash, I think there was, I don't know,
one, two, no, maybe three or four.
The most right.
, well, pedal Love, R and Winwood.
Yeah, pretty much.
Yeah.
And then, you know, now
it's like, it's growing.
I mean, there's a dozen
clubs or even more.
Um, what do you think?
Do you think it's, you know,
oversaturated right now?
Is there more clubs than players
or is it about the same right now?
I think clubs are getting to see here
in Miami firsthand that if you don't
offer something different than the
rest, yeah, they won't come to you.
You know, if your coach, the
courts are not good, if, if, if
you don't have coaching, if you
don't have the right atmosphere,
they're not going to come to you.
Obviously you got to see
where you're located.
If you're in magic city, you're not
going to offer the same that if you're
in Key Biscayne, or maybe you do, but
in a different way, you know, to, to
adapt, but that's, what's going to
happen, you know, at the end of the day.
And in New York, it's going to happen too.
As soon as they open six or seven,
you'll see that it will happen.
And in the entire, uh, USA, it's
going to, yeah, I mean, the first
club, oh, is always difficult,
you know, they're paving the way.
And as soon as investors
see, Oh, it's working.
What we need to understand is that.
By interconnecting the clubs,
it's what you're going to get,
you know, a bigger community and
a community that stays longer.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I live it every day.
I think what's going to happen the
next couple of years, it's going to
be, uh, uh, the ones they're going
to be a lot of clubs, you know, in
two, three years going downhill.
I mean, they're going to be belly
up happens in other countries.
Yeah.
It's, it's on the ones that are going
to survive are the ones who has the best
programming, the best coaches and the,
the, the, the ones that know how to do it.
Because I see so many
clubs opening right now.
Actually.
Yes.
They were telling me.
They're opening three right
here in Wynwood, three
more, three more in Wynwood.
And they've been saying that about
me, is that actually happening?
So, so what I'm saying, it's, you
know, you have five, six clubs
now within walking distance.
And let me tell you something,
Wynwood rent is not, it's not cheap.
So, so at the end of the day, when
you start, yeah, it's, it's, when you
start doing the numbers, uh, the ones
that, Has the best programming and
management are going to be the ones.
And I'll tell you something that's
extremely important that we attack.
Paddle is a sport, a niche sport that
came from Argentina and Spain, mostly
Hispanic and Latin, Latin people.
If we don't get into the American culture
and teach him how to play paddle in an
American way and not in an Argentinian
and Spanish way, which is hard to do
because you cannot like forget what paddle
brings, because But if you don't get to
the culture, you will never get there.
What they are feeling with Pickleball
is real and Pickleball has to be our
number one ally right now and understand
their case studies, what they did,
how they did it, you know, and, and
learn from them because they're,
they're putting out their big numbers.
I think that Pickleball
is more approachable.
You know, when it comes to paddle, uh,
there's a lot of Spanish names, a lot of
Spanish people, that's what I'm saying.
You cannot intimidating a
little bit in my opinion.
And this is only me.
You cannot be always forever teaching,
but they have, and they have, and they
have, they have, because there's people
that don't feel control, you know, by
saying that, or Rulo, imagine rude.
You have to say root for an American.
It's almost impossible.
So we need to find ways to not feel like.
For the paddle, you know, uh, OGs
that we're overstepping into them
because we're not, we're trying
actually to increase, you know,
the amount of people that are here.
For the benefit of them and for the
benefit of us and for the longevity
of the sport, you know So we need to
find a way to mix it up, you know, you
know, it's a tough things I said this
before, you know, just like in uh, you
know international football and american
football, you know International football
is european south american mostly and
you know, the americans have the american
football, you know So we in america
right now have the pickle You know and
then now that europeans and southern
we're gonna kind of have the paddle
How do we get the Americans to adapt to
battle, you know, and so you, you said
it there, you have two great products
because MLS has shown to be an amazing
product, you know, that's a long time.
It takes time if you organize your
field before, but how you did it,
you bring in the world cup in 94.
And that's when they bring
it an international coach.
Not before you had to have
people playing a lot, that sport.
And then you bring an international
coach that professionalized everything.
Who was, I forgot the name.
I think what helped was the internet
and also the video games, the kids.
I used to, you know, never be able
to watch some of the games when
I was younger, we have to go to
somebody's house at a huge antenna
and be able to see some of the games.
Right.
And then afterwards online,
we're able to get access to it.
And then.
No kids ever wore anybody's shirt.
Maybe they wore a USA shirt.
I don't know, a national team
shirt, you know, because their
dad's from Spain or whatever.
Now, I was, I was watching in
the nineties, you know, in two
thousands, I'll say people would
actually names of shirts of players.
How do they know that?
But how like video
games, I saw video games.
How did the infrastructure change
from 92 to 2000 in terms of soccer
fields availability in the nation?
It changed completely.
And right now you see soccer
everywhere, you know, so it's part
of, of, of, of a building process.
It cannot be easy.
It takes a lot of money,
you know, and it takes time.
And people that actually.
Think that the, the dream, because at
the end we're selling not a dream, but
kind of, because you don't have extremely
that accurate data to support what you're
selling, but that people to believe
what, that this is real, you know, if
we're going to the Olympics, if it's
not in 32, it's going to be in 36, you
know, so it's, that's going to happen.
And that's an incentive.
Yeah, but honestly, I mean,
the Olympics, it will help.
But it, look, if you think
it doesn't change much.
Tennis became an Olympic sport
in the, it doesn't change much.
The, in the early eighties, in
the, I think it was 86, it wasn't
really a, an Olympic sport.
It, it's a validation sport.
It's a validation.
It's a validation as a sport that
helps exposure, but that helps find
more support from the city within.
Yeah.
Okay.
So grants, uh, from the national
committee, uh, to, to, to actually help
massify the sport a little more, but
from here to there, we need to have
at least 3000, 3000 clubs open in the
United States, you know, as soon as
people, because when, you know, I, I
watch Olympics and I can always go and
watch some of the unique stuff, like, you
know, and so people do that if they see
Pat Paddler, They're going to do that.
I'm like, what the hell is that?
And we need to, and we need to leverage.
Look, I've been in houses and, and,
and private homes of millionaires and
billionaires in the this past year.
You come over all the time.
Exactly.
But you haven't, you haven't well seen it.
And these people, I mean, I've
been in one of the, you know,
billionaire home in, in Palm Beach.
I won't say the name, but it's
one of the most influential
Wealthiest persons in the planet.
Uh, they invite me there
to go and teach a lesson.
And I ended up going to that
house, which was incredible.
I mean, it was tremendous.
It was huge.
It was a palace in front
of the Atlantic Ocean Bay.
I mean, it was, it was incredible.
He didn't have a tennis court.
He didn't have a pickleball court.
He had a paddle court.
Beautiful.
Right?
And now when you see these people
bringing That's what I'm talking about.
Paddle course into their homes.
Same thing happened in tennis in
the early seventies and eighties.
Yeah.
But golf, you need a golf course.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it built around the real estate.
But in the seventies and eighties,
all the millions and billionaires,
they put tennis courts in their home.
Exactly.
Now they're putting paddle courts.
And I tell you, this, this person
told me I fell in love with the sport.
I put.
Paddle courts in my homes in Saint Tropez,
in the UK, in the Hamptons, in New York
City, in Colorado, and in the West Coast.
She put paddle courts
all over their homes.
So when you see that trend,
uh, you know where it's going.
Yeah.
I've been in San Francisco, in Napa
Valley, in the middle of a vineyard.
They took me to this place
where I was in heaven.
A huge vineyard, which
is the paddle court.
And, and, and you see this, and
you know where the sport's going.
Now when the wealthy and the
billionaires and millionaires are
playing with this sport, it's going
to trickle down much, much faster
than it's going from the way up.
Yeah, that's what we're,
that's what we're hoping.
Yeah.
Because right now it's
just operators, you know?
Yeah, but it's, the more courts that we
have, The cheaper it's going to be, the
easier it's going to be to access when
you have now the country clubs on the,
you know, on, on, on the, look, if, if you
see what happens in Spain, why is Spain
became such a mega force in, in the paddle
world in the 1890s, they had a huge, uh,
real stable in, in, in, in, in Spain, the
president of Spain was crazy about paddle.
He put all the developers, not
to put tennis courts in the new
developments, but to put paddle courts.
So he got it involved in the real estate.
Every community had a paddle court.
Gotcha.
And that's how it became
what it is right now.
And you see that the coaches
that are around those communities
that want to make, you know, some
cash and they learn how to teach.
Exactly.
Paddle NBA has, has done a
good job in, in, in, in getting
more and more and more coaches.
And there, there are many more
outlets, but I totally agree.
You know, infrastructure is what's
going to get us to the next level.
And the right infrastructure is, it's,
what's going to get us to the actually,
actually higher and massifying level.
Yeah.
You need to have good operators and people
that have experience in sports and in
different sports that can bring in the
best The wrong that was done in those
sports and, and, and, you know, filter it.
Yeah.
It's a good balance of business,
you know, knowing the sport
and being passionate about it.
I mean, you have to be well around it.
I mean, we see, I mean, we see
a tons of clubs and, you know,
and we see little errors here.
We see, okay.
You know, they're really thoughts about
this and we know, okay, we've seen that.
I'm not gonna work, you know,
but You don't say anything.
You're kind, you know, but they
learn they have to learn, you know
And then there'll be other clubs
that fail other clubs that i'm see.
Wow, they get it They get it.
I, this is gonna work.
You, you're selling an experience,
you're selling someone a hundred
percent, you're not selling a
gym, you know, or a Starbucks.
So it's important that clubs
understand that you're not selling
just numbers and an Excel sheet that
you thought it was gonna happen.
You're selling much more than that.
You know, you want have people that stick
to you and stick to a club, an experience,
a lifestyle, you know, creating habits.
Yeah.
Right.
You know, uh, other forms of, of, of
verticals, you know, it, all those
things are just really important,
especially at the beginning.
Yeah, no, but how do you, how
do you get people in the door?
Yeah, you know, budget for marketing more.
I mean, there's just so many things
that need to be done in the business
part at the beginning when nobody knows.
But I mean, you could put
one here and you'll be fine
because everybody knows battle.
Yeah.
But in areas that it's not too popular.
How are they going to know what it is?
You need to put it next to
a tennis, pickle, et cetera.
So people come for pickles, see puddles,
stick to puddle, you know, it's and
it's, you need to, you need to bottle
the whole thing is when you, when you
walk into a court, that feeling that
you get like, Oh man, this is going
to be best hour and a half of my day.
That needs to be bottled up.
And that needs to be thrown out to every
single person within, let's say a 20,
30 mile radius, hopefully every day.
And then that's how it'll work.
For all those listeners and viewers,
just say it with me, say it with us.
Paddle is a beautiful sport.
That's right.
If we want to help the national
team, what, I mean, is the
USPA doing something about it?
Well, well, right now, and that's a
great question, because right now,
players in the national team, in the
absolute team, which are, you know, the
ones that, you know, represent us at
the elite level are self funding some
parts of the, of the, their travels
and their trips and their training.
So any support it's going to
be, uh, hope super appreciated.
And, uh, if you want to support,
there is a link in the USPA website
where you can donate, and that's going
straight to the national teams in
terms of a budget that they use yearly.
And, uh, That's one of
the best ways to do it.
And then in a few days, we're going
to put up a GoFundMe, especially for
this trip, uh, of Qatar, uh, that
that's going to be promoted everywhere.
You probably are going
to see it somewhere.
If you like paddle, we're going
to put the link right below it.
So please, if you want to help the
national team and you want to help
out on the United States, please link
below and you will have, we need it.
You know, the, the USPA is based on
volunteers, people that are putting
this, like me, uh, Out of pure heart
and trying to get something better, you
know what we have usp is what we have
It's what we have and we gotta we gotta
make it better We gotta make it better
because I think right now we have a lot
of good people around the usb And a lot
of people that want to participate, you
know It's obviously easy to complain
and to say oh I can be better come and
work with us and try to get it better
You know, all right, at least first.
Thanks for coming on pal smash
academy I want to wish you all the
luck and catch us in the next review.
We are all things paddle