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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.
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Together, these pillars connect content, community, education, and equipment to support the continued growth of padel.
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We lead we lead the market since '94 until today in terms of products because the best padel paddles in the in the world always were coming from our brand. And we lead innovation during all this time, the three let's say, thirty years. And we lead also the sales in the market. But since 2015, more or less, the last ten years, we suffered some instability, internal instability, let's
Speaker 2:say, we were in Spain. Hey, Padelists, we're here at RocketX and here now we're at the Varlion stand, one of the most iconic paddle brands going back twenty five years probably, or more than that. We have Felix, the founder, owner, visionary of Varlion. We love some of these rackets. Congratulations.
Speaker 2:Tell me or tell us your paddle journey. How did you come up with this crazy idea to get a paddle brand going?
Speaker 1:Well, was really was a coincidence because when I started in '93, we I was planning to make an sport brand.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:And we decided to start and use Padel Sport in Argentina to go inside of the general sport market.
Speaker 2:9093 was the golden years.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Exactly. This is originally from
Speaker 1:it's originally from Argentina. Right? The brand? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:The brand was founded in '93 in Argentina. And then we discovered and I found out that we have talent, you know, then ideas to improve the products, to design new products. And also, I am really I like a lot the industrial process and the product in general. So we start to produce with our own factory. We start to design new models, very, very big innovation since '94.
Speaker 1:And then everything goes fast, and we became the leader brand in this market since twenty, twenty five years, more or less. Mhmm. So we continue. We are thirty two years in this market. And the last year, we create a new project to relaunch the brand again and recuperate our position as the leadership in the in the in in Padel.
Speaker 3:But let's go back. You said reposition. So what happened? Meaning you had a stronghold on on on the paddle market, and then
Speaker 1:how how did it go
Speaker 3:the wrong way? How did you lose it?
Speaker 1:Well, we lead we lead the market since '94 until today in terms of products because the best paddle paddle in the in the world always were coming from our brand. And we lead innovation during all this time, the three, let's say, thirty years. And we lead also the sales in the market. But since 02/2015, more or less, the last ten years, we suffered some instability. Internally, it's instability, let's say, we were in Spain.
Speaker 3:What was the cause of that, you you believe? Well,
Speaker 1:sometimes it's very difficult to explain because during twenty years, you're going very fast growing permanently. And when we were trying to expand the the the brand internationally because Padel was only Spain, basically, in terms of business, We were opening franchise shops more than 17 in Spain. We were going to also lifestyle wear and and footwear with motorsport, padel, and polo inspiration. We were growing a lot, but suddenly, we don't know what happened. You know?
Speaker 3:You think you spread out too thin, like, got into different areas that is just like you know?
Speaker 1:No. I think we need to go more to superstitious things and maybe bad energies or something like this because economically speaking, we couldn't find any explanation about it. So this creates some instability more or less in 15 to 16.
Speaker 3:So how did you how did you restructure? What
Speaker 1:did do? We moved we made some changes. We moved the factory from Spain after ten years where we were producing the high end paddles. We were having another factory also in Argentina, then in Morocco for the middle high middle middle lower range. And then after 1617, we moved the factory to South America because by basically Mercosur countries, Spain and Sweden were the only markets you were having.
Speaker 1:So by producing in Mercosur, you have some competitive advantage in terms of tariffs, let's say. And then arrive COVID, we need to reinvent everything, put a new factory for high end in Spain, a Dutch company in Netherlands to make the importation and distribution in Europe. We restart to have the distributors during COVID and the post COVID. And after that, I suffered an scam. I was an scam.
Speaker 1:You know a scam? A fraud?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Fraud. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 1:Explain that. Fraud.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Explain that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. No. This is it's very sad, first of all, because it's not nice that, you know, some ex employee or some ex, because they're not more familiar, make or betray to you. I don't know for what
Speaker 3:talking about theft of, like, trade secrets?
Speaker 1:They took us the factory, and they I was living in Switzerland, and we were having the factory in Spain. Yep. And with the participation of core public employee from the tax authority, the justice administration Oh, very good. Criminal. 15 persons must go to the jail more or less.
Speaker 1:Wow. So we have this in the justice.
Speaker 3:Did that happen? How did you how did was about to have told you.
Speaker 1:Told you. When when when the the wife is not there,
Speaker 3:you know, the
Speaker 1:the distress? Yeah.
Speaker 3:And it was You learned a big lesson there.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah. You see? And and and I was in Switzerland. Also, I was in Netherlands in the other company's administrator, but I wasn't in Madrid. I was coming once per month, more or less.
Speaker 1:It happens. The this was an agreement. I was divorced. And
Speaker 3:Oh, wow. That was a bad
Speaker 1:year for you, my friend.
Speaker 3:It was a bad year.
Speaker 1:No. No. No. This was the problem. Try to be generous.
Speaker 3:Good one if you think about it.
Speaker 2:You know,
Speaker 3:you gotta drain the swamp as, you know, our president said.
Speaker 1:Divorced, but I tried to maintain my ex wife working with me. You know? Oh. And this was too much optimist. Too much optimist.
Speaker 1:Yes. So so the point is, basically, I restart again from zero one year ago, and I changed the project the project to create what is behind the wall, what is the legacy we call. And it's basically redesign everything, launch a new collection like we did. We started in '25. Now we're starting to organize the distribution worldwide.
Speaker 1:And, basically, we came here because we launched pickleball, the first
Speaker 3:I saw it.
Speaker 1:Pickleball collection with a huge innovation. And this year, we we launched also the brand in beach tennis, next year in tennis, and then two years later in badminton squash and ping pong because the new objective is basically transfer all the knowledge, all the innovation, and make the same we did in Padel during thirty years also in pickleball, tennis, squash, etcetera. Most of the paddle and racket sports. Right. This is the legacy, personal legacy, and this is the business plan for the future.
Speaker 1:So we are in next rackets to introduce.
Speaker 3:So so now we we have an e commerce and we sell
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah?
Speaker 3:Yes. We have an account there. Do Your name is? Padel Smash. Oh.
Speaker 3:We believe that it's a good quality racket for the price. It's priced very well, you know? And I think it what is the, what is the kind of like
Speaker 2:Strategy.
Speaker 3:Strategy here in The USA to get people to purchase that that racket versus, you know, when they go somewhere here in The USA, you got the brands that are rooted here in The USA, you know, Wilson Head and like
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:How do you get them to choose this brand on the wall?
Speaker 2:What is your strategy moving forward?
Speaker 1:Well, after thirty two years, if I know is of of post sale my brand, honestly, I don't I I I didn't make too much complex things, you know, because we had always the best product in the market. And basically, the strategy was that the people and the players and the coaches play, try, test their products. And immediately, you have a loyalty consumer or loyal consumer for four years. They are fine. The point here is that I will move to United States during the next month.
Speaker 1:I am creating we have in the new pro in the new company in Switzerland, we have another company in Netherlands to manage the distribution in Europe through distributors and through b two b clients. Then we have here, we are making value in USA, and I will manage directly this because my perception is that USA market, Padel market, is more or less in the same situation than Spain in '99.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. You're right. You're absolutely right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and I want to be in front personally to explain to the shops, to the clubs, to the players, to the coaches, even the consumers in public places like this one. What is Varlion? Yesterday, I made a speech here to make the presentation. I will present to you this presentation. You will see a little more our our host history about the legacy project and about the new collection in Padel and Pickleball that we are launching now.
Speaker 1:So, really, I will manage this directly. I will build an American team to manage the marketing, to manage the sales, to manage the social media, to make good deals with key accounts that they can help us to really get get a good position in the market. But I think the best way is, you know, like, today came a pro pickleball girl from New York, and she was looking the the paddles from for for padel. And I asked to her, what do you want? No.
Speaker 1:I want to test these rackets in paddle because I am pro pickleball player, and I would like to start also in paddle. And suddenly, she take a look. She took a look to the pickleball paddles, and she said, wow. What is this? Yes.
Speaker 1:Because they're very different. Like when we start to design and produce ourselves the paddles blades in '94. Was a big crash, was a big reaction from the people because our paddles were very different. And then
Speaker 3:Did you show her the Orchid paddle?
Speaker 1:Wrote showed to her the pickleball paddle and she said, oh my god. And and so she became to the brand. She will start with us in padel. She create a lot of content, really interesting person, a lot of energy. Yeah.
Speaker 1:This is what we need. You know? A lot of energy, a lot of force aimed to earn and to win both. Earn money selling Varlion, win in the court using Varlion. And she came.
Speaker 1:She will start with Padel, and she will finish with another brand in June, and she will continue with Pickleball. And this is the way. The way is the people who knows, test what we are designing because in Pickleball, you see the frames with the aerodynamic. The the the the the product is totally only one, not two parts as most of paddle have. Then you have a frame by extrusion, and then you have a code.
Speaker 1:If you see our patterns, we don't use frames with this by extrusion. Oh. We use even for cheap brackets, the first price, an injected frame, patterns of $40.50 dollars with totally different with GPU materials, very rigid, brand new. And also the core, we use also AVA, not only Honeycomb in first price. In the top, well, we are launching 20 millimeters of thickness.
Speaker 1:You know about it. Yeah. And the the most thicker paddle have 16. Well, we have 20 millimeters. We don't we don't use over frame.
Speaker 1:It's totally flat, the bracket, with Prisma frame, aerodynamic, with the to control the the iron painted. The design, the the decoration of the puddles are totally different.
Speaker 2:So so why don't we talk, Felix, about the new models that you have for 2026?
Speaker 1:I must tell you something. You know? Okay. Sorry because it's the Yeah.
Speaker 2:The camera is there.
Speaker 1:We have 20%, 15% of the products we brought because UPS didn't deliver it to us, the 80%. So, unfortunately, some things I can't show you.
Speaker 2:That's fine.
Speaker 1:But I can show you something. For example, if we start from here.
Speaker 3:So I gotta say, love the prism finish here. Yeah. Yeah. I love this finish here. The prism finish.
Speaker 3:It's very unique because I don't see any other
Speaker 2:So which model is this?
Speaker 1:We designed it in 2009.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:The hexagon frame.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:When we patent, you have ten years of exclusivity. After ten years, most of the brands start to come. Yes. Like
Speaker 3:join us
Speaker 1:over at of times. And we designed it prisma shape, what basically creates more mobility of the racket in your hand because reduce the air resistance 10%. This is not a smoke. You know? This is tested in a solid works system with a model AirFly AirFloat is the name, where you check perfectly the percentage of the improvement you have.
Speaker 1:But then
Speaker 2:So this is the rig maxima riga?
Speaker 1:This is maxima riga. And maxima because the shape
Speaker 3:So, yeah, let's let's talk about that because I I can get confused. There's maxima. There's prism. There's maxima there. I mean, there's, like, so
Speaker 1:many tool. Yeah.
Speaker 3:In terms
Speaker 1:of shape or You have you have. Yes. Rega. What is rega? It's let's say, to give a popular answer, the AMG of Mercedes Benz.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Okay? The luxury high performance exactly. High performance and luxury concept of the brand. Okay. And why?
Speaker 1:Well, is what you say. You have an elbow curve from the beginning of the handle all around. So when the vibration comes from the cold to the
Speaker 3:yeah. Okay.
Speaker 1:Come to the frame, you absorb with this. You have a diffuser that is Diffuser. Yes. Tubeless. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Diffuser is not glue. It's not with glue. It's fixed in three points, and you can take off and you can put it. Oh, really? Yeah.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Then you have a bumper design especially for this model. Then you have the slice.
Speaker 3:So what is the max maximum No.
Speaker 1:Maxima. Of the Maxima is the shape.
Speaker 3:Okay. Okay.
Speaker 2:Which is
Speaker 1:the What is my drop? It's a frame. What is a teardrop? True. Okay.
Speaker 1:Our maxima is a teardrop. Our bone is like the diamond, what people say. And LW, lethal weapon, is our rounded.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:It's a shape we designed it in '94.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And then you also have the summer, winter.
Speaker 1:Yes. So then you have you see the LVA is red.
Speaker 3:Right on your side.
Speaker 1:Why? Because this is a summer version.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Why don't you explain that? Because we we we did a a product review of this one, and sometimes people get confused between summer and winter. What what is the difference on the racket?
Speaker 1:Yes. In the racket is that the winter have black AVA, and the summer rackets have red AVA, or in the new collection will have colors.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:Because if you have a boom that is blue with red AVA looks Okay.
Speaker 2:But so is there a different playability or why
Speaker 3:it's Yes.
Speaker 1:Yes. The hardness the hardness with summer version is higher. Let's say, it's more hard. Okay. More hard the surface.
Speaker 1:Okay. And for example, if you are in Miami and you are playing in the morning with a winter bracket, you are playing with 20 degree. Well, in the afternoon, if you have 30 degree, with this hotter weather, the temperature make that your winter racket became more softer. Okay. Then the performance changed completely, and you as a player need to change your style because then the racket with when it's softer, have a very fast exit in your smash, but you don't have control.
Speaker 3:Okay. But let me ask one thing.
Speaker 1:And and sorry. And to finish. So if you have a summer in your bag, you take the summer that is harder, but with the temperature became a little softer, but not so softer than the other one. And then you change the racket, but you are playing same in the morning style and same in the afternoon.
Speaker 2:So by your now you're making me buy two two two different rackets, summer and winter.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I need to buy two rackets
Speaker 3:Or or or decide to play in the morning or afternoon. If you are if you're sorry. Sorry. If you
Speaker 1:are playing in a level you play tournaments, let's say. Well, he doesn't play in that level. No. No. Okay.
Speaker 1:But if you have a level of four, for example
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Since four, three point five four Yeah. And you play tournaments, you can feel this perfect now. And my suggestion is if you have the coincidence to play tournaments with different temperature, you don't change your style, way to play feel like if you are playing with same temperature
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Change the racket. But it's this happens also in tennis. Yeah. You have strings with or rackets with more or less tension.
Speaker 3:Loser thigh.
Speaker 1:Yeah. The player you have in front, depending the surface, depending the weather, you are or your strategy, you are using with more or less tension. It's similar the concept, but in terms of industry, production totally
Speaker 3:different. So but let me
Speaker 2:ask you something. Now why don't we explain to our viewers and listeners why different the the the holes are in different shape, bigger, smaller? What what what does it do to the rocket?
Speaker 1:Okay. First of all, this is ergo holes. You see here? Yeah. Ergo holes.
Speaker 1:What mean ergo holes? Ergo because we take the edge of the racket, the the edge shape of the racket, and we are adding here the holes in the line that is parallel all around the contour. Okay. These these holes are in 15 millimeters of diameter. The the the regulation say maximum 13.
Speaker 1:But if you put the holes from this area, four centimeters inside, you can make bigger the holes. So that's the reason we use because this area of the of the of the racket is where you have more aerodynamic effect.
Speaker 3:Okay. Gotcha.
Speaker 1:So we make it bigger. Then we come over off after the four millimeters. Sorry. Four centimeters, and we put here this line in parallel to this, smaller, that have 13 millimeters. That is the maximum.
Speaker 2:Yeah. If you can see if you can see it there. So you have the line here and then smaller here and then even smaller there.
Speaker 1:And then 11 here. Why? Because and then nothing here. Nothing here. Why?
Speaker 1:Because if you put holes in the middle, you create turbulence. This is what the the software, you know, indicate to us. The better aerodynamic is here. Here, you create turbulence. No aerodynamic.
Speaker 1:So then we leave it plain. What is better? Why? Because if normally, the sweet spot is in this area. So this is like a bed.
Speaker 1:Here, you flex more. Here, less. Here, less. Here less. Okay.
Speaker 1:If you don't put holes here, you reduce the flexion. If you put holes here and bigger and bigger and bigger, you try to have more homogenic areas to shoot the ball. I don't know if you understand Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:To make more homogenic
Speaker 2:Yeah. A bigger sweet spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Bigger sweet spot. Exactly. Yeah. Or and and and this is basically the idea when we designed these ergo holes in our new collection.
Speaker 1:And I gotta also tell you that the the finish and the details is like no other. It's not Oh, my No. It's perfect.
Speaker 3:It's it's like Okay.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 3:I mean, I see a lot of rackets and they have sometimes they're a little, you know, imperfection, but every detail is perfect.
Speaker 1:It's incredible. We are here
Speaker 3:It's your code.
Speaker 1:Yeah. ID code. So why? Because this this, for example, is the ID code. This is the core.
Speaker 1:And why? Because you as a consumer, you buy one Varlion product, not only rackets. Even if balls of tube. Tube balls. Sorry.
Speaker 1:And and and then you have a in all the products, also in textiles. Uh-huh. You put your phone. You we open to you a file to claim for a defect of production of the product worldwide.
Speaker 3:That's
Speaker 1:right. Directly to the brand. This is an ID code because each racket have the identification to avoid falsifications, robbery, etcetera. So if you send me this and we detect that the rocket was not produced, delivered by us, we don't attend you. Gotcha.
Speaker 1:Okay?
Speaker 2:So how about this one, the Bourne salmon?
Speaker 1:Well, this is a brand new product of a middle range. But middle range with a hexagon frame that we created in 2009 have a prism. Integrated bumper and a bumper that is adhesive, so you don't need to drill the frame. And this also help to reduce vibrations with the diffuser to to to get more precision in your shoot. And this racket that most of people test here thought that we are using carbon fiber.
Speaker 1:No. We are simulating the carbon fiber here in the aesthetic. But, really, why? Because it's a middle middle range. Okay.
Speaker 1:So what is it? Fiberglass? It's fiberglass, but the quality is so good of the AVA and the mix of the fiberglass fabrics that when you play, the film when you feel the shoots are very firm and very pure. And then it's a racket that have a public price of around 180, 170. U US?
Speaker 1:US dollars? Yes. And what
Speaker 3:is what is the retail price
Speaker 1:of this? This is 430. Wow. Public price. Normally, you got from the clients and or our website, if you made the registration in the party member clubs, 10%.
Speaker 1:So could be 380. This racket come with a bumper designed for the racket, come with two over grips, and come in a box in the quality level of if you buy or order a MacBook Air, for example. Yeah. Yeah. But in black.
Speaker 1:So these all all things this is special. Yeah. Is really for persons that would like to buy and order the best product in the market. And this is, as I told you, basically, a a diamond, our burn. And always if you see brand, shape.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Okay? Summary said technical explanation. I explained to you now and the model, carbon t.
Speaker 3:Oh, I got
Speaker 1:Then you have a different slice. In this one, There is something very important in Rega, and it's this, the slice. Right. What do mean a slice? These lines and these lines.
Speaker 1:If you are left or you are right, it doesn't matter to play like this with the right, with the drive, or like this with the backhand because you play in paddle with a slice. Yeah. And this is over relief. If you touch here, the ball come inside and Drops. The yes.
Speaker 1:Exactly. The effect is amazing. Yeah. So then more difficult for your competitor Yeah. To up the ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And, also, this is something belong to Riga. And if you see here, we have a different technology that we denominate ergoslides. And what is ergoslides? Basically, the lines
Speaker 2:Same thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We we we use to make the holes, but over relief to make the same. To try to catch the ball. Yeah. You know? Again, Morbah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It because if you see, you have an over relief here that you will not find in any padel in the market.
Speaker 2:Wow. This is Unbelievable. I mean
Speaker 1:This is this is because we have our own factory. Somebody robbery my factory. You know? But they have my own again. And in the new one, with 10,000 square meters, is in China.
Speaker 1:We produce our all our paddle blades, pickleball blades, beach tennis, next year, tennis rackets, etcetera. The only brand in the world will have only one factory for everything. What allow to us to basically have enormous confidentiality to develop new products. No spice. Well, you will have always spice, but not so much like if you produce in different factories where they are producing to others.
Speaker 2:Felix, I mean, this is beautiful. We love the brand. We sell in our ecommerce at at Padel Smash shop. What is the best way for people to get their hands on the rackets? Where where is the website, the Instagram, and all those?
Speaker 1:Well, in USA, we will start to sell, as you say right now, to the clients basically, and the people could order through their websites or physical shops.
Speaker 2:Or What is your website?
Speaker 1:Our website, valium.com. Okay. And now you can order. For example, we will delivery in US dollar to your home, and we can deliver it from China until Varlion USA have their own warehouse here to supply to the shops, to the webs, to the clubs, and our own sales to b to c.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. Well, if you're looking for a classic padel brand, Varlion is here to stay. Please check it out on their website. And if you're a club owner, same thing. Great bracket to have at your shops.
Speaker 2:Stay tuned for more.