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Hello everyone.
Welcome to another exciting
episode of Padel Smash Academy.
We're here at Ultra Club
and at the PPL event.
And today with us, we have Louis Harris.
Good extension.
See what Harris does here.
That was brilliant.
Executed to perfection.
Well, welcome to the channel.
Tell us a little bit,
uh, where you're from.
Um, you know, how long you've been
playing Padel and all those things.
Yeah, sure.
So I'm originally from Wales, Cardiff.
Um, lived there until I was about 11,
12 years old, then moved to Spain.
That's where I found Padel.
Um, a little bit later on in Marbella,
lived in front of a Padel club.
Obviously didn't know what it was.
Uh, my father started to play, used to
watch, eventually had a little go and
kind of fell in love with it from there.
And Slowly played a little bit more.
Yeah.
So now is that the first record
sport you played or did you
play something else prior?
I played a little bit
of tennis very young.
Nothing crazy.
Not a great level or anything Um, just
a little bit when I was younger, but
my main sport has always been rugby.
Um, so being from wales
That's our main sport.
Um, so that was my favorite and I
played that until I was about 15
years old Um, and then that's when
I stopped and kind of focused more
on on Padels at what point did you?
Hey, I want to do this professionally.
Well, I only turned pro
the beginning of last year.
So start of 2023.
Um, I was going to play him for a while
before that, but still doing rugby.
I was working.
Um, personal trainers
was in the gym a lot.
Um, and it was only, let's say 2022 where
I started to take it a bit more serious.
I went to Madrid for a couple of
months just to get some training,
um, played a, an odd professional
tournament, like a fifth.
Got a bit of a taste for it.
And then that's where things
started growing in the U.
K.
And it kind of become more of a
reality and a possibility to turn pro.
Um, until then it was more a hobby.
And then yeah, I just thought,
you know what, I'm still young.
I'm only 21.
So, so let's go for it.
And, um, yeah, I decided to turn
pro at the start of last year.
How did the PPO happen?
Who contacted you?
How did that happen?
Well, I applied for the first
year that it happened as well.
Okay.
Um, you know, as soon as it
happened, it looked great.
Like a really cool event,
something I want to be part of.
So I applied for the first year,
didn't get picked the first year.
So for the second year, I
was like, well, try again.
Let's see what happens.
Um, obviously I knew it was going to
be a bit bigger, so it was probably
a little bit harder to get in.
So expectations were too high.
But, um, once I got picked by
Stingers, I was super excited.
Well, you go, baby.
How does it play?
How does it feel?
You know, playing with the
Lampartis and the super
superstars of Padel in that team?
It's crazy.
It's surreal.
I mean, look, I'm sweating because
we just finished training now.
Um, so just playing a few sets
against them, you know, him and Maxi.
Obviously, they're two
legends of the sport.
So for me, it's, um, it's
an honor to train with them
and be part and just learn.
Just being around them in tournaments,
watching them play, what they do
before the matches, how they talk.
Yeah, it's just an honor to the team.
So have you been here in the U.
S.
before?
Especially Miami?
It's my first time for both.
Yeah, never been to the
States, never been to Miami.
So what do you think?
You see tons of things on
TV and stuff like that.
What do you think you know what?
It's just like the movies, to be honest.
It's exactly like the movies.
I feel like you watch films and
you're like, Oh, yeah, it's cool.
But it's literally exactly
what it looks like.
So what do you think about the PPL,
the format, and obviously the level?
I mean, the level's
incredibly high this year.
You know, like I said, I was watching
a little bit of the first year.
It was good level.
But I think this is just.
Crazy and you know how many
top top players there are in
each team is unbelievable.
Let me ask one thing, what do
you think about Ultra Club?
Massive to start, it's massive but um,
really nice club, really really nice.
Have you gone to any
other clubs here in Miami?
Because there's a lot of clubs.
A couple, we went to Wynwood.
Wynwood, okay.
Which I heard was like one
of the first clubs in Miami.
That was nice, um, that was pretty cool.
I think that was it.
We've driven past a few clubs
in the area where the hotel is.
There's a few, I think
Padel X is the new one.
We just haven't been in
there, but went there.
We had a quick look at Reserve Padel.
We went there the other day.
Um, we couldn't play.
It rained.
That was the day that it
rained the night before.
Which one?
The one on Watson Island or the
one in the Zion District, you know?
Oh, I'm not too sure.
I wouldn't be able to tell you.
Did you have to cross that bridge?
It was right by the water.
Right by the water.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So tell us, who's in the stingray?
So for our viewers and listeners to know.
Yeah.
So is myself.
We got Miguel just walked in.
You got Maxi.
You got Jacobo Blanco and then the girls.
You got Lucia, Marta, Britt.
Um, we've also got a couple
of players that aren't here.
I think Matty.
Um, so yeah, we got a good team.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
And so where do you train in Madrid?
So you said you're Marbella.
Yeah, but you train there.
You're part of a club there.
Currently I'm in Alicante.
So I've always lived in Marbella.
But since last June, I moved to Alicante.
That's essentially like the UK base
for international training, let's say.
So the UK players.
But yeah, so living there and
training in the Jardim Mignac.
It seems a lot of players, they
train and they live in Alicante.
Why is Alicante such a big Padel place?
Um, for me personally, I
think the lifestyle is lovely.
It's just really easy.
It's not too big.
So clubs are closed.
You've got everything around you.
You know, you're near the beach.
Just good weather as well.
Doesn't rain much.
It's warm pretty much throughout the year.
I think in terms of lifestyle,
it makes everything so easy.
And there's just so many
players that are from there.
And do you have a coach?
Yeah, Jordi Munoz.
Okay.
Yes, we train at his academy.
Oh, beautiful.
So what's next after the PPL for you?
Well, after these two weeks, I'll be
straight back there to, um, to training.
Um, and then I've got a few tournaments.
I've got like a UK tournament upcoming.
And then it'll be a big
focus on, on flip events.
So how is the level in UK?
It's growing.
It's growing.
Um, it's pretty decent.
A lot of the players are, you
know, they're still kind of tennis
players or ex tennis players.
Um, and a lot of us live abroad.
So a lot of the national team players
live abroad right now or used to.
Um, but now they're slowly starting to get
more players that, you know, completely
British or that haven't played tennis.
It's just purely growing.
So, um, yeah, it's getting there.
So it's a growing there and great
brand absolutely over the last
kind of two three years, especially
this year last year It's growing
massively, you know, it's like doubled.
Yeah, you know how many clubs
they have in what what area is it?
Really growing the most in London is
where it's mostly concentrated That's
where the kind of hub for Padel is but
it's slowly kind of going up for the
north for the South and different places
But yeah, I'm not sure how many clubs
exactly but I do know I think we're
around some like 400 courts or plus
Doubled within like Within two years.
That's great.
So, and how about in Wales?
In Wales, it's a little bit slower.
I think we have two clubs at the
moment, um, that I'm aware of.
We just opened a new one in
Swansea, um, which is great.
And I think we've got one more, uh,
elsewhere, but yeah, I need to try
and get a few more courts, a few more
clubs so I can, um, you know, hopefully
get a tournament sorted out there.
So from your playing point of view, so
what would you say is your trademark shot?
Definitely the smash, I think.
The smash?
Yeah, definitely the smash.
Yeah, definitely the smash.
I can see coming from
rugby and your strength.
Yeah, power.
That's the power.
There's probably not much else, but
we got, we got some power, yeah.
What would you say is your
weakest that you need to work on?
Probably anything kind of lower, let's
say any like low balls, things like that.
The opposite.
Chiquitas and stuff like that.
And defense.
Exactly, yeah.
I think that's the weakest.
the most common weakness of anyone's
strength is power at the net,
then you usually tend to suffer
a little bit more at the back.
So who's, who's your favorite player?
Who do you, who do you watch
and say, Oh, and then got you
motivated, inspired to play Padel?
It is tough.
There's so many good players.
I think it's hard to say when
obviously everyone's got kind
of their own style, right?
The different styles.
The first one, the first one.
Yeah.
There's always one, the first one.
Yeah.
But do you know what, if I'm honest,
I Not just the basic answer because
he's known as the best, but I think
Bella, the thing I like the most is
I think he's been the most consistent
in terms of attitude, mentality.
He's not really up and down.
Um, I think yeah, he's kind of mindset
is probably what I like the most.
What are your targets for
2024 and, and, and beyond?
I mean, I tried to be a top 100 top 50.
What, what, what are your goals?
Yeah.
Well at the moment in terms of
where my ranking is, I'm not trying
to get that high within one year.
Um, you know, the levels highest.
Not that easy to get that
many points in a year.
Um, so my goal is to try and be
somewhere between, uh, within the
top 200 players for this year.
And then obviously the following
year then to increase, but I think
with how many players there are
in the levels increasing, um,
that's my goal for this year.
So what is it going to take for San
Diego to win next week's, uh, tournament?
We're going to do it.
We're just going to do it.
We're going to get it done.
Um, you know, we had some
tough matches this week.
Very close ones in super tie race tie
breaks, mainly the boys playing Maxi and
Miguel, um, you know, they're doing a
great effort, especially Maxi, you know,
with them being both backhand players,
he's been playing on the forehand,
so they've been doing really well to
compete against these guys, you know,
especially him on the opposite side.
Um, you know, like I said, they're
playing against some of the best
in the world, you know, Tapia, John
Sands, all these players, it's crazy.
So, you know, they're
competing against everybody.
We've had a few ones where
it just quite hasn't fallen.
for us.
Um, but you know, we're feeling good.
They've been playing well.
So I think, um, this week
we've got a great chance.
Tell us about, do you have any sponsors or
anyone that supports your Padel journey?
I do.
I'm fortunate to have a few sponsors.
Um, so in terms of material
rackets is with Knox, uh,
it's going to be a year soon.
So last April I started with
them, which is fantastic.
Um, really, really good stuff and, and
great support they've been giving me.
Um, we've also got Padel IQ,
which is a sponsor again, is
coming up to around a year.
Uh, a platform booking system.
Very, really good.
And, um, yeah, obviously the LTA, which
is the Federation, the UK Federation,
um, they've been helping us, you
know, in terms of sorting out the
trainings in, in Ali Cante and travel.
So, uh, yeah, no, they're doing well.
Doing trick question, what is
your, what Knox Padel do you use?
Uh, the 18 attack.
The attack 18 K.
Oh, that's good word.
What do you call Leo?
Right?
That's the Leos.
Augsburg, right?
Augsburg, right?
Or not?
I think, well, he was playing with that.
I think he now has his
own racket, actually.
Okay.
I'm not sure if that's come out yet.
I don't know whether you can get
it, but, um, he's got his own,
but he was using that one before.
That's beautiful.
How important are these,
uh, are these sponsors?
Do they really help
you out, uh, traveling?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Especially, I think, for
the up and coming players.
Um, you know, to be able to afford
the training and the travel and, you
know, just to be able to only focus
on training and giving your all.
Um, yeah.
I mean, yeah.
Well, Louis, thank you so much
for being part of the podcast.
And we wish you all the
luck in the world, man.
We are all things Padel.