10(ish) Questions With…
Elmo Coleman

Tell us about your introduction to padel, when and where did you first play? I first started playing in Italy. Easter, 2021: some of my friends were hosting a barbecue and they were discussing that they needed a player for this new sport called padel. They knew I had racquet sport background and asked if I could play. The day after the barbecue I played my first ever padel match!

What’s your favorite court you’ve ever played on? My favorite padel courts are in Vicenza of course - my hometown. Golden Padel! Unlimited ceiling height and indoor… can’t beat it.

What’s your usual padel outfit? Head-to-toe, walk us through it. Well, my absolute favourite is my JOMA Italy national padel team outfit, but I’m usually wearing head to toe Nike or Ben Shelton’s ON kits, which are the most comfortable! ASICS padel on my feet!

Padel doesn’t quite have a specific fashion yet. Do you think it can develop one? If so, what do you think it looks like? To be honest, you can just wear tennis gear. The only country where there’s a big difference is the USA, where most tennis clubs require a full white outfit, so people tend to go full crazy colors on padel courts!

What racquet are you currently playing with? What do you like about it? Uff tough question! I’m a sucker for new gear so I buy a lot of racquets. I have two clear favorites. Dropshot, the Jon Sanz racquet and Starvie as they are made in Spain. My favorite are round, head-heavy and hard racquets!

What do you think about padel’s growth in the US? Where would you like to see padel in a few years’ time? That’s an interesting question. The US has a very big problem hampering padel’s growth: the cost of real estate. Most padel clubs in the US aren’t breaking even. So I think the next step will be more traditional, existing country clubs leading the expansion to chase new clients. Returns on standalone padel clubs are either negative or very bad. The expansion at the moment is mostly driven by hype, not by profits. Tough position to be in. It may be the only country where it won’t really take off! That’s a bold statement.

Do you have a specific padel memory you’d like to share? Greatest padel memory would be just hanging out with all the Premier Padel players when the great Mike Dorfman hosted the PPL in NYC. All the players were hanging out at the club. Great atmosphere.

Do you play right side or left side? What’s your strongest shot? What’s your weakest shot? Left side. Best shot is, of course, my world-renowned smash. The ball is always out of the court. Weakest? probably backhand volley to the cage!

Pre-match meal? A banana and very strong coffee. I prefer to play on an empty stomach

Post-match drink? Estrella Damm, of course. ✸