Making friends as an adult is a lot harder than it used to be. As a freelance writer who works from home, my opportunities for socialising outside of work events have been limited for a while now. Between coordinating schedules, finding a place that works for everyone and actually getting people to commit to plans, even a simple coffee catch-up can require a surprising amount of planning. I’ve often thought about joining a club or taking up a group activity, but geographical proximity always got in the way. I certainly never imagined a padel court would be the answer.
About a year ago, I moved into a new apartment building with more amenities than one would need, including a padel court. As someone whose idea of keeping fit involves spending time on a treadmill, the thought of picking up a racquet and playing with people I barely knew was a little intimidating. But when a WhatsApp group of excited residents began making plans to play, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get to know my neighbours. The first few games were admittedly overwhelming. I was learning the rules and getting used to the pace of the game. But I got the hang of it surprisingly quickly — as far as sports go, padel is relatively easy to pick up. The only sport I’ve ever considered myself good at is badminton and this felt easier than even that. More importantly, I wasn’t there to prove how athletic I was. I was there to have a good time with people I was only just getting to know.
Soon, the court became more than a place to exercise. It was somewhere I could meet my neighbours without having to make elaborate plans, strike up conversations and have something to look forward to outside my usual routine. What might otherwise have been another evening spent at home now had the possibility of becoming a game with friends. It turns out, sometimes all you need to make new connections is a shared activity and someone willing to add you to a WhatsApp group. And I wasn’t the only one discovering this. “Padel has really added a whole new perspective on how I connect to people,” says Tanushri Biyani, a millennial footwear designer and founder of Anaar, who reconnected with her love for sports through padel after an injury kept her away. “One of my friends introduced me to padel as this new hip sport that everyone was playing; it was inescapable.”
Between friends suggesting a game, residential communities organising matches and courts becoming increasingly popular places to meet, padel and pickleball have found their way into our social calendars. Even people who wouldn’t ordinarily consider themselves sporty are being drawn in, often by a friend who insists they give it a try. Unlike more competitive sports, there’s less pressure to be particularly good at it before joining in. You can be a beginner, miss a few shots and still have a perfectly enjoyable evening. I saw just how much the sport had become a social occasion when I recently attended a weekend rooftop padel event at the Phoenix HSBC Racquet Club, hosted by Johnnie Walker Blonde Non-Alcoholic Lemonade ahead of World Padel Day. People came dressed in their best sporty chic, ready for friendly matches and an evening that revolved around something other than the usual dinner or drinks. What struck me most was the mix of people there. It wasn’t just a crowd of young fitness enthusiasts. There were people across generations, from Gen Z to millennials and Gen X, sharing an interest in the same sport. And that’s part of the charm of a game like padel. On a court, age and athletic ability don’t necessarily have to determine who can spend time together.
