Marc Márquez and padel are now on hold. The Spanish MotoGP champion revealed that he can no longer play with his right hand due to the aftereffects of his numerous injuries. He even tried a rather radical solution: learning to play padel with his left hand, according to the online magazine Paddock-gp. Without success. 

This is a revelation that alone illustrates the rather peculiar physical state of  Marc Márquez The Spanish rider remains capable of pushing a MotoGP bike to its limits, but when he leaves the circuit and picks up a padel racket, his right arm no longer allows him to play normally.

In an interview with TThe Ducati rider reflected on the impact of his injuries on his daily life. Among the activities he has had to give up is padel tennis.

"I used to play a lot of padel, but I can no longer do it with my right hand. I tried to learn to play with my left, but it was impossible."

A surprising statement when you know the physical constraints imposed by MotoGP, but which makes perfect sense when you look back at the medical history of the Spaniard's right arm.

Padel regularly… but completely stopped

The detail is interesting: Márquez explains that he  played a lot of padel . It was therefore not simply a one-off experience with a racket, but rather a leisure activity that he had integrated into his life outside of the circuits.

Like many Spanish athletes, the Catalan had found in padel a complementary social and sporting activity. But his right-hand man decided otherwise.

And Márquez clearly tried to find a solution.

Since his dominant arm no longer allowed him to play, he tried to  pass the racket in your left hand On paper, the idea might have seemed feasible. In reality, rebuilding all the coordination necessary for a racket sport with one's non-dominant hand obviously represents a considerable undertaking.

The pilot eventually abandoned the experiment.

It all stems in particular from that terrible fall in 2020

To understand why padel has become impossible, we need to go back to  19th July 2020  , during the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.

Marc Márquez falls heavily and fractures his fracture  the right humerus The accident marked the beginning of a series of operations and periods of rehabilitation that would accompany several seasons of his career.

Two days after his fall, his humerus was fixed with a plate. He had to undergo a second surgery in August after this first plate was damaged. In December 2020, a third operation became necessary due to poor fracture healing, including a bone graft.

The story doesn't end there.

In June 2022, Márquez underwent a  fourth operation of the right humerus This time at the Mayo Clinic in the United States. The procedure involves performing a rotational osteotomy of the humerus to correct its position and improve arm mobility.

A series of interventions officially documented by MotoGP, which allows us to measure the extent to which his right upper limb was used.

In 2026, the radial nerve was still involved

More recently, Márquez's body has once again reminded him of the consequences of these traumas.

After his crash during the 2026 French Grand Prix, the Ducati rider underwent surgery on his right foot, but doctors also took the opportunity to perform a procedure that had already been scheduled on his  right shoulder .

The official MotoGP medical report provides a particularly interesting element for understanding his limitations: the surgeons removed  two screws and a bone fragment from a previous Latarjet operation performed in 2019 , which had shifted and were compressing the  radial nerve .

In other words, when Márquez explains today that he no longer has the necessary abilities to play padel normally with his right arm, this limitation is part of a particularly serious medical history.

Riding a MotoGP bike, yes. Playing padel, no.

Ultimately, this is the most astonishing paradox of this story.

How can a man capable of controlling a MotoGP bike at over 300 km/h no longer be able to play a racket sport with friends?

Because the physical qualities required are not exactly the same.

Padel requires the repetition of specific upper body movements: volleys, bandejas, viboras, shots off the glass, and especially overhead shots. Shoulder mobility, rotations, coordination between the arm and forearm, and the ability to accelerate and then decelerate the racket are constantly involved.

Márquez, for his part, adapted his body for years to one absolute priority:  continue to ride a motorcycle at the highest level .

This does not mean, however, that his arm has regained all its capabilities for other disciplines.

Switching to left-handed padel: much more complicated than it seems

His attempt to play with his left hand is also revealing.

In padel, being left-handed can even be a considerable tactical advantage. When paired with a right-hander, the left-hander traditionally plays on the right so that both players have their forehand towards the center of the court.

But you still have to be actually left-handed.

Changing dominant hand means rebuilding automatic movements: racket preparation, timing, shoulder orientation, volleys, defense after the glass, serve and especially aerial play.

For someone who has developed all their sporting coordination with the right hand, picking up a paddle with the left hand is obviously not enough to become a left-handed player.

Even for Marc Márquez.

Padel sacrificed to preserve the essentials

Padel isn't the only leisure activity the champion has to be careful about. Márquez also explains that he would like to play more football with his friends, but he limits his practice due to the risk of injury.

Cycling, however, still occupies an important place in his training.

At 33, the Spanish driver continues to make some rather unusual choices: preserving everything his body can still offer for competition and giving up certain activities that are much less extreme on the surface.

And that's perhaps what makes his anecdote about padel so telling.

 Marc Márquez can still compete at the highest level. But for the moment, gripping a paddle with his right hand has become impossible. And even one of the most gifted riders of his generation hasn't managed to become left-handed. 

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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