Bquet, a competitor of padel?

Once is not custom, this month I investigated another sport: the Bquet. You know ? Well done.

Never heard of it? read on, and, if you feel like it, check out the videos linked at the end of this article.

Le Bquet: owhere? What ? How ?

A mix of tennis and padel, Bquet (pronounced “ Bkette ”) Comes from Spain. It was invented by Fernando Moli in 2014. In France, it is the company OnePadel which represents and markets these lands.

A court measures 24x11m (in padel it is 20x10m)
The sides are 4m high (in padel it is either 3m or 4m)
The surfaces are the same as in padel
The service is done as in padel, with a forehand, after a bounce.
The balls are those used in padel.

The biggest difference with padel comes from the racket. In Bquet, you play with a mini-tennis racket, with strings. This allows tennis aficionados to find the effects of tennis, as well as the drop shots!

For the rest, bquet is played with the same rules as in padel. But be careful with the "Australian" game! The court being slightly larger, it is not necessarily advisable to stay in a single diagonal, as in padel. Just like in tennis, bquet players often change diagonals, at each point, when they are part of the serving team.

A tactic specific to the Bquet ?

Between the tennis racket, small of course but with ropes, and a bigger field, the strategy of game must obligatorily adapt.

There are, among other things, many more winning shots from the back of the court than in padel. This is explained by the greater spaces between players, in length and width.

There is also a greater use of effects than in padel, thanks to the strings of the racket. The lift* is used more, but especially the "slice*" becomes important to master! The drop shot is a much easier shot to use in the bquet than in padel. Every padel player has already tried, without much success, to attempt drop shots in padel. The shot is risky and the court is not long enough for the drop shot to be effective, often.

In Bquet, the strings of the racket make it easier to perform this stroke, on the one hand; on the other hand, the terrain being longer, the path for the opponent to take takes longer. CQFD.

Several professional padel and tennis players (JC Ferrero, Juan Martin Diaz, Guttierez, etc.) have tested the bquet. All are unanimous, as you can imagine!

So, for when the Bquet in France ?

Until now, the priority was the development of padel, with a wide audience. The machine is now engaged. "The year 2019 will be the year of Padel », Tells us the French Tennis Federation.

Many players have come to offer their skills and know-how, in all sectors of padel: court builders, sports equipment (textiles, rackets, shoes, luggage, etc.), teaching, training, clubs, players, etc. Today the padel market is well and truly launched, even if, economically, it is still complicated to make a living from it, for all these players.

Regarding the Bquet, the horizon is flat, for the moment. One companyPadel, which has the exclusivity of this sport for France, has not yet launched the major festivities. It's coming soon, according to Rachid Benhedach (CEO OnePadel).

The goal for One Padel is to launch this new sport also in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy…

People are more and more receptive and open to testing new things: the famous zapping society… “It's time”, for Rachid. OnePadel wants to become the essential reference of Bquet in France, and in Europe. From 2019, he announces, people will hear about the bquet, and have the opportunity to test it. Rachid has land that he makes available on request, and under certain conditions.

As we can see, the will and passion are great on One's sidePadel. But what about the public? Can Bquet compete with the growth of padel today in France, and more broadly in Europe and the world? Will players move towards this sport? Is there room for padel and bquet with the public and federal authorities? Will clubs want to invest in this new sport? Can it be a reconversion for tennis players who have not found happiness in padel?

So many questions for few answers, for the moment ... We take stock in 1 year?

Links :

* Lift: effect given to the ball. We say that the ball "squirts" after bounce (or after the glass). This means the ball has a bigger bounce and goes upward to Rafa's famous forehand ...

*Slice: effect given to the ball. We say that the ball is cut and "crashes" to the ground after rebounding (or after the glass). This means that the bounce is low, and often the ball goes to one side or the other (depending on the effect given), after rebounding to the famous game of Santoro... or Monica Niculescu (of whom I am a big fan! Whoever manages to make her play padel will have won everything... but I think I digress).

Line Meites

Line Meites is one of the best French padel players. She is the voice of your live on Padel Magazine. But not only, she also hosts the column “Investigations of the Swiss Army Knife”. Every month, she will come back to a controversy or a theme that is close to her heart.