The Alboran Sessions
Alborán Sessions is the podcast of Alborán Social Club — an independent publication about padel and the life that has grown up around it. Each episode, Alex sits down with the people building the sport's culture and its business: founders and federations, coaches and club-owners, the players changing how the game is watched and the characters changing how it is sold. The conversations are unhurried and on the record. We are interested in how things actually work — who counts the players, who pays for the courts, what a boom does to a quiet game — and in the people willing to say so plainly.
We record where the sport is happening: a summit floor in Barcelona, a club terrace on the coast, a tournament between matches. No press releases read aloud, nothing traded for access. Just a long table, a good guest, and the time to follow the thread.
New episodes monthly. If you play, watch, build, or simply sit on the terrace afterwards, pull up a chair.
Alborán Social Club · alboransocialclub.com
The Alboran Sessions
Alboran Social Club Podcast Episode 4 - Padel Drive
From aerospace engineering to 5 million views a month. 🎙️
In Episode 4 of the Alboran Social Club Podcast, @Outby3 (Alex Robinson) sits down with Gonzalo, better known as Padel Drive, to talk about the journey behind one of the biggest English-speaking padel content channels in the world.
Gonzalo takes us back to growing up in Madrid, moving to the UK to pursue a career in aerospace engineering and discovering a passion for padel coaching, before eventually making the huge decision to leave his engineering career behind and pursue Padel Drive full time.
We also discuss the incredible global reach of Padel Drive, what it’s like creating content watched millions of times every month, working with some of the biggest names in padel, and the relationship between Gonzalo and Tomas behind the scenes.
The conversation also gets into the more difficult side of building an audience, including racist comments, online criticism and the reaction to his appearance with Everything Padel.
Plus, we look at the wider state of padel in the UK, the cost of playing, junior development and why Gonzalo believes that, without significant change, the UK may struggle to produce a truly world-class professional player.
A conversation about padel, content creation, coaching, taking risks and turning a passion into a career.
Subscribe to Alboran Social Club for more conversations from across the world of padel.
I mean I I had the the job that I wanted, the the the job that I dreamed one day, and once I have it, I quit. You it really feels like it's you're mentioning like you you were born to to these comments of people complaining about the accent or uh identify comments or whatever. You say it like this in English uh thick skin, you say thick skin, yeah. I think I have uh like a very thick skin. Like for example, you remember the one that uh hit me a little bit was when when we filmed with you work from everything but you go to the comment section, it's extremely hard. Like so many people that have been waiting for this moment and they are like going only roughly what five million across all these things many channels a month. Um views among the fact that someone in Norway or someone in uh Qatar is is watching our videos and they uh they started playing like one year ago and um they enjoy it, they want to get better, they watch the videos and they find being they find them helpful. For me, that's mission accomplished.
SPEAKER_01Hello and welcome to the fourth episode of the Albrand Social Club podcast. We have a very exciting guest today. We have Gonzalo, aka Paddle Drive. Gonzalo. How are you doing next? Thank you so much for coming on. First and foremost, just how are you? How's your summer been? What's have you got to anything interesting?
SPEAKER_03No, everything was good. Like uh had time to go back to Spain, yeah. Um visit family and friends, and that's all I can ask for, really.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're looking, I mean, you've always got a nice tan. You especially got a nice tan today. You had a wedding, whose wedding was it?
SPEAKER_03Um, it was like one of my best friends that it was his wedding this weekend, so we went uh to Valencia, then I stayed in Madrid for a couple of days, and then I just came back yesterday.
SPEAKER_01Good Spanish party?
SPEAKER_02To be honest, it was like pretty good. Like we had so much fun. Like everybody complains about weddings being too expensive and everything.
SPEAKER_03But to be honest, I feel like it's like a nice investment. Like you have a really good fan, it's a very special moment for our friend, so it was nice.
SPEAKER_01Lovely, lovely. So, always like to start with any guests just kind of establishing their background, how they got into Paddle, but also just their you know their childhood. So take it back. You said the wedding was in Madrid, and that's where you grew up, if I'm correct. Talk to me about how you know growing up in Madrid and then discovering Paddle potentially in Spain, and and just talk to me about that kind of um that journey.
SPEAKER_03Well, yes, I was um I grew up in Madrid, like you said, and at that time I was like maybe eight years old when I started playing tennis. Um obviously that was when racket sports uh came into my life. I really like it. Um, and then Padel started becoming popular. Um, I remember that my father was playing like every week with uh his colleagues, and there was one day that um I think I had like football after or whatever, and I I went with him. And at some point, uh like I was taking a look at the sport, I was like, it looks pretty fun. Um when they finish, I jump on court, I play a little bit with them, and then whenever there were there were like one short I started playing with them. I I like it. I had to adapt a bit from tennis, of course. But um I don't know, maybe it was like 15 years ago, something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So what age were you at that point then when you first picked up a paddle racket directly?
SPEAKER_0329 now, so yeah, around 14 years.
SPEAKER_0114, 15.
SPEAKER_03Maybe even longer, I don't know. Like I I don't remember the exact time. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then once you picked up that first racket, had your first match, was it a hook straight away kind of thing? Were you were you then what after you played the first time, playing two, three times a week, was it a bit of a slow, gradual getting into it process? How was that?
SPEAKER_03It's been a a bit of a mess, really. Like uh, if I take a look at all the years that I've been playing paddle, uh there's been some moments where like we've been really invested into the sport and we've been playing a lot, but for example, there's there's been other moments that I just maybe didn't play for for one year. Whenever I went to the US, like there were no paddle courts there. So, for example, I played at Squash that year. So, yeah, I don't know. Like I really like it from the very beginning. And then I remember like um all uh my friends' parents, they were starting to play quite a lot, so uh we were curious about it. So we started going to a paddle club where um our parents they were playing their own game, and we the kids we were playing our own game. So I don't know, I just like it. It was uh fun at that moment, and that was everything that uh I um I needed from a sport.
SPEAKER_01Who was winning in those games between the parents and the kids? Was it mostly the parents?
SPEAKER_03No, obviously the parents, they were taller, stronger, and we couldn't do anything.
SPEAKER_01A few angry moments off court then after, yeah, I can imagine. Brilliant. So you discovered Palo, you obviously well, you you were figuring out the sport as you're growing up from 15 onwards. Then I kind of want to cast, kind of change lanes a little bit in terms of your journey, then potentially from okay, I'm in Madrid, but then I want to maybe go to the UK for career purposes. Talk to me about that because you came over as a aerospace engineer, very fancy title. How how was the process of coming over to the UK and and being you know applying to become an aerospace engineer?
SPEAKER_03Um, well, to be honest, like when I was like around 20 or so, I was uh studying aerospace engineering, and then the last year I did it in Arizona, I was about to finish and I I was thinking, like, is it the the right choice? Like, do I want to be an aerospace engineer for I don't know, like 40, 50 years? Um, I didn't really know the answer. It was true that at that moment my parents were like, oh come on, uh, you have to do your master's because right after the degree, um you are not gonna make the most out of your engineering career if you don't have the masters or whatever. Um I don't know, I didn't really feel like doing a normal aerospace engineering master. So my my dad came to me and said, like, listen, I know that inside of aerospace engineering, the brand that you are more interested in is uh aircraft engines. So I've seen that there is this masters in the UK. Uh, when like once you have this title, let's say like you are much more likely to go and work for Bols Race, which was like the dream company for me. So I said, okay, um I'll have a thing. Um they they said that I didn't have to worry about the money because they were gonna pay for everything, which was obviously like a very big effort because the masters here in the UK they are pretty expensive.
SPEAKER_01Bit steep, bit steep, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And accommodation and everything. So yeah, I came to the UK, I did my masters, and then I got lucky, I got a job offer here. I started working as a contractor for Rolls Royce, and then a few like two years later, I finally got an offer to work directly for Rolls Royce. So that's when I came to Bristol.
SPEAKER_01Nice. So, how how long has it been in Bristol for you now, then in terms of since you moved?
SPEAKER_03I think probably like three years and a half, or three and a half years, fantastic.
SPEAKER_01And as a city, obviously, we'll get into paddling Bristol, but as a city, you you enjoy Bristol as a city?
SPEAKER_03Yes, I love it. I mean, I I came from Derby, like many many of my friends that were complaining about Derby not being a very nice city. To be honest, my time in Derby was good, but it's true that uh Bristol uh is a bigger city, it has more things to to do, and and it's uh a beautiful city as well. So I'm I'm actually quite happy here. Very expensive though, is uh it is very expensive.
SPEAKER_01It is very expensive.
SPEAKER_03I think I paid twice the rent I used to pay in Derby, so that's also uh an important thing to consider.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Um okay, so then we've we've arrived in Bristol, and then it must have been relatively soon after, if my memory serves to be correct, that you would have started coaching um at Rocket. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I used to coach already in Derby.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so you coached in Derby.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like basically when when I saw that it was We Are Pal Derby that they opened a new club. Um I think it has a different name now, but um it was like a really big club. I think it was like 11 courts. So nobody knew Paddle at that moment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was gonna say that must have been one of the first of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03At that time was the biggest club in the UK.
SPEAKER_01Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_03And and I was like, yeah, for sure, like nobody knows Paddle here. Like uh some of my friends from Spain they had played, uh, they were curious to try. They wanted me to do like uh an intro. So I was going there uh playing a bit with my friends, uh trying to get them into the sport, and all of a sudden I noticed that that was a thing. Like everybody was curious about paddle. Uh obviously, I had been playing for a very long time. It was like one of my big passions, and I noticed that I could be very helpful for those people jumping in. So it was like a natural step into coaching.
SPEAKER_01So that was the that that was one of the first that was so it was the biggest club at the time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You said, and you said like you're helping your friends new, like did you feel like you were one of very few at that point? Like in terms of people that are. Yeah, the only one.
SPEAKER_03At that moment, I was the only one.
SPEAKER_01What was that like? What was that an interesting weird experience to kind of feel like you're the only one that has kind of the power or like to the key?
SPEAKER_03Do you think so like power key? I mean, I I never thought of it like uh a business opportunity or whatever. I was like, I just want my friends to play battle because I love it, um, and I think they would love it too. And and I don't know, I just started like that.
SPEAKER_01So and at that point then, did you your your coaching kind of badges, career levels, whatever, did you was had you been through that in in Spain before, or had you been through it, like where did you kind of get that qualification from to be able to start doing that?
SPEAKER_03No, I mean to be honest, like I had never coached paddle before. Like I had always been into teaching, like I like one of apart from aerospace engineer, I was at that time also considering to work as a teacher. Interesting. Um so I I had been teaching for for quite a few years before that, but not uh paddle-related things. It was like maths, physics, and and and so. Um but but of course, like I was like a paddle nerd, I had studied everything that you could have imagined. It was true that I didn't have the coaching bit for paddle, but to be honest, it was like quite straightforward. Like obviously, uh I did a bit of research, I did a bit of uh some courses uh at some moment I had to do also uh coaching qualifications here in the UK. Um, but to be honest, like I think it comes with experience. Like once you've coached for I don't know, 1000 hours, you know uh what are the things that you have to say, what are the most common mistakes, uh what are those two, three things that if you adjust them, the student can have like a very quick uh improvement. So how you learn how to let's say read people, like how you have to give the feedback to this person that maybe is a bit more shy, or this one that uh is a bit more energetic, or this one that is more involved in the class, or whatever. Like you you learn from experience, I I think. So, yeah, I've been learning Padel for many years. Uh, I've also done some courty uh courses in coaching, let's say, but I think really the the big thing has come from from experience and from the hours of coaching.
SPEAKER_01And also one thing I was very interested to ask you actually, with um kind of both your paddle and your aerospace background is do you think that aerospace kind of is is obviously very, very technical, as I say, as a background and as a um career to pursue. But there's a lot of technique in paddle. Do you think that influences or at least helped the way that and paved the way for how you coached?
SPEAKER_03I mean, not the aerospace bit, but definitely the engineering bit. Like I always say that they are a bit similar in a way, right? In engineering, um you you are in point A, you have to go to point B and you have to build a bridge in between, and you have to learn problem solving. Um you have uh, I don't know, let's say we have uh test data from this aircraft engine, we have a model that has to replicate that data, we see that they don't match. Okay, why why don't they match? What do I have to do to uh make a better model? So it's similar in that sense to to coaching. It's like, okay, I have this student that is trying to do a fork hand bully, and it's looking like this. But I want the forehand bully to look um a bit, let's say I want it to be deeper or with more slice or faster or whatever. Okay, how do I make him go from this point to this one that I want to be? Uh this second point, is it realistic? Do I have to make it a bit easier? Can I make it a bit harder? Um and what's the bridge that I have to build in between to connect those two points? So, in that sense, uh, is similar thinking, uh process of thinking. That's how I see it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, that's that's fascinating. So now let's let's fast forward a little bit. So obviously, you've now been in Bristol for a little. Well, that's actually let's not go too far forward. So the idea of paddle drive, where did that originally originate? Because it might not have been in Bristol, it might have been in Derby, like it might have been Madrid, US. Where did that idea originate from?
SPEAKER_03You mean the the name or the or the name and the concept? I don't know, it was uh hard to choose a name. I didn't know what to choose. Drive, uh paddle drive seemed like a good name because it was like that drive to play better paddle, right? And at the same time, uh drive is also like the number one shot that you you have to learn, right? Because like all the uh you have many shots that originate from that uh drive or that forehand, right? Because then the bandeja, the surf, uh Vibora, everything is basically like an evolution of that drive. So I was like, brilliant, I I have a name. Simple as that. Yeah, I don't know. I it felt a bit weird at the beginning, but once you've heard the name like 1000 times, it's like yeah, yeah, paddle drive. That's what it is. And um the concept, as I told you, was not like um I'm gonna become a millionaire, paddle is uh so popular, whatever. It was like I'm yeah, I was just trying to introduce my friends to Paddle. Uh I was like very passionate about Paddle. I've always been very passionate about learning. Like, I don't know, like um whenever I want to improve at test, it's like I watch so many videos and how can I be better and all these type of things. So it's like okay, I I just did the same for for Paddle.
SPEAKER_01So, what was your your first video, your first social media post? Like, like do you remember what you tried to like go for first, kind of attack first in terms of a a video idea or a or a social media post, for example?
SPEAKER_03I have no idea, to be honest. Like uh I remember that at the beginning uh I would probably feel so ashamed if I if I take a look at my first viewers, right? Um because I don't know, I I feel like at that time I thought, okay, I have to start a social media channel. But I was doing things that I thought they were gonna work well. But the reality is that that's not sustainable. Like people seeing me hitting a forehand. I don't know, I don't think it has it has anything special, right? Um so yeah, I was a bit lost with the content. I was like just uploading videos but without a purpose. Um but then when I had a bit more time, and then when I met Tomas, and obviously um in between I had had the chance to coach so many students, and I knew more about coaching uh and how to explain the different things to people of different levels, let's say. Um I was like, okay, the natural step now is to teach people how to play better paddle. So that's really when when in it started to take off, I would say.
SPEAKER_01And actually, you've brought like my next question, you already brought him up. So you you met Tomas, who seems like a very big part of the paddle drive team. Talk to me about how that relationship first started and how it evolved into him essentially working for paddle drive or working with you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean I had I had already started doing um some social media content. Like we had a few videos on on YouTube and on Instagram. I think at that point I had like something like 2,000 followers, so we were still like very small. Uh just came to Bristol for to work here in Rolls Race. Um and at the same time there were so many different clubs opening here in Bristol, so it was like perfect. Could uh couldn't have been uh a better match. Uh so in the opening event here at Rocket Paddle, uh this guy approached me and he says, Listen, I'm a videographer, I've seen uh what you do, I've seen that uh you know a lot about uh paddle coaching. I think uh there is a space here uh to create content about about paddle and teach paddle to people. So um, like, do you want to give it a try? I was like, this is perfect because I had to stop the the content for for a few months because I was like very stressed at that time. I I had just moved to Bristol, I didn't know if I wanted to keep doing content. It was like I have to invest so much time. It seems like you are just like making one or two videos and you post it, but it honestly takes much more time than what people imagine. And I didn't have the time uh really, and I was not good at it. The result didn't look good, so I was like, perfect, let's give it a try. And if it works out, uh we will see. So we started making the videos, uh, and it was like a really quick success. Like the the moment we started filming with Tomas and posting in YouTube with a bit of a different format and more professional looking, the videos went a bit viral and it got to a point where it was just unstoppable. Like I would have never imagined that we were gonna have so many views in in YouTube videos.
SPEAKER_01Was there a particular video that that went particularly viral in terms of the center center numbers, or or is it just there was a few at once which all exceeded your expectations?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. It was a bit weird because it's like we let's say we uploaded like five videos and we had like a really normal amount of views. I mean at that point it was already big for us, but we let's say we had like 5,000 views on in each video, right? Um all of a sudden there were two videos that start in like skyrocketing. Um one was the surf, uh video about the surf, and the other one was the the white you sacata pattern. Yeah, we we did. Um and then I think what we were it were those two, and all of a sudden, like all the other videos started to and I don't know, uh we didn't do anything different, it was just that YouTube algorithm that they decided that those were the videos that they had to push, and I don't know, I don't know how it works, but um but yeah, like I think it was at that moment.
SPEAKER_01So that and that felt like the moment where this could be this could be something serious, do you think?
SPEAKER_03Um I I never thought of that. I mean um we were just okay, we want to help people uh play better paddle. Um let's let's make some videos. And obviously, like maybe if after a year uh investing a lot of time, money, effort, uh we don't make anything out of it, maybe we would have quit. I don't know. Uh I I I never did it for the money or for the views or whatever. I just did it because I thought um there was no enough content for parallel in English. I thought we were bringing something new into the table, and and we were very lucky in the sense of as soon as we started, we we saw the success very early. I don't know if it would have been a different story if uh we didn't get lucky, uh, but it's not lucky.
SPEAKER_01It's skill though, it's skill, right? I mean, in terms of the um the the cot the like bringing videos together, what what's the process like between the two of you? Is it might very much a blend of your ideas and his ideas, and you kind of meet well, end up meeting in the middle somewhere? Is it as you're the the face, are you the one driving the the actual content and he's behind all the technical stuff? How does that relationship work?
SPEAKER_03For filming is usually uh I I write everything because at the end I write the script, let's say, because uh at the end uh I'm the one that sees the students every day and I know uh what they uh they don't do well, what they do well. Um I said that. The same thing in a different way 100 times, and I know which is the one that clicks better for most of the people. So I think even if one day pile drive is much bigger than it is, I will still be the one uh writing the script because it's the it's essence, or how do you press it? No, yeah, it's the essence of it, is the U.S. So I write the script and then uh we come here to uh to a club to film. Uh Thomas has read the script, uh Thomas knows what we're gonna film. Uh I have had like uh some ideas on uh we should film this uh burrow, this uh this one here, uh showing the mistake here, showing how to do it right here, whatever, whatever, whatever. And then he's the one deciding okay, it's better to film from this angle. It's better if we do this in this order instead of this one. He makes some changes to the script in the sense of um this is how I would perceive it if I was the viewer, so I think it would work better in this way. So it's like um let's say like most of the script comes from me, but then he adds uh a bit in the storytelling, and then he does all the filming, which he's so good at it, and then the editing, he's also really good. So it's I think we are we make a really good team.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a really a really good match, and obviously, it's so it's been what would you say, maybe two or three years of working together now, roughly? Yeah, so two or three years of working together, and you see see a few more in the future, definitely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, um obviously Tomás is very talented with uh videography, and for example, he just made um a YouTube documentary called uh I think it's called Potatoes to Padden.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that was in the in the farm. Yes, in the farm.
SPEAKER_03And uh I remember I was uh watching the documentary and I was like, this is so good. This is really, really good. And I think that's the type of work that really motivates him, like that's where he can sign the most. Uh I think he likes also YouTube because he's a completely different field and he likes to experiment and try different things, and he's the one uh deciding how to shoot, uh what to include, what uh to cut. So he has like freedom of filming and editing, let's say. So I think he also likes that part. But I don't know, I see him one day like in a really big uh production company. Like, I don't know, like I remember we were having a chat the other day, and he told me that uh one of the directors of um one of the most uh watched series in in the UK Netflix uh had reached out to him uh to congratulate him for the work that he had done in uh in the documentary. So I was like, will I have Tomas for a time? Hold on to it, hold on to the time. So I don't know. I mean, uh obviously I enjoy a lot working with him, he's a very important piece of uh uh pile drive. Uh he knows exactly who we are, what we do, how to communicate it to the audience. And if he was not here and I had to coach someone to do what he's doing, I think it would be uh a strong transition, let's say.
SPEAKER_01Brilliant, brilliant. You mentioned something earlier which I think is so important to paddle drive's journey, um, and it's reflective of I think where we are in paddle in the UK. You said at the time you started there were very little English-speaking paddle um social media channels or YouTube channels. Talk to me about that decision of because obviously graphics fluent in Spanish or bilingual. So was it always gonna be in English? Like when you started, did you try some videos in Spanish? Like, what was the the starting point of of doing it in English and the decision making behind it?
SPEAKER_03I thought it it made more sense at that point. I mean, there were plenty of content in all the content that I had watched uh about Padel, I can assure you, so many hours, so many hours. Shout out to Manu Martin uh from Juartuval in Spain and Hugo Casas. Like I've watched thousands of videos from these two, and it's probably where I learned most of what I know about paddle, I mean the theory. Then I also learned a lot uh by myself and coaching and and so on, but I watched so many videos of this guy. So I was like, there is already a lot of content in English, uh sorry, in Spanish for for paddle coaching. Um everybody knows what paddle is in Spain or Argentina, but almost nobody knows what paddle in the UK at that time. Yeah. So for me it made sense to do it in English. It was true, it's true that it's a question that we ask ourselves like every month. Like, should we start a YouTube channel in Spanish as well? Because we had so many comments from people saying like you should be making your videos in Spanish, like obviously we can see that you're Spanish because of your accent and whatever, you would you would make your videos better in Spanish. And uh there are more people that play pad in Spanish than um in in the UK, right? But I don't know, like we thought it was the right choice to do it in English. Uh you also have some advantages, like for example, the CPM in English is I think is two times more than the Spanish one, so in that sense we also got lucky. But we didn't do it because of that reason. We we do it because we thought it was the the right decision at that time.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And also as a secondary point to that, your I suppose your confidence to be able to do it in English, obviously absolutely fluent in English. When you went to going back a bit, when you went to America, what was your English like at that point?
SPEAKER_03Maybe now it has gotten worse. I don't know why, but I I feel like when I'm in the Pado court, I sound even more Spanish. Like obviously I have a Spanish accent. But I think at some points in my life I've had a uh not that strong Spanish accent.
SPEAKER_01So that's interesting. So you were you were pretty much fluent in English before you even went to American Air.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because I I had already been here in the UK for one year, like we had studied English in school for so yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so you but so you but the point thing is you have the confidence to do it in English and you can go from there, right? Like that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean it didn't I didn't see it was a barrier. It's true, it's true that uh we received so many comments of people complaining about the accent or uh even racist comments or whatever. Um people say that uh Spanish accent is a bonus because as you can clearly tell that I'm Spanish and people associate Spain with Padel. You never know. Tomas, for example, says that the fact that we have a I have a strong Spanish accent um probably drags the views a bit. We don't know, we just started doing it in English. We thought it was the right choice. Some people like it, some people don't. And it is that way.
SPEAKER_01It is what it is. So, but there's it's not just obviously a lot of people know you now in the UK, but it's not just the UK in terms of people that will will watch you. Was maybe not at the time, but have you kind of realized since that the being an English speaking channel that you actually potentially appeal to many more people like in the world? Is that has that been a factor that you've kind of well did you consider at the time or have you learned that that's a factor that actually helps you?
SPEAKER_03I I never thought that I I I never imagined. Um but nowadays when I go to Premier Pile London when we were there, or to Premier Pie Madrid, or I'm coaching in a different country, and someone, usually when I'm in a parallel, because in that environment there is a chance that someone has watched uh the videos, right? Um and they approach me and they say, Oh Gonzalo, you um your your videos are very helpful. I I promise I feel the happiest person in the world because that was the main reason why we started to help people play better paddle and to do it in a way that is uh simple and that is fun. So I think maybe I don't think enough about this, like and we are not aware of how many people worldwide are watching our videos. Like we see the numbers uh from from the stats, but I think we are not aware of uh what that means, and the fact that someone in Norway or someone in uh Qatar is is watching our videos, and they don't they started playing like one year ago, and um they enjoy it, they want to get better, they watch the videos and they find them they find them helpful. For me, that's mission accomplished. Like I'm extremely happy about that.
SPEAKER_01Fantastic. And I there's an element of the fact that you now have grown to a point where people know you, people come up to you, which is amazing. Is there a sense of I guess accountability in that people will watch your videos for Paddle help? So do you feel like there's more pressure to produce to keep producing good good stuff that helps, or do you that kind of have the opposite effect that you're so relaxed that what you've done so far people love and they'll carry on watching?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think it's the other way around. Um at the end of the day, it's a free market, like nobody's forced to watch your videos. If people like them, they will watch them, if they don't like them, they don't they won't watch them. So I'm not making a video thinking, oh my god, uh there's gonna be like 20,000 people watching this video. No, I'm like, if people like what I say and they think is helpful, many people will watch it. So in that sense, I think it doesn't feel like a big responsibility. Like I think it's more uh the responsibilities within myself of being loyal to my values, my principles, um, to read a very negative comment or a racist comment or whatever, and know that I didn't do anything wrong, that I did things according to what I thought it was correct, and that's what makes me sleep good at night. So that's their responsibility to be loyal to what what I think is should be the right way of doing the things, but not to my god, 30,000 people or 20,000 people that are gonna watch this video.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, and it's you you say though, like, yeah, now you you have that mindset, but when potentially that first started to happen, where you'd get a negative comment, or you say horrible this happens with a racist comment, like what was it like receiving that for the first time? Because that's that can't be an easy thing to start to understand this is part of my life now, like this is part of it.
SPEAKER_03I don't I don't know if we if you say it like this in English. Uh a thick skin, you say that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thick skin, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I think I have uh quite like a very thick skin. So, like with my with my friends, um uh some of them they play like very heavy jokes, and um it's very hard to uh to say something that um I find it offensive. Um it's true that people get very creative and that there's been a couple of comments that I say, like, hmm. Usually I I I joke back, like whenever I read a uh I don't know, like a really bad comment, it's like um listen, like nobody's forcing you to watch this video, so like if you don't like it, fine, but it's like you are you are not even paying to watch this video, so it's like you cannot take it badly, and if you take it badly, I'm sorry, like I don't care, sorry. Um but yeah, like there's a couple of situations like uh where you think, did I do the right thing? Did I say it in the right way? Uh was this misleading, was this um or whatever. Um or I don't know, like for example, I remember the one that uh hit me a little bit was when we filmed with you one from everything padded. And uh in the first set, I mean we we did like a challenge and then we played a match. And in the first set uh we lost six zero and and you go to the comment section, they went extremely hard on me, like extremely hard. This guy shouldn't be coaching or whatever. Uh I would be ashamed of losing six-zero. It basically proves that this guy doesn't know anything about paddle. I was like, dude, like there is like so many people that have been waiting for this moment and they are like going all in. Um so that was like um like maybe like one of the toughest moments. But I don't know, I feel like I deal pretty well with all this. Like usually like it doesn't really bother me, like true uh that it was true that this that this specific scenario was like, oh these guys, like why do they hate me so much? Or why why but I don't know, like again, like um I go back to to what I told you before, is like I think I haven't done anything wrong. Uh I'm teaching Padel in the way I think is the best one. Um and that's it. Like uh and I'm I haven't sold I I haven't sold anything that I don't think is good, or um I don't know, I've always been loyal to my principles, and that's what makes me sleep uh good at night. That's that's how I see it.
SPEAKER_01And you you mentioned the everything, like playing with everything paddle, obviously a very big creator in his own right. Like, did that kind of well did knowing or seeing what you saw after with the comments, etc. Do you did you regret it or has it changed your perception of doing like working with other creators, or is it again, as you say, just is what it is. On to the next kind of thing.
SPEAKER_03It's a tricky one. Um it's a tricky one because since you are not editing or or you are not telling the story, you cannot control what the other creator is gonna is gonna do, right? Uh and at the same time, you know that um a spicy comment or a spicy moment can be very good in terms of views and can get people's attention. Um so that was a bit tricky in that sense. But I don't know, I think, for example, in this case, I think Yuan is doing a fantastic job. Like he's a really hard, like really clever guy, really hard uh worker. Um, like we really admire what he what he does, like everything that he has done for Padel, and the way he has managed to build uh his channel and his store. So he's like we we have studied him a lot, and he's a great guy. So he's like in the future, I think we would film again. Um so yeah, I don't I don't take it badly. Um I don't think it was his fault, really.
SPEAKER_01So and is there anyone else like on the wish list of maybe wanting to work with? I mean, for example, along with yourself, along with everything in Paddle, one of my favorites to watch, for example, is the fourset or L4 Set. I'm sure I'm sure you know. Have you worked with him yet, for example?
SPEAKER_03Or we filmed with Pablo in Premier Pad in London. In that video, we we had like a little interview. Uh he's a good friend, like we really get along. And I think at some point we we will film something together, uh, like more in the park or like that type of content. Um but yeah, I don't know. Like for me, the the ones that I really the videos that I really want to make is with the pros. Um they are very hard, very, very hard to uh to get them. Uh, because obviously, whenever you see them in a tournament, they want to play and rest, and they already have like some other responsibilities, they have to do activations with the sponsor, or they have to be in a certain interview, whatever. So it's like very hard to film a video on court with that player. But I think it's a super interesting content because um, whenever you watch them, it's always playing and competing, and behind that player, there is a person that is super nice that knows a lot about paddle. Um and I admire myself, I admire them. So I'm the I'm the first one that would be interested in seeing that content, so that's why I want to get it done. Um at the same time, it's very hard, so that makes it even the the hard the harder it is, the more you want it, you know. So um yeah, I would love to film with uh Coelho, Tapia, Galan, Chingo, like all these players, uh also the ladies, uh Paula, Bea, yeah, with Gematry, I would film an interview, but to film on court with Delphi, that would be epic. Like we filmed with Tamara uh recently, and if I thought of this when I started making videos that one day I was gonna film on court with Tamara Ricardo, I mean for some people it won't be important indeed when we upload the videos. Um people prefer the tutorials than the video with one of these players. But myself as a person that loves paddle, like I'm really interested in making these videos.
SPEAKER_01What was it like sharing a court with someone like a legend like that? Like did you I don't know, did you try and did you feel like you had to like change the way you kind of operated or or how did you how did you, for the for the first one doing it with a pro, like what was the kind of atmosphere that you tried to create, I suppose?
SPEAKER_03It's it's complex. Um because you are so happy to do it, but at the same time, um there is a lot of pressure because you know you only have one chance. Like it's not like, for example, this interview that if we say something wrong or there is uh or it's too noisy, or something happens, like we can just pause the record button and then we record it again. You only have one chance to make it right. Many times Tomás is not with me when this moment happens, so I have to take care of the camera, uh, which is even more pressure, or someone else is recording. And at the same time, uh, if the player doesn't know you personally, you have to make him or her feel comfortable because many times if they don't know you, they don't know what to expect. Uh and I think sometimes some of them they are in defensive mode because obviously media and journalists sometimes they are like very tough and they're very picky and they want the very spicy question, and obviously the players they don't want that. So you have to deal with all this whenever you're making a video. It's funny because then you make the video, you miss a bascamboli, and everybody in the comments, uh the bad is so bad.
SPEAKER_02Whatever it's like, dude. I challenge you, I challenge you to film this video yourself and then you tell me about it.
SPEAKER_01I was actually one of those comments. That was me. That was me. That was me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I have to say it. Okay, but so if you I obviously I'm sure you'd want to work with all of the top 10, 20 in the world, but is is there one that that you just would would be the dream?
SPEAKER_03Probably Coelho. Um, because he he plays quite different to the rest. Um to be honest, like any of them, like I would be super happy. Um I don't know if I had to say one, let's say Coelho, but I would be if it's Tapia, I will be the happiest guy in the world, if it's Galan, if it's Chingotto, if it's Lebron, I don't know, Cochi, whoever, like I would be super happy.
SPEAKER_01Okay, Albert and Social, we'll make some calls. We'll make some calls and we'll get it sorted. Um so kind of going back then to what you're talking about in terms of PowerDrive, it it keeps on growing, keeps on growing and all across all social media channels. And you I mean you said when you came in it's roughly what five million across all the social media channels a month?
SPEAKER_03Um views a month, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Views a month. You see that's I mean you try and just like think of that in your head as a number of like literal individual people, it's crazy, right? But that shows the amount of growth that you've had. In terms of then balancing then like as a was there a particular point where you thought of paddle drive as a career? Actually, this could be a career. Obviously, you came at you came came to England to for aerospace engineering, then you started this new thing which is actually now potential has a potential to become a euro, and so talk to me about that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, with my job, with my job, so I really hope it's a career. Um is obviously it's still early days, right? Because I went on a sabbatical on May here in 26, so I went on tw uh May twenty-five. Um so since I'm full time in Padel it's only been like one year and a half but when I w when I was doing both things at at the same time, um it got to a point where it was impossible to to do both, right? 'Cause you're working eight hours a day for Rolls Royce, then you have to come here, do the coaching, you have to film the videos. Um even I look back uh now and I don't know how I did it. Like probably my stress levels they were like to the roof. But um the thing is, like I enjoy Padel so much, and I feel so grateful for all the people that we've been able to help already. And as I told you, whenever we go to a tournament and we have these people uh coming to us and say these very nice things, it it really feels like it's your mission in life, like you you were born to do this. Um I and I enjoyed engineering, and there were like very challenging moments that uh I I truly like it, but I never got that feeling of okay, this is what I'm supposed to do in my life, as when the other thing happens. So now we are in that phase of okay, we love Paddle so much, uh, we have an audience, um, we want to keep bringing more videos, we want to keep the channel growing, we want to reach more and more people. But we need uh money to make this happen, to have more people working, to edit more videos, uh, to do coaching, to whenever I go to a trip, uh I have to bring another coach with me or whatever. So we are in that phase of okay, this is a hobby, yes, but we have to make it into a business as well.
SPEAKER_01And just with that decision to quit your job, was it uh did it feel like was there any doubt in your mind when you did it?
SPEAKER_03Plenty.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so so it was a tough decision, and it was super tough.
SPEAKER_03Like, imagine I had already spent like five years of my life just studying aerospace engineering. Uh I had four years of or four years and a half of experience as an engineer. I I had the the job that I wanted, the the job that I dreamed one day, and once I have it, I quit. It was uh like a bit weird, and on top of that, I knew my parents had paid for my master's, so and I knew that that was a big effort, so that adds into the equation. Obviously, your parents they feel nervous about the idea of you quitting your regular job to go start a potential business that they don't know if it's gonna work. There were plenty of doubts. Like I did it because I took a sabbatical first, um, which gave me the chance of okay, this doesn't work, I go back. Um and I spent hours and hours and hours and talking with friends and family about this, and it was a very tough decision. Um but I don't know, it feels like the right choice now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and so so far, no regrets? So far, no.
SPEAKER_03Like I'm I can say that right now I'm like a really happy person. Like uh I I am where I want to be. So I don't have uh in the in Spanish we say La Mosca detrás de la oreja, which is like uh a fly behind your ear, and telling you all the time, like, are you making the right thing? Like no, it's like uh when I used to do both things at the same time, I was like, Oh, these uh eight hours that I'm dedicating to engineering, I wish I had them for paddle content, or I had uh in the DM someone from New York saying, like, uh hey, we are opening a new paddle club, would you like to come and do some clinics? And I was like, dude, I would love to, but I can't. So now uh I feel like I have the time to do all these type of things and to choose uh where I invest my time. So in that sense, I'm super happy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so it's the it's the freedom which really makes it makes it worthwhile. And then kind of looking forward a little bit, it's are you the type of person that likes to set yourself goals to achieve by a by a certain point, or looking forward, are you more just whatever idea, whatever we'll see whether rotates in terms of collaborations, in terms of video ideas? How do you how do you operate in terms of kind of moving paddle drive forward?
SPEAKER_03That's a good question. Uh I probably would have to work like that, like to have um by this year, um we are I don't know 100k followers, so in the next year to have 150 or to make um X videos a month, or to so for example the X videos a month, we have it because we can control that. We can say like okay, we make uh one video a week, and we we know that we have to make one video a week. Uh uh X reels uh per week. Okay, we can also control that. But for example, in terms of I want to have X amount of views, X amount of followers, it doesn't fully depend on us. So we we try to make it uh the best we can, but we don't know, like for example, we've been a bit stuck in in Instagram for the for the last months, uh in in YouTube now we are growing a bit slower. And sometimes you get upset about it, but for example, now maybe in October everybody starts playing pal, everybody starts watching videos, and the views go like this. So it's you don't know. It's it's hard to set those types of goals, let's say. Um maybe financially we will have to do it. Maybe we have to say, okay, we need to hit uh this amount per uh for 2027 so that we can hire a new person, or we can grab one more member into a team. At this time I'm learning, like I'm I'm just trying to do things the the best I can, but probably I should have more like a roadmap, like you say.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, don't take advice from me. I mean, we're just starting out ourselves, right? Um and then but and then I think finally kind of fit finishing with with the paddle drive um side of the podcast. In is there any particular tournaments or I know you said collaboring with players, but there are any tournaments or any ambitions you have to take paddle drive to a particular place, for example, and work at a particular place or a particular tournament? Anything along those lines?
SPEAKER_03No, I mean I would like to visit uh the Roland Garros tournament and the Premier Pile at Rome because uh all the players they've told me that they are the best.
SPEAKER_01That's the one to be at, okay.
SPEAKER_03And I've never been. Uh I've been in other tournaments that, for example, the one here in London, it was like quite cool. I really like it. Um, but they say like those two, they are like very iconic places, and at the same time they are a major, so you can feel uh another vibe. I would like to be there, but I don't know what I'm gonna be doing that week next year, so it's hard to know if I will be able to go there or not.
SPEAKER_01And obviously you're in the know. Do you know there's any any rumors about paddling the Olympics? Is uh you had anything?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I always hear this question in the in the podcast, in podcasts, and so many people use it also for politics and so I don't think uh a lot about that. I I think um everybody should try to push Padel and and again there are like a lot of let's say a lot of politics behind every decision, like whenever you see Premier Padel or Phip or players complaining about this or the Federations not doing that, or whatever. Everybody has their their own intentions, everybody has their own interests, the players want to get more, obviously, like they want to earn more money, they want to some of them they they want to have the same conditions as the one at the top, um, they want to play less tournaments, the on the other side, like Premier Paddle or the FIP, um they want to keep those number though that number of tournaments high so that they can sell more tickets in different places, which is also good for um paddle development.
SPEAKER_01Who knows?
SPEAKER_03It's a complex topic.
SPEAKER_01Fantastic, right? And to finish off, I want to actually go away from Paddle Joe. I want to talk to Gonzalo, the coach, actually. Um obviously you you were you were here right from the start. You said in Derby you were in the biggest paddle club at the time. Obviously, you moved then to the biggest paddle club in Bristol. See you so you were seeing the growth right from the start. It's a a basic question, but I think it's an important one. From when you first started, did you s anticipate free as on paddle would be where it is today in in the UK?
SPEAKER_03I mean it it has grown very fast, but I'm still surprised that let's say we are where we at and we haven't been here sooner. Because if you take a look at all the other countries in in Europe, a paddle has completely exploded, and here it has taken like so long. So my question is like, why? Why? Because clearly, uh like everywhere in Europe was talking about this. Like when I was living here in the UK, and all my friends were like, I cannot believe that they don't have paddle there. It's like perfect, it's an indoor sport, so whenever it's raining, and there is raining quite a lot, you go and you play paddle, boom, perfect match. I was like, Yeah, the same. Like, I don't know why. And then you come here and you start to understand a bit uh like why it's going a bit slower. So, yes, I'm very happy with uh how much is growing, uh, but I think we could still do more. Like, I read the other day that were I think we maybe I'm mistaken, but I think we have like around 400 clubs in the UK, and I read that there were another 400 clubs waiting for permission to be open, so it's like yes, the if you take a look at the numbers, we have uh 10 times more courts than two years ago, but can we go even faster? I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Comparing uh British paddle to Spanish paddle, it's it's obviously so different. There's so many factors there. There's that there's weather, there's the again the the history in in certain countries, um so much history in Spanish paddle, so little in the in the UK. What what kind of um aspects of each can you do you think each one does well? For example, it our paddle clubs in the UK uh yeah, a lot of clubs now are becoming uh much more than just some courts in a centre. There's so many things attached to it. Maybe in Spain is it a bit more just that there's courts on courts on a bit of a bit of land that you build and you go. Like what how how does it compare, do you think, to you like playing paddle in Spain or being a paddle player in Spain and being a paddle player in in the UK?
SPEAKER_03Obviously, also you can so you mean you don't mean on court, you mean as a user experience. Yeah, yeah. Uh it's funny because in Spain, when everything started, uh you were seeing like first, like public courts, like you could play paddle for one or two euros, it was crazy, it was outdoors, but you can perfectly play outdoors in Spain. Um like some courts were not the best courts in the world, but they were okay, like you could play in them. Um then some paddle clubs started to open, these were private. Um again, they were not the best in the world, but if you take a look now in Spain, you can see that everything is going towards that premium feel and that premium look. Interesting. Um where on the other hand, you take a look at the UK from the very beginning, it was premium. Like you take a look at the club where we are now, um, Rocket Pile Bristol. I remember the first time that I uh came through that door and I saw the warehouse when they invited me for the launch event. I was like, what is this club? It's amazing, amazing. And that was like from day one, because yeah, this club is amazing, but I've seen some other clubs that they are also great. Um I don't know, like I went to Rocketeer like a few months ago and I was like, what a place! So in that sense, it's it's funny how from here they have committed to the to premium from the from the very beginning. The question is uh is there a space for non so premium clubs? Because I I know brands, I I know a lot of people that they would like to play more and they wouldn't care playing in a not that premium club if they can pay 60% of what they're paying now.
SPEAKER_01So and you're teeing me up so nicely with some of these questions. That's what I was gonna go on to. I mean, you you mentioned in Spain you can play for maybe one or two euros. Obviously, I'm assuming that's it's that's the cheapest of the cheapest. That's not everywhere, and then it's probably not like that anymore. But it's still remarkably like you know, I was out in Barcelona uh a few months ago, and I couldn't believe how it was like so cheap to play at the um Bella Paddle Center. It is there's no denying it's a very expensive sport to play in the UK. Yeah. What do you think that's do you think it's currently a problem? In the in the in the most purest sense of the word, do you think it's a problem currently, or do you think it could become a problem? Or or or it could go the other way and actually start to um become less of a potential issue?
SPEAKER_03It's a really hard question. At the end is uh supply and demand, right? I would like to know the answer.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03If we had uh two times more clubs, would it be cheaper? Or still everybody would go for the same price? I don't know the answer. Um is a problem for some things. Like, for example, let's say you really like Paddle, or you wanna be let's say you wanna become really good, you wanna play a lot. Where are you gonna get the money from? That's a problem for more people, for most people, I don't think it is. Like I um the only problem is that I would like to play more and I can't because I cannot spend 400 pounds a month playing paddle. Yeah. Understandable. Um but I go to every club at 6 p.m. and it's full. Yeah. So at the moment there is no there is no strong reason to lower the price. I mean, nobody's gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01And do you so let's uh you you mentioned earlier you still think we can do do more. There's an element of more in terms of more courts, but do you think we could do more in terms of the the way in which we actually play paddle? I know we're kind of convoluting back around to the Spanish and UK argument, but when I was again, my experience in the Bella Paddle Club, you watch all of these courts, the rallies are five times longer than some of the rallies I see of the same kind of standard of players here. Do you think we could like can you see if there's any progression with maybe people starting out and playing paddle how maybe not how it should be played, but certainly in the in how it might be played in in countries like Argentina and Spain?
SPEAKER_03I don't know, I think a lot about this. Um right now, if you take a look at both paddles, uh Spain is clearly slower, more tactical. You have uh people with really bad technique, really, really bad technique that they are able to set up a really good challenge to stronger players. Um, and on the other hand, in the UK, like for example, I remember when I came and I started playing tournaments. Uh, I was like, people are playing so we are here, like it's uh but it feels very uncomfortable for me because I'm not used to playing against this type of paddle. It's basically tennis in a parkour and they go like boom-boom-boom very fast, and um they block and they come to an end in a position that they shouldn't come to an end, but but they manage to win the point. So it's like now the question for me as a coach is if they manage to win the point, even though it goes against traditional pilot theory, is it the right approach or the wrong approach? So I don't think it's uh one is better than the other one. Um I think both have advantages, and and and I've learned a lot uh from coming to the UK, uh play with the stronger players here, and and um I don't know, like I remember the the last time I went to Spain and I was playing. Um someone said, Oh, you can you have a really nice backhand, you can really tell you you played tennis your whole life. I was like, I haven't. So I don't know if it has come with uh like maybe watching how everybody hits the backhand here. I don't know. Um paddle here is definitely faster. Uh you go when you go to the to LTA tournaments and you see the strongest players, you can clearly tell that some of them they were elite tennis players that they have transition and they have some skills that you will never see in Spain at a 5.5 playtomic padd match. But it has their advantages. Like at the end of the day, the the one that wins is the best one. If you play UK style and you win, perfect. You play you are 60 years old, 100 kilos, you play super slow, but you win.
SPEAKER_01That's the way to do it. Last of all, then, and you've said like you you just mentioned you played with some of like some of the some of the best players in in the UK, still so far behind in terms of the professional side of paddle in in ever getting close. You know, for example, now if you put some of probably Spain's top hundred, maybe the standard would still be out of some of our the best UK players. Do you do you see uh from a coaching perspective, or even just from being around UK paddle for a long time, do you see a pathway in which that there can be some professional UK paddle players in the next 20 years that could challenge in the in the latter stages of premier paddle tournaments? Do you do you think it's possible or or is it just gonna be Argentina and Spain dominating and potentially obviously like Spain and France are coming through as well. I'm sorry, Italy and France are coming through as well. But do you feel like the UK could have a place there?
SPEAKER_03I mean, some other countries I think they will definitely uh join the the list sooner or later. And I I don't think it'll be uh Spain and Argentina forever.
SPEAKER_01Um which other countries do you do you think?
SPEAKER_03Like, for example, France is starting pretty well. Uh no, Netherlands, they also have like uh quite strong uh players. Um any further a Belgium, a Belgian guy that I watch watching him in Premier Madrid that he was able to beat uh like really really strong couples. So they will eventually come. Um in the UK I I feel it's harder. Like I don't think if everything stays as it is right now, I don't think we will see a super pro paddle player in uh 20 years. Um if at some point something changes, we still we start having like stronger programs, we start having more juniors, we start having like a proper structure, and we make it affordable. Because as we said earlier, like if I have to pay just for the course 15 pounds every time I play, and on top of that, I have to pay a coach or whatever, whatever, whatever. It's impossible. And and and you need a lot of people, like it's not the same. I I I see like some of the strongest uh players, like strongest junior players, and I speak with their dads, and they are frustrated because they they they wanna do more, but they can't. What are you gonna do? Like, are you gonna send your kid to Spain uh six months a year? Uh, can you pay that every uh okay? You're staying in the UK. How do you wanna train? Who is that kid wanna train with? Like, you don't have a group of 20 kids of that level. So it's it's very tough.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So are you saying that the chance for me to maybe be at another Olympics playing paddle is low?
SPEAKER_02I think it's uh between zero and zero point zero one percent.
SPEAKER_01Honestly, that's all that's all I wanted from this podcast. Gonzalo, absolute pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for coming on. Really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03Thank you. I really enjoyed the the interview. Really good questions, Alex.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.