Padel in Ericeira - who needs surf?
Joooking, calm down surferboyzzz. Sorry, but I just like people who prioritise padel over surf 🙃 On a random spring day in April 2023, I took an Uber with ma fav Uber driver, Flavio. I asked him if he has been playing some ping pong (as I played a lot during that time in Ericeira). And he's like nooooo, but I started playing padel. Me: What? - Him: Padel. - Me: What? Him: ... Opening YouTube and showing me my fav new hobby ...
Since then, people have occasionally accused me of greeting them and then asking them within the first 5 sentences to join the next padel match. My way of small talk 😂
CoolGym's Ericeira padel prices
There is one major padel place in town called CoolGym CoolPadel, and one minor padel place called Santa Marta Park (but that one has an ocean view). Padel is played with 4 people on one court, 2 people on each side; similar to tennis.
Once you have 4 people together - the easiest way to book a padel court at CoolGym is to WhatsApp them via +351964718655. Second-easiest way to book is by getting their app Tie Player and see at which times courts are still available. CoolGym is where I play every week and take padel lessons. Very cool team - they even have team shirts with “I'm cool(gym)” written on. You can also have a pre- or post-padel extra gym session and shower there.
Padel Ericeira prices for CoolGym (5-9pm):
€30 per court (4 people) for 1h - rackets included
€38 per court (4 people) for 1.5h (where are my Sparfüchse?) - rackets included
Santa Marta Park's Ericeira padel prices
Easiest way to book the Santa Marta Park's ocean view padel court is to go there in person during the office opening hours and pay with any Portuguese or international credit card.
Opening hours of the office to book a court:
Monday to Friday: 10am - 1pm and 3pm - 7pm
Saturday: 9am - 1pm and 3 - 6pm
Padel Ericeira prices for Santa Marta Park:
€25 per court (4 people) for 1h + €2 per racket
Fun fact 1: On the first day I started working on this website, I went for my first ocean view padel game in the evening (to get my brain off this addictive stuff). Fun fact 2: I could see the ocean view padel court from my last flat (circled in red) 😎
No padel mates (yet), no cry
You have nobody to play with? Subscribe to the newsletter, and I'll add you to our padel WhatsApp group, where we organise games. I strongly recommend this option 🤓💃🔊🎾
The other option is to text CoolGym on +351964718655 to join their open matches, which they organise on two days each week:
- Fridays 7:30 - 9:30 pm men & women mixed padel tournament for €13 with snacks included at the end
- Wednesdays 1 - 3 pm men & women mixed padel tournament for €11.50 with a drink at the end. Plus they prioritise signups from women, if they sign up before Tuesday 1pm (ruuuules are rules - even though the CoolGym team is not even German?!)
Padel in Ericeira: more of a social sport
Some people say padel is “more of a social sport” - and yea, if you're not playing against people who challenge you, you might not move too much and rather chat in between. The most social aspect of it is, actually, that most people can learn it pretty quickly.
Don't worry if you're an absolute beginner, there are many other beginners around. At both padel places in town, when you rent a court, you also can borrow a racket. So whenever you're gonna turn up to your first padel match, bring water and normal sports clothes - that's it, no racket needed :) Btw, the picture below is me, on the day that I built the first pieces of this website.
Why I can't wait to play padel after work in Ericeira
Actually, I correct myself - the most social part of the game is, that you can annooooooooy people so badly. Like, my focus reaches its highest level if I want to “corner” a certain friend. Which means hitting the ball in a way that it hits the glass in the corner, and they have no chance getting it. Best if I cornered them a few seconds before in the opposite corner. Hehe 👹
Not joking, that's what I look forward to during work, when I know padel is on tonight. I think about how badly I will annoy my friends. Aaand how flowy it will be to dance in between - because we're listening to hip hop or 2000er dance hits while playing.
Padelmeplease = challenge me please
While everyone can learn it pretty easily, at the same time, you can improve soo much in it, learn so many techniques and challenge each other. That's why I take padel lessons now, and I still have this amazing feeling of “ohh I don't want the lesson to be over, I want to keep learning”.
So yea, I am soaking up all the padel techniques at the moment that Vasco teaches us at CoolGym. Some people say he's the “most wanted man in town”, because padel and padel lessons are sooo hyped, he's sooo booked out. We need another trainer in town, aye?
It's so much hyping that you can play it now everywhere. Even in tiny Taghazout in Morocco, a 5-star hotel built a new ocean view padel court. Berlin is a nightmare and all the evening spots are booked out way in advance!
I love padel - why did I never try tennis before?
Usually people (men) who played tennis before, are pretty good in padel. Just as interior-designer-Richard, who has been a tennis coach on Fuerteventura in his past life (wanna book him here 🤓?) Tennis somehow never gave me the impression that it's easy and quick to learn, although turns out it's not tooo difficult either. I joined the Cowork & Tennis at BreakPoint a few times and enjoyed it :)
Graphic-design-Laura and dog-sitting-Laura is btw also a tennis-girl aaaand a padel-girl as you can see below (but mainly a running-girl).
For a proper sweat: run, don't padel in Ericeira
The one thing I don't like about padel is that it's usually not toooo sweaty. But to feel my lungs burning, I have ma Sunday 9 am running + dipping + coffeeing group. When I'm completely sweaty after running with all the marathon pros - then dippping into the ocean almost feels like a warm baby bath. The endorphins afterwards, sipping ma espresso in the sun, aiaiaiaiai!
