'You’re always playing in doubles, so it's very social, and it's an easy game to pick up and get going with' - Jos Buttler
Padel is taking the world by storm - and Jos Buttler is right at the heart of it.
The England star and 4CAST member was introduced to the sport by a friend a few years ago, and immediately took to it.
We caught up with Jos to find out about the benefits of padel, and why it's become a go-to option for England cricketers who want to maintain their mobility away from their own sport.
"I’m a huge lover of padel," said Jos.
"I played a lot of tennis as a kid growing up and played quite a bit of squash, so the blend is perfect for me, and I find tennis quite hard at the minute.
"Once you've been out of tennis for a while, to sort of get back into it, especially the serve [is tough].
"I find with padel it's so easy: underarm serve, you’re always playing in doubles, so it's very social, and it's just an easy game to pick up and get going with.
"So I think that's the initial attraction, and why it's so addictive is because you can have a really good game straight away as a complete beginner, and then I think the more and more you play the more you realise how different the levels are.
"You realise how much more variety there is to the game than just sort of a lob and a smash and trying to hit it as hard as you can."
Jos was invited to the Padel ProAm at Padium, and he almost walked away with a trophy.
"It was great," he said. "Imet a few guys [who are] GB players, who open your eyes to... oh my god, like, the way they're playing the sport is incredibly different!
"So it was really fun to play with them, and mix with other celebs who are obviously padel lovers as well.
"It was gutting to lose the final to Sam Billings! But they made me the VP, probably because Sam already won a racket because he won the final.
"Yeah, I need to have a rematch with him!"
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