Meet Sandy Farquharson – the net expert

From being one’s last desperate choice to becoming the first source for many padel players around the world.

Through The Padel School, Sandy Farquharson has become one of the most famous padel inspirers online.

– The sport is developing rapidly and it feels great to be a part of that development, he says.

Sandy Farquharson, from Great Britain, has always been curious. Therefore, it was love at first sight when he tried padel. But there was a problem – the sport was still in its infancy outside Spanish-speaking countries. This meant that he barely found any information in English when he searched for inspiration and training tips.

– I tried to learn Spanish and all expressions, but it was frustrating and eventually I experienced that many others had the same worries, says Sandy.

As a retired professional tennis player, however, he was relatively easy to learn to play – and soon he became a coach himself. To simplify the training, he started recording videos for his clients with simple exercises. Movies that also reached others and the number of viewers increased.

The Padel School became huge

It was the start of something big. Through the website The Padel School and its social medias, he explains everything you need to know to become a better player. Today, for example, Sandy Farquharson’s Youtube channel has a total of more than twelve million views (as of May 25^th) and an average of 500,000 per month. That makes him one of the great inspirers in the padel world.

– Every time I come out on the field I think about what I should do next time. But now I get more and more questions from viewers, which makes it easier. Extra fun is that there are followers from all corners of the world. This morning, for example, there was a question from a player in Bahrain, a pretty unusual padel country, says Sandy and laughs.

However, it was precisely in the Persian Gulf that he discovered the sport. After a career on the professional tennis tour, which was followed by a time as a coach on both the WTA and ATP tours, he ended up in Dubai to work at a tennis academy. One day a padel competition was arranged in the area and one player was missing. Sandy got the question.

– I became someone’s last desperate choice, he says and continues:

– After that day, I have never looked back and pretty soon afterwards, the competition organizer asked if I wanted to stay and be responsible for the facility. Leaving my tennis career was one of the easiest decisions I have made. I had been training and playing competitions since I was 6–7 years old. It was fun to learn something new again. The timing was perfect.

Was educated by ”The godfather of padel”

He traveled to Spain and trained with some of the most reputable Spanish coaches. Among others, Horacio Clementi, whom he calls ”The godfather of padel”.

– He was the first one I came across. Imagine my luck, says Sandy and laughs.

At the same time, his own game developed rapidly as well. Which eventually led to success internationally. In addition to being a recognized guru in training theory, he represents the British national team, for which he has played both the European Championships and the World Cup. He will continue to do so – even if his own playing career is not of the highest priority.

– I focus on my own training mainly as the championships approaches. Unfortunately, we do not have such a high level in the UK so far, which makes it difficult to find good players to play with here.

Wants to develop British padel

In that matter, he hopes to contribute to a change in the future – when he after a time abroad, has moved back to his home country again.

– I want to help clubs and coaches to conduct real quality training and raise the level of the game. But then it is important that there are coaches who can train the players as well.

– Our vision in The Padel School is to help the sport to grow all over the world and we believe that everyone should have access to good training.