Community Circles: Ripping up the Rankings Playbook
As we’ve touched on before, the traditional padel rating system can be a barrier to enjoyment, rewarding power over tactics, and turning a social sport into something that’s altogether more judgmental. Now it’s time to reveal Community Circles, the official new name that neatly sums up our solution. We don’t rate or rank players, we build a loose pooling system more akin to rugby and cricket where you might have a first team squad and a second team squad, but players often float between the two. The same thing works at UK PADEL. Now, each “squad” (or circle) features a wide range of skill sets and abilities. Everyone plays to their strengths, and the result is more closely contested, enjoyable matches.
There will still be some methodology: fixed brackets for beginners, improvers, intermediates, and advanced players. But there is absolutely no “ceiling”, no limit to how far you can go. The focus is now, as it should be, on finding a good competitive game rather than measuring your worth as a padel player.
Over 60 County Cup: It’s All About Regional Pride
More than 200 players will hit Rocket Padel Bristol next weekend (4-6 September) to compete for county glory in the Over 60 Padel County Cup. Men’s, Women’s and Mixed teams from 22 counties and regions across Britain are fighting for glory, with Yorkshire, East Scotland and Surrey defending their titles. Lateral joins as the competition’s new partner, championing active ageing and longevity through sport, we’ve invited journalists to give padel a go in a two-hour window each day, and we’re even asking for budding commentators to give us a hand! Fancy a go? Email neil@ukpadel.org if you’re keen to grab the mic!
Exciting Features in the New UK PADEL app
Have you downloaded the new UK PADEL app yet? It’s like a souped-up version of the booking website you’ve been using for months, with brilliant extras built in. Message other players directly, add matches straight to your calendar, create an open match, book a private lesson and set up automatic Circle movement – it’s all there. Chat is available for coaching, open matches and admin, so everyone’s connected. Customise your alerts and enjoy full multi-club capability: wherever you play, it’s all in one place. And there are loads more features coming soon. Search ‘UK PADEL’ in the App Store or Google Play to download.
Your Rallies: Best of the Action
This latest Top 5 Plays are in, and it’s a cracker of a list. Harley Dixon pulls off an unbelievable reach and get at Holmer Green, before Newquay serves up pure movement, retrieval and grit. A Yorkshire’s Over 60s player finds an outrageous angle from last year’s County Championships, one player simply refusing to believe the point is lost. Topping the lot: glorious set-up and net play from Surrey, finished with an almighty smack. Five brilliant rallies, one winner – watch them all and tell us if you agree with our No. 1 pick or not!
Padel Set for Historic Asian Games Debut
Padel has been confirmed as a medal sport at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Japan, running from 19 September to 4 October in Japan. It’s another watershed moment for the sport’s global growth story as padel now joins tennis and squash in the racket sports programme, following its recognition by the Olympic Council of Asia last November. FIP President Luigi Carraro called it “a significant moment for our sport,” and with nearly 100 national federations now affiliated to the International Padel Federation, many see this as yet another step on padel’s road towards a possible Olympic debut with Brisbane 2032 still in scope.
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