All-Out Padel is ‘England’s first’ LGBTQ padel club

All-Out Padel – believed to be England’s first LGBTQ padel club – has held its first session at Rocks Lane in west London.

Founded by 47-year-old Lance Shacknofsky, All-Out Padel have a regular social on the last Sunday of the month at the Chiswick venue which includes two hours of padel under covered courts with food and drink afterwards. (Follow them on Instagram for more info)

Lance, originally from Australia, is part of a LGBTQ squash group that plays at Finsbury Leisure Centre in north London, but he wanted to diversify into padel after playing the game in Spain.

He owns a property in Marbella and got into padel through his elderly neighbours who invited him down to their local padel club.

Back in the UK, he initially found it difficult to find a padel court, playing with a friend on the courts at Hyde Park and Regents Park irregularly. But Rocks Lane have now agreed to booking out their courts regularly to accommodate the newly-formed club.

Members only decided on the name ‘All-Out Padel’ after being contacted by The Padel Paper for an interview!

Lance, who owns an accounting business, told us: “We thought as you were writing an article about us, we’d better give ourselves a name!

“It was so kind of Rocks Lane to set aside a couple of hours for our first session. It’s a really nice way to meet new people and half the group at last week’s first session had never played padel before.

“The social element is so important. It gives people an outlet to be active but also make new friends. The team element to it makes it a lot more sociable than squash. It was really successful. The feedback has been really positive.”

Lance added: “It just so happens we’re gay, but it’s not the most important thing. Anyone can play and is welcome to join our group. We just want time on court to enjoy this brilliant sport!”

• Regular readers of The Padel Paper will recall our article in July 2022 where we revealed that the UK’s first LGBT+ padel group, the Colinton Squashers and Padelers, had been making a racket in Edinburgh.

To join the All-Out Padel WhatsApp group, just scan the QR code below!