Padel coaching has helped Jo Robinson turn her life around after she went through a succession of traumatic life events.
Jo is a long-standing Level 2 squash and racketball coach and Surrey county player in both sports, as well as a keen tennis player and LTA Level 1 coaching assistant. Until a few years ago, her coaching had mostly been in volunteer roles, but events of 2020 forced her into some major career changes.
Just before the pandemic began, Jo’s marriage broke down and at the same time, her mum fell ill and went into a care home.
Suddenly living alone and wanting a new direction, Jo decided to enrol on an LTA padel coaching course, which was due to take place on March 21 and 22 that year. But with tutor Sandy Farquharson stuck in Dubai as international travel was suspended in those frightening early days of the pandemic, the course was cancelled. Lockdown in the UK was called the following day.
Jo was unable to visit her mother in the care home and she sadly passed away six months later. Jo suffered the additional stress of clearing out and selling her Mum’s house, organising a Zoom funeral and dealing with probate at the same time as financial separation issues with her husband.
Like all of us, Jo wasn’t able to meet up with friends for support during what was already a period of trauma and uncertainty due to Covid-19.
When lockdown was eventually lifted, it was padel that enabled Jo to put her life back together.
“I’ve been through a horrible time,” she tells The Padel Paper. “But padel has been a lifesaver.
“I saw the potential to cross over from squash and racketball coaching into padel and give myself a way of paying the bills. I also spotted how much joy padel gives to everyone who plays it. It turned out to be a huge turning point.”
Jo completed a three-day coaching course led by the legendary Argentine Mauri Andrini from Hello Padel Academy, held at Padel United in Maldon, Essex. “Those three days taught me how to play padel,” she reflects. She then got a place on the first pilot LTA Padel Instructor course and took the LTA Intro to Padel course too.
She said: “The LTA Instructor course taught me so much about all the essentials, how to structure a lesson and how to progress a player. The course is very intense and high-level.
“I would also recommend Intro to Padel to any tennis or squash coach because there’s a dearth of padel coaches and, as more courts are built, there’s more demand from clubs for people to start coaching programmes.”
Jo is now a padel coach at three clubs – Epsom Lawn Tennis Club (which has three courts), Oxshott Village Sports Club (two courts) and Ashtead Squash and Tennis Club (one). She particularly loves coaching fellow seniors (she is 64) and juniors.
“For me, it’s not about making money – it’s about affecting people’s lives positively,” she states. “I’m very passionate that, whatever age you are, sport is absolutely vital for physical, mental and social wellbeing.
“Padel has been a great source of happiness for me. Through padel and my coaching, I’ve got a massive support network and I’m helping to bring the joy of padel into other people’s lives too!
“I’ve turned my life around. I’m a happier, more giving, more empathetic person because of what I’ve been through. I’ve got freedom, independence and can go on holiday when I want to! Padel has given me a new career and a new life.”
In addition to padel lessons and courses, Jo organises junior rackets camps, social rackets sessions, cardio tennis, squash and racketball teams, tennis singles leagues, racketball sessions for seniors who are part of the University of the 3rd Age (u3a) and much more.
Coming from a squash background herself, Jo is fascinated by studying squash and tennis players’ different strengths and weaknesses on a padel court – and how she can help each cohort adapt to the 20×10.
“Squash players are obviously comfortable off the glass, stay at the back of the court and like to drive and chop the ball. Tennis players want to chip and charge to the net and hit the ball really hard with top spin. But neither is proper padel.
“Because it’s an easy game to play and they already have skills, tennis and squash players rock up and think they don’t need to have coaching. But they don’t understand the tactics, positions and nuances. Even one or two sessions with a coach to learn the basic tactics and positioning will help, because ultimately it’s a different sport. I teach ‘proper padel’ right from the first lesson.”
As well as coaching, Jo has quickly become an accomplished padel player. She plays at several clubs, taking part in mixed and ladies’ matches in the iPadel Club League, Surrey League and national competitions. She still plays and coaches squash and racketball and plays tennis, but says her ratio is now 80% padel.
She says: “I hope my story can inspire others who might be nearing retirement age and might be struggling with mental health issues or other adversity behind closed doors. You can change your life with a positive attitude and any kind of healthy sport or exercise is key to achieving that.”
Jo’s story is part of a series on The Padel Paper called Padel and Me. Has padel played an important role in your life? Let us know by emailing: info@thepadelpaper.com
