Great Britain star Tia Norton says she has “rekindled her love of padel” after going through a difficult period where she “lost herself” and her appetite for the game dwindled.
Over the summer, Tia surrendered her British No.1 ranking for the first time in her career (to Aimee Gibson) and became frustrated with the “speed dating” game of finding a regular partner to compete with at FIP Tour events. As her world ranking drifted further away from the top 100, she realised she needed to make “a few life changes” in order to rediscover the hunger for competition.
“I’m not going to shy away from saying it, I was not in a very good place mentally a couple of months ago,” Tia tells The Padel Paper. “There were a few factors contributing to it, but I’m on the horizon now and feeling good.”
Tia was the child star of British padel when she first represented GB at the age of 12 at the World Junior Championships in Mexico. With nine years of top-level competition, training and travelling under her belt already at the age of just 21, it’s perhaps unsurprising that she started to experience some mental fatigue.
As results became inconsistent this year, Tia’s world ranking stubbornly refused to break through the 100 mark – a milestone that the LTA had publicly targeted for its top men and women players at the beginning of 2023. “It’s very, very easy in sport to get too focused on results and ranking and where your position is,” stated Tia. “I think I lost myself in that a little bit. I was very focused on my position and lost the enjoyment in why I was doing it. I had to take some time away to rekindle myself.
“It is, of course, annoying that you’re not there [in the top 100], but I just have to trust what I’m doing and eventually I’ll get there. Just playing as many tournaments as I can, trusting the process in terms of training and letting the universe do its thing.”
One of the “life changes” she has made in the last couple of months is a move to the Netherlands to train at the Hello Padel Holland Academy with new Dutch playing partner Stephanie Weterings, the world No.89. Tia and Stephanie’s new partnership is already proving fruitful; in their first month together, they’ve reached the final at FIP Rise Sassuolo in Italy, the quarter-finals at FIP Rise Stratford (losing 6-3 7-5 to the eventual title winners) and won the title at last weekend’s FIP Promotion Houten.
“I came here [Holland] for the first time in August and instantly really enjoyed the training and got on well with the coach so that was a big tick,” Tia said. “That’s been something I’ve struggled to find. It’s a good, consistent level. I’m training with new people, new coach, new partnership, just basically having fun again and being able to enjoy who I’m playing and training with.
“Knowing that there’s no pressure on me having to organise my own training all the time and finding new partners every week…. I’ve now got a bit more security in that sense and it has allowed me to relax a bit more and focus on just playing instead of all the other external factors.
“Stephanie and I want to continue playing together. We’re taking each tournament as it comes and analysing as we go. Some weeks are going to be better than others, but being in the same training base is definitely beneficial because you can work on certain things in your partnership, certain ways of playing and tactics. When you’re changing partners every week it’s difficult because you’re having to understand and adjust to people’s game play, so it’s not a consistent experience.”
Tia says another factor in her mental refresh was her experience at the European Championships in Sardinia. Great Britain’s women were denied a place in the quarter-finals by, ironically, a Netherlands side that featured Tia’s new partner Stephanie. However, the spirit within the GB camp was still galvanising for the British No.2.
“The Euros was a big shifting point really,” she said. “A big part of it was soul-destroying but it was a very positive week for me personally. It was a week when everyone was working together as a team, there were a lot of people around me, lots of support. I personally really felt the love that week and that really changed things for me.”
The Netherlands’ victory over GB in Sardinia meant that they qualified for next week’s World Championships in Doha. Stephanie will be there representing Holland, so Tia will once again search for a partner for next week’s FIP event in Spain. However, they will be back on court together for FIP Star Kaunas in Lithuania on 5 November.
“It’s not always going to be a steady road,” admits the star from Leamington Spa. “There are going to be dips, and those dips make you appreciate the better moments a lot, lot more. Of course, I’m not expecting it to be happy days all the time. If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. But I feel like I’ve rekindled my love for padel.”
