Pink vs. Blue Team—Male and Female Padel Differences
Athletic disparities between men and women have much to do with inherent traits dictated by genetics and hormones. These include height, weight, muscular mass, body fat and aerobic ability.
Generally, women do not run, leap or swim as quickly as males. Women are also more prone to some kinds of sports injuries than males.
There are apparent performance differences in terms of gender and match outcome when it comes to technical and tactical aspects of professional padel.
Findings show substantial differences exist between the women’s and men’s performances, whereas no particular technical and tactical aspect seems to discriminate between the winning and losing performance.
This means that winning a padel match is achieved through different playing styles.
So what exactly are the differences in men and and women padel players?
Estrogen
Due to greater estrogen levels, women have more body fat than males. The leanest female athletes, such as elite marathon runners, have body fat of about 8 percent, compared with 4 percent for their male counterparts.
In addition, women’s bodies are less muscular, but their joints are more flexible, which allows them a better range of motion. The larger female pelvis also influences the posture and
mobility of the extremities. Men have more significant amounts of testosterone, which provides them a performance edge in various ways.
In professional padel matches, 80 percent of rallies were resolved within the first 11 minutes. However, when comparing results based on the gender of the players, the mean length of rallies recorded during World Padel Tour 2016 matches was much longer in the women’s competition than in the men’s tournament.
This only goes to show that women are more equipped for longer rallies with higher stamina compared to male players.
Testosterone
Testosterone promotes the development of bigger skeletal muscles and larger hearts in males. This means that men have a greater percentage of Type 2 muscular fibers responsible for generating power, strength, and speed. Men who have higher testosterone levels also produce more red blood cells, which increases their aerobic capabilities.
This sheer advantage in power is beneficial for power offensive moves in padel such as the smash.
The smash is the most effective technique for both genders, with around one-third of winning strokes.
This prevalence of over-head strokes could also be determined by the execution of antecedent previous wrong lobs, which could have been performed due to the need of defending against the opponents’ attacking close to the net by sending the back to the baseline.
Women generally make more backhand strokes while men make more backhand volleys in professional padel tournaments. This higher frequency of backhand strokes could be associated with the prevalence of strokes performed from the midfield zone and close to the net.
Regardless of power differences, employing the right strategy at the right time will surely make you win a padel match whether you’re from the pink team or the blue team!
Injuries
Women are more prone to injuring joints such as the shoulders and knees. Weaker shoulder muscles and looser supporting tissues mean the joint is less stable than in men.
The injury rate to the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, a major knee ligament, is significantly higher in females than in male athletes. By proper training and strengthening of supporting muscles, women can prevent such injuries.
