The Joy of Padel podcast with Jack Binstead

Jack Binstead is a multi-talented actor and athlete. He is best known for his role as Rem Dogg in the popular BBC Comedy Series “Bad Education”. Through his work, Jack has become an advocate for greater diversity and inclusivity in the entertainment industry, helping to promote a more authentic representation of people with disabilities. He’s also an athlete, having represented Team GB and, having discovered padel in the summer of 2023, has founded and participated in Team GB Adaptive Padel. He practices and plays at the Rocks Lane Club in Chiswick, a 10-court club, founded by the Warren brothers, that is proudly promoting inclusivity in this sport. Jack played in the Inclusive Padel Tour in Dubai. We discuss his life journey, picking up padel and what are his favourite padel shots and players.

To find out more about Jack Binstead:

• Find or follow on Instagram: @JackBinstead
• See Jack training at the Chiswick Rocks Lane club
• Find Jack’s influential TikTok channel here
• Find Jack’s StandUp channel on YouTube here.

To listen to the show:

To listen to The Joy of Padel podcast, you can use the embedded player above, or go find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any number of other podcasting services listed here.

Send in your questions or reactions:

Please send me your questions — as an audio file if you’d like — to nminterdial@gmail.com. Otherwise, below, you’ll find the show notes and, of course, you are invited to comment. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to review and/or rate it! ¡VAMOS!

Further resources for The Joy of Padel:

The Joy of Padel podcast is brought to you in association with Padel1969, who are proud to create one of the best padel product and service offerings in the world. Padel1969 believes in passion, joy, and integrity. We respect the DNA and roots of Padel – from Acapulco since 1969. To check all their full offer in padel courts, equipment and savoir faire, please go visit the Padel1969 site.

Meanwhile, you can find Minter’s other Evergreen podcasts, entitled The Minter Dialogue Show (in English and French) in this podcast tab, on Megaphone or via Apple Podcasts.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS: padel, disability, wheelchair, life, play, jack, padel tennis, sport, people, tennis, ball, adaptive, great, lane, work, wheelchair racing, listen, achieve, players, legs

SPEAKERS: Jack Binstead, Minter Dial

Minter Dial  00:11

Hola chicas y chicos. So, many thanks for joining me on the Joy of Padel podcast, spreading and sharing the supreme delight of this wonderful and fast-growing game. I’m your host Minter Dial, and this podcast is brought to you by Padel1969, the largest manufacturer of premium padel courts. One Court for Life by Padel1969. The Joy of Padel is part of the Evergreen Podcast Network. For more information about this network, please go check out their site, Evergreenpodcasts.com.

So, this is the second season for the Joy of Padel. And, as with last season, we’ll be running an episode once every fortnight. Please let us know what you think about the show by putting up a rating and a review.

So, for this number two episode of the second season, it’s with Jack Binstead. Jack’s a multi-talented actor and athlete. He’s best known for his role as REM Dogg in the public BBC comedy series Bad Education. Through his work, Jack has become an advocate for greater diversity and inclusivity in the entertainment industry, helping to promote a more authentic representation of people with disabilities. He’s also an athlete, having represented Team GB after only having discovered padel in the summer of 2023. He has founded and participated in the Team GB adaptive padel. He practices and plays at the Rocks Lane club in Chiswick, a 10-court club that I love to play at, founded by the Warren brothers that is proudly promoting inclusivity in the sport. Jack played in the inaugural inclusive padel tour in Dubai. In this conversation we discuss his life journey, picking up padel, and what are his favorite padel shots and pro players. An inspiring, uplifting, dare I say joyful conversation. Vamos! Jack Hot Wheelz with a Zed Binstead. It is great to have a left-hander on my show. I got to see you play. We go to the same club. And I’m really very excited to have you on my show. In your own words Jack, who is Jack?

Jack Binstead  02:34

Well, I am Jack. I am a 27-year-old actor by trade, turned sportsman, and I am currently captain of the England adaptive padel team.

Minter Dial  02:48

Holy smokes. So, actor let’s start with that. Yeah, how did you get into acting and what sort of acting you do?

Jack Binstead  02:55

So, I actually started out as an athlete, when I was about nine years old, I got introduced to disability sport, it wasn’t something that I’d ever fought about. It wasn’t something that I knew that I could do with my disability. But I was always very keen to play sports. And so, I ended up having a junior career as a wheelchair racism athlete, which was incredible for me, it really gave me this confidence in this lease of life to go out there and achieve. And I went and set records and I went and traveled around Europe and I competed in a lot of high level then. And that led to me being recognized by an agent, a TV agent who had her own agency, which was specifically for people with disabilities. And, and she wanted me to be on her books. She said I had a great confidence on TV when I was interviewed from the racing. I took that opportunity. Why not? You know, it wasn’t a great, great opportunity to take on board. And that then led to me having a few modeling gigs. I had a few auditions, and I then landed comedy TV series on BBC Three called Bad education, which was a very controversial comedy written by Jack Whitehall. And I had a really great time on that show. I was one of the lead characters, we filmed free series, and then the movie. And it went on for a few years. It was a really big job, it changed everything for me. And I’ve done various acting roles in the years leading on from that I was quite okay to leave that life behind once I became a dad. And I sort of have other responsibilities in life other than just sort of, you know, myself and having fun and you know, I had to take on a different approach to life which I was very happy to do. And if I was able to fit acted into that world, then of course I would do so. So, I’m still loosely involved in the end history. I still I’m still with the same agent all these years later, it’s been something like 15. Now. Yeah, yeah. So, it’s been, it’s been a real whirlwind, and I’ve loved every bit of it.

Minter Dial  05:13

It reminds me a little bit of, of Jack of center, the Australian Open double opens winner, newly crowned where he was footballer. And he had another sport that he was very keen on ended up playing tennis. And what I’m thinking Jack, is, you’ve experienced multiple things, and I’m wondering to what extent that combination of things has brought you to where you are.

Jack Binstead  05:43

Yeah, I’m, I’m a big believer in that in life, you know, you almost have a butterfly effect, you do something and as a result that leads on to something else, and that there is a chain effect of, of you making, you know, the decisions that you make in life, you end up meeting people that have similar interests, and, and then they have interests, sort of along the same path, but you know, rather than acting or radio is podcasting, and you go and, you know, start a podcast, or, you know, you get into modeling, or you start doing our dance, you sort of there’s branches that come off of that. And, you know, I left the board behind when I was about 16 years old, because I had it in my head acting was like, This was me the rest of my life. This is my future. And I got into my early 20s. And, you know, had done well, just sort of following that path in life, I was so happy to leave sports behind and never really gave it a second thought. But yeah, ultimately, I do believe that I’ve sort of got to where I am now, because I’ve met the right people who introduced me to certain things. And so, I think you’re right, I think it’s a real combination of events.

Minter Dial  06:51

Yeah, I was remembering, Sinner was also a skier. The interesting thing, there was sort of the combination of different skills and everything. So, Jack, before we get into your padel life, I think it’s really important to talk about the disability that you have, because the way I listened to it when we were talking before is like, you do sports with that? Not the wheelchair, but why you’re in the wheelchair.

Jack Binstead  07:20

Yeah, so I have a genetic disability called brittle bones, it does exactly what it says on the tin, my bones break easier than normal. And I’m fortunate that as an adult, I don’t experience too much new injury to myself. It’s not totally impossible, it’s still easier than it is for you guys. But a lot of my damage was done as a kid. I’ve had 25+ surgeries, titanium rods and pins in all my legs. And, you know, I’ve broken somewhere near 100 bones in my life. But I’ve been quite fortunate as an adult to not be too massively affected by my experiences, and padel and so forth. So, I think I’m quite lucky in that respect.

Minter Dial  08:08

Which is a remarkable attitude. Because I’ve done three surgeries in my life, my shoulder and knees and the idea of getting back on skis, because my knees had done the surgery and all that is almost traumatizing. And I can’t imagine what it’s like, I’ve had so many breaks, surgeries and all that, and yet throwing yourself into sports.

Jack Binstead  08:37

Yeah, I don’t know, I just, I think the first the first sort of the most part, 10 years of my life was me trying to live an ordinary life, go to school, have friends, and do sports and go to my friend’s parties and sleepover. And I did my very best to sort of live that, that normal life. And every couple of months, there was a big leg break or arm break or something that got in the way. And I was I was, you know, drawn towards this, this second life that I had, which was pain and frustration and anger and me sitting in a hospital ward, you know, just not able to move, which was a nightmare for me, because I just love moving and playing sports and being free. You know, and I couldn’t do that. So, I think once they sort of got to a certain point, sort of early teens, for me that was like, this is kind of an opportunity to go off and just do as many things as humanly possible and then choosing the ones that I want to stick with in life. So, but I mean, I don’t know too much about how I curated the mentality to be able to do that. I think I just I set loose goals. And if I was able to achieve those, it then gave me the leeway to create new goals and it was ticking them off one by one rather than aiming so high that you can’t even See it, it was actually achieved. And, you know, even if that meant like, being able to get out of bed or just sitting in my wheelchair, you know, the difference between the two actually can be incredibly drastic if you take into account what you’ve been through. And you’ve faced a lot of mind over matter, but it’s obviously the physical element to it. You’re heating broken bones. But I remember this, I broke my tibia and my fibula completely in half, five days before the London Junior marathon, when I was 12 years old, and I spent my whole winter training for it. And I broke it five days beforehand. And I said to the doctors, I say, I don’t know what you got to do here, but I haven’t raced to do on Sunday. And they looked a lot. Like there’s no chance, dude, your leg is off, like, There’s no way. And I made them put my leg back slab socket, I just sort of temporary version of the plaster cast that only went up to the knee, which they weren’t advising, they wanted to be above the knee. And I told him, No, you can’t do it. And I got into my race and wheelchair on the Saturday. And I gave it a little push up and down my road to see if it was possible. And ultimately, I knew that it was entirely hospitals me to stop this race. My pain threshold was, of course, a lot higher than most people’s. But to that degree, I was impressed. And I got on the start line and the horn went off and we all started racing. And my dad actually he had he trained with me when I was on the road, he had his bike. And he actually cycled the path of the London gym just in case I had the tight tap out, you know, I couldn’t make the whole thing. And at one point in time, he was just like an alarm. And he was like, Where the hell was Jack? I can’t I don’t know where he’s going. And he went back because he figured I tapped out and stopped and he hadn’t realized. And next thing he knows he’s got a call come through from my mom. And she goes, where are you? And he goes, I’m looking for Jack and he won. He’s got his gold medal on his trophies, he’s about to meet Richard Branson, who gave me the you know, I just I sped off I had my head down and I just was determined to do it. And I won London wheelchair marathon that year.

Minter Dial  12:17

With a broken tibia and a broken?

Jack Binstead  12:20

Fibula. Yeah, the to the two shin bones.

Minter Dial  12:24

Yeah, I’m, I’m prepared to swear at this point. I mean, as in oh my golly gosh. So, that was a reduced version. But let’s, let’s talk about your arrival to parallel so you’ve done all this. I mean, amazing. Work through psychologically. I’m going to say physically. You also are the father of gorgeous girl, Daisy, as I understand and then all of a sudden, padel tennis, which has nothing to do with marathon running. No. What, what on earth got you into padel? How did that happen?

Jack Binstead  13:06

So, I have a very good friend of mine called Luke dolphin, who is now the England adaptive padel coach. He’s a fantastic rocks lane and padel coach Babolat sponsor sponsored player. And he Well, I’ve known him since my late teens, we don’t live too far from each other. So, we’ve met each other through friends and out socially, and kept that friendship but we also worked in similar industries in cybersecurity, and that’s sort of areas we work nine to five life over the course of our 20s and in one day, he turned around, he said, I’m leaving the cybersecurity and I said, Well, okay, well, what are you going to do? And he said, I’m going to coach Padel Tennis. Never heard of this in my life. But did you want to balance it? No, it’s great, you know, because he had a background in tennis and the way in, so does his dad. And I’m going to go play padel. I’m going to coach it at Rocks Lane in Chiswick. I’m going to go in and a few times, but over the course of the summer, last year, he said, Come down, come play padel. You going to love it. And I a few times, like I heard him, and I said, Yeah, can you Okay, sure. Like, I’ll do that. Yeah. And I just didn’t do it. And then about the third or fourth time, he said it, I thought, You know what, I’m available right now. I’m in between jobs. I’ve got the time to do it. So, I’m going to go. And I turned up at Rock Lane for my first session, and I’ve never played racquet sports in my life. I don’t have a tennis background. I very much wish I chose tennis over Marathon racing, in hindsight, because I could have I could have had many years on the tennis court to my name at this point in time, but I was given a racket and I was taught the rules and the way of playing and I smashed his ball around the court for an hour and I really opened some eyes. They I couldn’t believe that I had never played a racquet sport before. And ultimately that that for me in that moment I was going through some stuff my mentally last year is a bit of a darker place than I am now fortunately, and in that moment, when I was playing padel, everything went away. Every bad thought, and every frustrating, you know, contemplation in my mind, and I was in between jobs and financially struggling, but in this minute, I just forgot everything. I had the best hour, it was so good. You know, some people go to the gym and they lift weights or they do some cardio, and that gets rid of their, you know, their issues and their stress, even if just temporarily they helps them out. And I don’t get that from gym. That doesn’t work for me but I got it with padel. And I ended up coming back, you know, near enough every day for a month. I didn’t go home, I just played padel. And I learned in that time that there wasn’t a wheelchair team in England, it wasn’t entirely clear how many people in wheelchairs played padel in the country, even leisurely, I knew of myself and one other person initially. But I knew that there was teams, like big teams, 20-30 players, to a team in countries like Spain, Italy, across South America. And there were associations for padel for people who are in wheelchairs, and it’s referred to as adaptive padel as opposed to a wheelchair padel. I guess it depends on the association and your plan under because there’s the inclusive padel tool, which I’m very proud to be part of. And then there’s the Adaptive Padel Association, which is just wheelchairs. And I liked that. I liked that it’s not referred to necessarily as wheelchair padel because my teammate Rob Teague for the England wheelchair team, in England, Adaptive padel team, I should say, he is in a wheelchair, and that he’s playing tennis, he has a disability. But he’s not a wheelchair user until he plays tennis. And then he sits in a wheelchair and does it. So, I kind of like that for like the sake of inclusivity. Like it gets more people with disabilities playing. And that’s ultimately what it is. It’s disability. So, it’s a disability version of a sport.

Minter Dial  17:24

Wow. So, I want to say kudos to Luke. Hopefully you get to listen to this! That sounds like a beautifully, generous-spirited man that you have as a friend. And then my little wonky brain goes I think we all have disabilities at some level. I mean, some people, I watch some people and they have, you know, two able legs, able arms, but they can’t hidden a fucking lob for their lives. You know, I mean, the Disabilities is it’s a broader spectrum. It’s like, you know, rigid thinking is a disability for me, and not wanting to bend your legs, even though you can is a disability at some level, because you’re just not wiring yourself. So, you’ve now explored padel now. You represent GB for the adaptive team. And how would you describe how what padel is brought to you today?

Jack Binstead  18:31

I’m very grateful for padel I feel like it’s, you know, an opportunity that came around at the right time in life. You know, I very much live my life and looking for the next time. That’s something I adapted when I was quite young was I’m going to follow the signs in life, something, you know, comes my way. And it comes somewhat convenient, you know, a message I look at a bus randomly as read the message of the bus. And does that apply to my life right now was that a sign that bus couldn’t didn’t need to a drove past me it had to be on the road at this point in time. I really wanted to look for this sort of stuff in life for guidance. And, you know, look like that. Luke had brought this up to me, this was an opportunity, I needed something actually, I knew that I needed somebody to take my mind off where I was and a new opportunity in my life, the fact that this came around. I just felt like I had to actually go and take this and explore this. And I very well could have continued to say no, like I had done the first couple of times, and we wouldn’t be here now as a result. So, you know, I’m very grateful for a padel was done. I’m very excited for what’s to come. There’s a lot at stake here. And there’s a lot of plans that we now have as a team at rocks lane. So, I’m incredibly grateful. I’m incredibly excited. I feel like we can definitely make a big change here for our people.

Minter Dial  19:59

I think it’s worth giving a good old hat tip to Chris and Drew Warren at Rocks Lane, which is in Chiswick, in the west side of London for those of you listening from afar, and they have really shown a good commitment to this idea of adaptive and I love the idea how you just said before had to adapt. At some level that sort of like a life skill is learning how to adapt. So, let’s check for those of us, you know, who are listening most of us are, are typically able-bodied playing padel, how is padel different in adaptive padel?

Jack Binstead  20:36

In terms of actual rules sets, the only change is that we get two bounces like you do in wheelchair tennis. Everything else is very much the same. But the way in which we play and then the techniques behind what we do, that’s where you see the largest of differences. And as well, it’s worth mentioning as well, that because two people in wheelchairs are placed side by side, or because or against each other even, it’s not to say that they’re playing the same technique with the exact same way, because that’s where the difference in disability very much, you know, has an impact on how you play the game. Myself and Rob on the England team, we’re both fortunate to have full field into our legs, and we both have core muscles. So, that very much allows us to play a different way to somebody who will be paralyzed from the waist down. Or somebody who has perhaps, limited movement in their hands or fingers. They would typically play a different way to us, even though we’re both in aid of disabled people in wheelchairs, or is that whereas you guys would be able bodied people would typically all play kind of the same way.

Minter Dial  22:02

We’re completely incompetent to understand and translate. When I’m listening to you, Jack, you’re talking about paralyzed from the waist down, some elements of core, able to move the legs. My ability to translate that and understand what that is, for me anyway, I’m maybe just because I’m mentally incompetent, I just don’t even gauge. It’s not even a factor of a thought. So, it’s really interesting for you to bring the nuance of how the different types of disabilities create different abilities.

Jack Binstead  22:41

Yeah.

Minter Dial  22:42

And challenges.

Jack Binstead  22:44

Yeah, absolutely. I, you know, I think I have a, maybe a better understanding and some around this because of my background with the with the wheelchair racing. Because at that level playing that sport, there was enough about worldwide and there’s enough of us in the UK that you’ve had clubs of people with disabilities competing. So, you had disability classification, as you would do any Paralympics and you know, any, again, you’d be classified as an able bodied, absolutely. But we had disability classification, that’s very much put you into groups based on your disability. So, you would never find someone with cerebral palsy you run in the same country meters as someone who was a dwarf, because the abilities and what you’re able to do is very much different. So, I was I was in the button sort of most able whilst being disabled of the categories because I had access to my core muscles. And I had full use of my hands and arms.

Minter Dial  23:46

And that’s funny.

Jack Binstead  23:50

Yeah, is that track and field. Less so in the field. In road racing, they kind of all put you on one start line. But if you’re racing on a track, then they would do all the T54s, as I was referred to track 54. We would all race together. You wouldn’t find somebody who was a T54 competing against somebody he was a T53. Because as the numbers go down, the disability heightens. So, actually, you know, as a T54 15-year-old athlete, my 400-meter personal best was somewhere around, I think it might have been somewhere around 55 seconds. And if you look at what the world record was for a T52, for example, which is paralyzed from about chest down, I broke their world record twice over. So, you know, and I wasn’t a world record holder. So, that’s because the disability is incredibly more severe as you go along. So, it has to be fair and that’s not been adapted into padel yet, because there’s not enough of us to actually warrant classification.

Minter Dial  25:00

Well, just to lean into that thought, Jack, at 15, I think I was at 58 seconds for my 400 meters. Okay. So, you would have womped me. So, in terms of your padel today, you represent Britain, or England. What does that look like? Do you get to play in international tournaments?

Jack Binstead  25:25

Yes, yes. So, when I when I discovered that there wasn’t really any other wheelchair players playing, I did a little bit of searching and I made some great contacts within the LTA who gave me some insight towards wheelchair tennis players who perhaps were great fit for padel. I was in contact with our banya rod from the adaptive padel Association. She’s based in in France. And she gave me some insight again towards people that had emailed her regarding disability padel and adapted padel. And she gave me the name and number and email a few English wheelchair users who were interested in pedal. So, I contacted by myself and said, Look, I’m trying to build the first England wheelchair team, are you interested? And it was, like you said a massive shout out to Chris and Drew Warren because for them, they really have this vision of making padel more inclusive and they’ve really embrace that and that you know, it is incorporated through the entirety of Rocks Lane. It isn’t just a vision for them. It’s a vision for the club as a whole. And they’ve been invaluable help towards achieving this, but I managed to get some wheelchair tennis players down and I managed to source wheelchairs through the Dan Mascow Trust and through Mark Bullock at the LTA. And so, I’m in the process of growing as a team, and we do compete internationally, I was approached by the inclusive padel tour, which is run by a very amazing man called Alessandro. And through that we’ve now competed in Dubai, and in Milan, so never did I imagine… I didn’t know what padel tennis was in July. But I started playing it in August and I was in Dubai for a long weekend in November. So, you can see how quickly we managed to sort of turn this around and make it into something.

Minter Dial  27:42

Deeply adaptive. Jack! Tell me just from a technical standpoint, you’re left-handed. How different is your padel wheelchair versus your regular wheelchair? I mean, I know you drive you have your Mobi motobility, which I’ve seen which is a great video fun for everyone to watch is how different is the wheelchair? Because I mean, frankly, you have to have one hand I’m you know, really on the wheel moving you because you have the other hand that has the bat. So, it can’t be using at the same time. And how does, how does the wheelchair itself help you and how do you adjust or design the proper wheelchair for you?

Jack Binstead  28:29

So, there isn’t such a thing at this point in time as a as a padel wheelchair. We use tennis wheelchairs because you wouldn’t really need too much of a modification to adjust between the two sports. Tennis wheelchair does exactly what you need it to do. Generally speaking, a tennis wheelchair would be somewhere in the region of about seven to eight kilos in weight. The wheels are slanted on the axis so that you are able to turn a lot faster which is required in tennis or to get the ball or ultimately this very lightweight piece of kit. The wheelchairs that myself and Rob are currently using on the team are very, very basic chairs which the doneness build trust, incredible trust. I’ve got a range of chairs, and they’re meant for people at different levels in different racquet sports. So, these are very basic chairs. They’re very heavy, and they’re not ideal. The wheelchairs actually weigh 15 kilos, so they’re very basic, but they’re sort of chairs that you would send out in both countries in Africa, for kids with disabilities over there to try sport for the first time and it’s an incredible, you know, experience for them. It really gives them a lot of hope and opportunity and I’ve been using this chair now since August. And I’m very grateful for what I’ve been able to achieve in that chair. But the one of the big next steps for us at the England team is to bring on sponsorship, which allows me to purchase my very own tennis chair, which will be you know, half the weight and will really allow me to excel to the next level.

Minter Dial  30:25

Yeah, especially since it’s 15 kilos, you have one hand. I can just imagine what that weight is. So, how can people you know if someone’s listening who wants to contribute, donate what is the method for that?

Jack Binstead  30:37

So, I mean, I can be contacted on social media. I have my own Instagram for padel which is Jack_Padel. You can message me on there and I can provide you with the right emails for those who were involved with the adaptive padel team at rocks lane. We do have sponsorship for the team currently massive shout out to Play Brave sports. They, they came on as a sponsor back in September. And they’re invaluable in where we’ve got to so far, because it allows us to train at Rocks Lane and it allows us to, you know, work on our skills and techniques and continue to compete. So, ideally, we need a few more sponsors who really wants to get behind what we’re achieving here. This is a huge investment for a lot of people here. You know, what we’re about to achieve with padel is unlike anything they managed to achieve in tennis, and that’s a really big thing for me to say because you know, wheelchair tennis is huge. It’s probably one of the most populous Disabled Sports that there is worldwide. But I know where plateau was headed, I’m sure you do too. It’s such a developing sport as far as disability sport goes. We haven’t even started yet. And we’re about to achieve some incredible things and I’m going to find a few thousand people eventually who wants to be playing on teams, and then we will be leagues and there will be clubs all over the country. And eventually padel will be an Olympic and Paralympic sport, no doubt about it. And we will be the ones who started the team around people that go and compete in the Paralympics. So, it’s a big ask and we can’t do it without the help of other people who want to be part of that journey. But contacting myself or contacting Rocks Lane is the best method of getting hold of us. Halla-fricking-lullyah, Jack! I mean, I want to just bring in a story because the episode before this one will have been with the founders son of padel and the interesting story is actually how the walls came around because at the end of the day versus Padel Tennis sorry, where the ball can bite go by you. And you can’t really do much about that. Is this the story in 1969 in New Mexico?

Minter Dial  33:13

In Mexico itself, in Acapulco. But here’s the thing Jack actually, Enrique Corcuera Sr., I was having this with his son Enrique Corcuera, Jr., is that the father started playing fronton Basque, or Pelota Basque, which has a wall and then eventually he added the tennis court. And then he liked to play on the side with the wall. Because even if the ball went by him, It bounced on the wall and he could play it. And ultimately versus Lawn Tennis, even if I smack the ball by you, you know you if you anticipate well are going to be rolling onto it and making me eat tennis ball or padel ball because it’s come off the back wall. Whereas if I’m in tennis, and that was also true of adaptive tennis, is if I hit the ball in my eye, and I whizz it by you, two bounces or not, you can’t get it back. And I must say I did watch the adaptive tennis at Roland Garros, sorry, padel tennis, at Roland Garros where they did an exhibition match. And I was there to watch it. I filmed it. And I really enjoyed it. And of course, the commentary also helped because we have to learn what it’s like. So, listen, let’s talk about just for a couple more minutes, Jack. And I usually ask this of everybody so don’t be afraid. What sort of animal are you as a padel tennis player?

Jack Binstead  33:25

That’s a great question. What animal you know, I’m going to have to go with Are with the chimp I’m not to go with the monkey, I think I feel like they’re incredibly cheeky and mischievous animals. And they very much thumbs me up in general. But there’s I get hauled by, by Luke and by the coaches are rocks laying in power to play padel. And it’s like life, life and I struggle a little bit with my clients, but I do. And I thought, I’m constantly thinking of other creative ways to get that ball over the other side of the net, without having to slice it. And I struggle with my slides, and there’s a very, there’s a very good reason for it, which is that I am the same height as the bloody neck. So, there’s about that much of a window for that ball to slide over the net to actually be as light and not, you know, a topspin…

Minter Dial  36:02

Or a sort of a woolly slice or one that just sort of floats?

Jack Binstead  36:06

Yeah, I do that probably more so than that sort of very attacking works. And I’m learning I’m learning every single week and I will become a lot better with a slice no doubt about it. But yeah, I feel like I’m a little bit creative a little bit cheeky and I haven’t put myself down as like a baby chimp. I wouldn’t even say a fully grown one, a baby one!

Minter Dial  36:28

We’re always learning, Jack. What’s your favorite shot?

Jack Binstead  36:32

My favorite shot of alcohol?

Minter Dial  36:37

I love it. Oh yes Jack, cheeky old sod that you are.

Jack Binstead  36:44

I got you! My favorite shot to watch is most definitely that sort of finishing Smash. It’s just so definitely pleasing to watch the ball fly. And when they return it back into the court that’s that that’s doubly is incredible. But my favorite shot to pull off would probably be that really powerful backhand topspin, straight into the corner of the of the court.

Minter Dial  37:14

So, I’m just imagining backhand. So, you play on the usual among the right. On the right. Got it? Yeah. I have two left handed children, by the way. Although I’m a righty. And what’s your shot you’re trying to work on?

Jack Binstead  37:30

Most definitely the forehand slice.

Minter Dial  37:35

Luke, hope he’s listening to you. What about what about other padel players that inspire you?

Jack Binstead  37:46

I really enjoy Alejandro. Alejandro Grilo.

Minter Dial  37:57

Grilo Acosta.

Jack Binstead  37:58

Acosta, Rocks Lane coach, who was a top-30 in the world, at one point in time. Watching him play, it’s just it makes it look so effortless to dress be brilliant poetry. Just go it’s like a warm bath on a cold winter’s night. It’s just so lovely to see. And so, I really enjoy him. He’s taught me a lot too. He’s had a few training sessions with me and he you know, he’s never spent well, as far as I know, I’ve never spent a day of his life in a wheelchair and certainly hasn’t played wheelchair sports. And he’s forced a he’s got to have the ability to look at my situation and the way that I’m having to play and then come up with a solution that I haven’t figured out as somebody who’s been in wheelchair for 25 years, it’s pretty remarkable. To have that knowledge just you know, stored away is incredible. But I’ll be honest with you, I mean, I haven’t seen a great deal of able bodied padel because I’ve seen clips all the time I see clips, so I don’t really know too many actual able bodied padel players it’s I have loads on my Instagram people follow me I love watching clips, but I haven’t really paid too much attention actually to able bodied padel I’m very focused on, you know, growing what I started here, and you know, eventually along the way, we will be playing in the same tournaments as these people. And that’s when I’ll really see their poetry come to life and their way of playing and I’m sure a lot and I’m very adamant as well. I’m very sure they will learn from us too. No doubt.

Minter Dial  39:47

Oh, boy. I know that you were in Italy and you kind of I don’t want to call it a boy crush but it seemed that you had a high regard for Marcos. Yeah,

Jack Binstead  39:59

Marcos is an incredible player. He’s somebody that amazes me. I first saw him do this when he was competing to buy back in November. But there was a shot that I played against him it was, it was kind of a lob, and it went over his head towards the back of the back of the glass. And he didn’t turn around, he didn’t chase the ball, and then turn his wheelchair around and get behind it and send it back. What he did was he just wheeled his wheelchair backwards. So, he’s back facing the ball. And he had the perfect timing, to just flick his arm like that, behind his back, and bridges, the back wall, off the back wall, behind him off the back wall, just like that, enough power to then get off the grass and back over the net. I saw him do this three or four times, it wasn’t a fluke! He did it three or four times over the course of a day, most definitely a last resort shot, because the timing to pull that off is pretty remarkable. But Marcos is such a beautiful man to watch and to engage with. And he’s also somebody who’s in the process of helping us obtain our own tennis wheelchairs, he has a lot of contacts themselves. So, he’s definitely someone I’m going to stay close to over the years.

Minter Dial  41:18

I absolutely enjoy that anecdote with Marcos. Because the other day I was on a court with three ladies talking about paddling. And so, how do you how do you get that, you know, that shot off the back wall? And I was explaining to them. And these are three able bodied ladies and it’s still a very complicated shot. So, well. Credit to Marcos, it’s beautiful to hear. Last question for you, Jack, what is the life lesson that in the short time that you have been experiencing padel that padel has brought to you?

Jack Binstead  41:57

I think it’s important to really take a step back from what you’re wanting to achieve in your life. And listen for what else is available to because I definitely wasn’t looking for a padel. But it was right there. And I had to really, you know, excuse the pun, but I had to take a step back. And I had to you know, listen to other people and what they were saying and what they were presenting to me and that then led to me being where I am now playing part one and creating a new Paralympic sport. So, I think it’s important to really take that time to listen to others. I think it’s something that we definitely don’t do enough in life. If you think about your day to day life, how often do you actually listen to other people?

Minter Dial  42:48

The ego, you know?

Jack Binstead  42:51

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You know, and I think it’s, it’s worth mentioning that padel won’t be for everyone. You know, there will be tennis players who just say…

Minter Dial  43:02

What sorry? I can’t believe what you’re saying. I’m having. I’m having a moment.

Jack Binstead  43:09

It’s worth mentioning, you know, I don’t want to be part of a sport that’s just populated by people who don’t want to be playing. I think I I love to play against people who act actively enjoy what they’re doing. I knew wheelchair racers who wished they weren’t wheelchair racing. But they didn’t have another sport to go into because that’s a completely different way of doing things. And they’d rather be playing basketball, but they were wheelchair racers. They didn’t have a team to play on as a team sport. You couldn’t just go and do it yourself. Because then you’d look lonely and certainly wouldn’t you. So, they continue wheelchair racing, but they didn’t want to be doing it. At that point in time. They were just doing it out of force habit. They were good at it. So, just continue doing it. There are people out there who will try a padel and they’ll go, You know what, I prefer tennis. I prefer being able to send that ball pass somebody and then not able to return it. I like the fact that the courts are larger in tennis, you know, and they’ll have their reasons for it and that’s fine. But I thought there’s a lot more people out there who have no clue what powder is yet and they are in for a real treat when they do discover it because it probably will change their lives.

Minter Dial  44:22

Jack HotWheelz Binstead are very powerful bad boy. Great to have you on the show. What’s the last word for the joy of padel?

Jack Binstead  44:34

Last words> Support us at the England adaptive padel team we’re onto a really big things. Rocks Lane is incredible. Shout out to Luke Dolphin, Chris and Drew Warren, and Emma Warren as well at Rocks Lane. They’re all working so hard to achieve greatness and they’re doing so well. Doing that as well. And you will seeing a lot more of us no doubt about it. We’ve got plenty of international tournaments lined up this year. But yeah, if you want to be part of this crazy journey that we’re creating here and all these opportunities for others, then please do make contact with us. And let’s just let’s go play padel.

Minter Dial  45:18

And the best ways to get into contact with your Jack?

Jack Binstead  45:22

My Instagram is Jack underscore padel so you can contact me that way. Or you can get in contact with rocks Lane themselves. If you ask for Luke Dolphin or you asked for Chris or Drew Warren, then you can get in contact that way we can that can lead to some meetings and some chats about how you can help.

Minter Dial  45:41

So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this Joy of Padel episode. Please don’t forget to subscribe to be the first in queue for the next episode. And if you like what you hear, please do share it around with other padel aficionados. This is a sport that deserves to be played by absolutely everyone. And if you’ve got a story that you’d like to share, please send me an email or a better yet a voice note at NMinterDial@gmail.com With that, thanks for listening. And see you on the next episode of the Joy of Padel podcast. ¡ Vamos !