The Joy of Padel podcast with Marta Talaván (JOPS03E11)
This episode of the Joy of Padel features Marta Talaván, a professional padel player and board member, discussing her journey in the sport. She shares insights into her playing style, the challenges of being a right-side player, and the importance of partner dynamics in padel. Talaván also delves into the intricacies of professional training, nutrition, and match preparation. The conversation touches on the future of women’s padel and the ongoing fight for equality in the sport. This session offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of professional padel for both players and Joy of Padel enthusiasts.
Key points:
1. The importance of partner compatibility in women’s padel, both on and off the court.
2. The challenges of growing padel globally, including the need for grassroots development and coaching infrastructure.
To find out more about Marta Talaván:
- Find or follow on Instagram: @martatalavan
To listen to the show:
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Send in your questions or reactions:
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Meanwhile, you can find Minter's other Evergreen podcasts, entitled The Minter Dialogue Show (in English and French) in this podcast tab, on Spotify, Megaphone or via Apple Podcasts.

About the host: Minter Dial
Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Transformation. His involvement in sports has been a lifetime passion. Besides playing 18 years of rugby, captaining athletics teams, coaching tennis and playing squash for his university, he’s been a lifelong player of padel tennis, starting at the age of 10, from the time of its very first public courts at the Marbella Club in 1974.
Then, after a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last twelve years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). He’s author of four award-winning books, including Heartificial Empathy 2nd edition (2023), You Lead (Kogan Page 2021), co-author of Futureproof (Pearson 2017); and author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim.
It’s easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here.
Full transcript of interview via Flowsend.ai
This transcription comes courtesy of Flowsend.ai, an AI service for podcasters.
Minter Dial: Marta Talaván, it’s great to have you on the show. I’ve had your current partner, Ksenia Sharifova, who was wonderful and she suggested I get you on too, because you are not only a professional, highly ranked padel player, you’re also a member of the board. So, that’s going to be really interesting to hear a little bit behind the scenes as much as you’re allowed to give us. But anyway, as I like to start, in your own words, who are you?
Marta Talaván: Hello. Hello. Thanks for the opportunity. Yeah, she introduced me to you because she loves your interview. So, I’m here.
Minter Dial: Thank you. I’ll try to do the same with you.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. Now I’m Marta Talaván. I’m professional Padel player. I played padel, like for 20 years now. So, it’s all my life. All my life is around Padel. All my family used to play. So, for me the thing. Yeah.
Minter Dial: So, did your, did your parents play? And, and that’s how you were sort of brought up. What was the first time you had a racket in your hand?
Marta Talaván: I began to play tennis, but only for a month because I had an injury in my back when I was little. So, the doctor said that I cannot do this type of sport. And then my, my father began to play with his friends in the club where we used to go for the weekends. And I love Padel at the first time. So, my Padel bought mini, mini pala. Like small rackets? Yeah, small racket. And I used to play with the wall outside the court. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Waiting for papa.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, yeah. Yes, for sure. And then my father realized that I want to play more, so he searched for a padel club and then all the family began to, to do padel lessons there.
Minter Dial: And then one day. You beat your father.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, yeah, no, I play. I began to play when, when I was nine. So, we play. We did a padel lessons during week and then in the weekend used to play together with my parents. But after, I think not, say a couple years, we cannot play together because. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Well, one of the funny things people talk about padel is a great hookup, you know, for romance and, and meeting new people. And the thing I always say is, well, as soon as you’ve met, don’t play together anymore.
Marta Talaván: Why?
Minter Dial: Well, because it’s, it often times. Husbands and wives.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: Friends and girlfriends and Easy.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, I, I, I like to play with my parents. But yes, we have another kind of argument maybe sometimes when we play, but it’s different because between couples is different than between father or mother. Parents and the kid yeah, it’s or su, of course.
Minter Dial: So, you picked it up at nine and then when did you decide to go pro? What was that decision like? And, and how much of that was really a function of the tours being profitable or at least, you know, you can make enough money?
Marta Talaván: Well, when I was nine, I began to do lessons and after a year I began to compete because in this club there were another kids who compete. So, I’m competing like for many years and I trained like, like a professional since I was maybe 15, 15, 16 years for all time. I know that I want to do professional, but it was difficult because when I was 18 and we just go to the professional tour, the Padel was not the thing that is today. So, so I, I studied biochemistry since 2013 to 2019 for six years. I, I did both things Padel and, and city. Yeah. And then I realized that I can do it. But you know, when you are female player, the money is very different than the male and it. You depend on your result. So, it’s a little bit difficult. I, I’m. I’m very lucky because my family could support me during these years. But I think it’s in this, in this time, in this time of my decision, it was very difficult. Maybe today the young players have a more opportunities to, to do the way in easier than. Than me.
Minter Dial: And presumably they have more good role models as well because they’re seeing you on television or.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: You know, so that helps to inspire the youth.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: So, you, you’re the issue I’m thinking of as you come into it is I want to be pro of. Okay, but I’m not ranked yet in the top 20 or 30. And it seems to me that until you are, it really isn’t easy to make money and profitably anyway. Pay all your coaches, all the teams and everything.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: And so, you have to have a leap of faith that allows you to say I’m going to go all the way to the top. What do you think made for your success, Marta?
Marta Talaván: Well, I remember that when, when I was young I. I won a lot of tournaments in junior categories like Spanish Champions League World Cup. So, it was difficult to understand why when I was playing my first time or my first years in, in pro tour, I couldn’t won matches. So, for me it was a, a difficult, a difficult transition because I used to want. Used to win all my matches and then no. So, it was difficult. But I think it’s very important the people are around you because they, they have to accompany and it’s difficult to explain in English, but I. I will try. They use Yay. Has to know where you want. But it’s difficult because maybe sometimes the. The parents want a more than the kid, you know?
Minter Dial: Right. Of course. It’s important to know, to know what you want inside you.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: That’s what they want and project onto you.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: I. I mean if you have any words you want to say in Spanish, I probably will be able to translate quickly. But it. It feels like the other, the other question or thought I was going through my mind is how sometimes as a parent you let your kid win. Right. Oh you know, because you’re tiny and I’m older. Oh, muy bian. You’re know. But then when you get into the competition where the other person doesn’t just let you win, it can be hard. So, coming in, having always won, I’m not saying your father always let you, but having. Having always won, it must be difficult then to deal with. Oh shoot, I lost again.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. It’s important to, to make a important not the win or the loss. You know, the way you are doing if you are improving, if you are enjoying what you are doing. Because in my. I this year is my 10th year in the pro tour. So, there, there were a lot of good years with good results, good seasons and others. No. So, at the end of the season I. I want to know if I’m proving because sometimes there are many things that not depend on you. You’re so then.
Minter Dial: Right, of course.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. So, if you are doing a good like a development of your like playing it’s okay.
Minter Dial: Right. Even if you lose. So, let’s talk a little bit about your game, Martha. You play on the right senior at the moment and playing on the right at some level is a benefit because there are more people always saying they want to play on the left, you know, the stronger players. But being a great right player is a. Something that surely is in high demand. Makes for a great right. Typical. A right-handed right player as opposed to lefty.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. For me playing the right side is very difficult. It’s more difficult than the. The left side because you don’t have a lot of space to play. And if you, you should play always where you should play, it’s difficult because if you do a mistake all the, all the match is it will go badly. Yes. Because in the left side I think you have more options. You can play cross to the middle or, or into parallel. No.
Minter Dial: Yeah, down. Down the line. Parallel. Yeah.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. But in the right side you may be cross. You can play but to the middle, to the court and very tight. But it depends on your partner. It depends on if you are defending or you are in the net. So, I think it’s difficult for that because you have less options and you have to be very accurate, like very precise. Yeah.
Minter Dial: So, I like the way you describe that I play Right. As well most of the time when I’m playing with good players. And. And it’s a. It’s a role where you typically have a lesser workload, but you have to be the one who can help your left sided player win.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: So, in that regard you don’t get all the glory. Yeah. You don’t get the big shots. You don’t get to do La Maquia. You know, you’re. You’re just got to do what you’ve got to do. You got to be a soldier.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: And accurate. And. And what about the. The communication and the choice of partner? How important has that been for you? I talked of course with Ksenia about it. But for you, when you’re thinking of the right partner for you, what’s going on your mind?
Marta Talaván: For me, the. Is the most difficult part of Padel. The partner I think is different between male and female. I think in female or in my opinion is same important to play like Padel, play good with your partner. But also I need to understand out of the court with my partner. With Senia, I’m very happy because we had a very great time out of the car. And it’s not a. You should be friends or not, but it’s okay. But if you understand and you can. We have a very. A long time together during tournaments and a lot of free time. So, if you are not like Augusto with your. If you’re not having a compatible and going well.
Minter Dial: Yeah.
Marta Talaván: Yes. I need to have connection with the other. With the other player.
Minter Dial: And do you think that is something that’s more relevant for women players than men players?
Marta Talaván: Yes. I think male has another. A way of. Come on. It’s like they. They did a different lives and then play together and it’s okay.
Minter Dial: Yeah. I mean, I agree with you, but it’s. Let’s say it’s better that it comes from you than it does for me. Because I think we are different and. And how we mesh our relationships, how we communicate and how important it is to understand the emotions of each other, not just, you know, oh, I’m playing well.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. I think female players are more emotional than or more sensitive than the voice. So, it’s a big difference for me.
Minter Dial: And what about your favorite shot Marta, playing on the right? What do you say is you’re like this is my favorite. I, I love playing this one.
Marta Talaván: I’m very aggressive so I like to be in the net. I like to do vivoras and bollies to put pressure on the, on the opponent. But I’m also love defending. But I want. It’s not only defending like do a good love or a good shot near to the net. I want to, I like to to search for how can I put in difficulties for the opponent. So, I want to search like how to manage out how to my partner can. Can do a. A good shot. So, like, like a complete tactical game. So, I want to prepare. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Yeah. And what about. So, I mean you have a very complete game. I’ve watched you and I like the fact that you say you’re being aggressive because we typically say that’s all the role of the person on the left. But you know, you see, I think padel has evolved a lot over the years and even some of the, the strokes you, you can sometimes do. And the fact is that the right, even a right-handed player on the right, even though they have less sort of margin of choices when you’re hitting from the right-hand side. But what about a shot you’re working on that you say I would like to really get better at that. Is there one that you are working on these days a lot?
Marta Talaván: Well, I’m very demanding with myself so I want to improve all, all the time. But I think my, my technique is very good. So, I’m working on decision making and how to manage the speed of the ball because I usually play like too fast and I think it’s not the, it knows it was not good for me. And this year when with my new team I’m working on that and I feel very comfortable with my new way of playing. Right now I play a little bit softer and I think it’s good for me.
Minter Dial: Yeah, A little bit, few more chaquitas. A little bit slower to the deep.
Marta Talaván: It’s like a. I’m trying to be more precise so I need to play a little bit softer. And with this type of, of playing I, I’m realizing that I can do better. My, my work as right player and my, my partner can do better together.
Minter Dial: All right, so just to lean into that idea of playing softer, does that mean when you are technically working are you trying to have better depth? You know, into the courts? You’re trying to hit the ball, you’re hitting it softer. But you want it to land in a different place on the court because of you hitting it softer. Because I mean, I, for example, I, when I’m playing on the right and I do, I take a shot off the back wall and I sort of sneakily go cross court down into the right-hand side, right hand side of the right-hand player into that space. I may get it by them, but because it’s going slowly, they get it. They can go back and pick it up. But it’s a more difficult pickup than had I just done a regular shot to the volley. So, I have to think of all right, well, they’re going to get it. That’s okay because I’m hitting it slower, but I’m trying to make one more difficult shot rather than make a winner out of the shot.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: How do you describe hitting softer, slower? What does that look like materially for a player?
Marta Talaván: For me, an example for me, I like to do a herbivorous but when the lob is good, very good, like near the line or a little bit worse. I’m, I used to, to do a hard vibora and too fast so I can, I have no time to recover. Yes. So, now I’m doing like with this type of, of loves. I’m doing bandeja more flat.
Minter Dial: Yeah.
Marta Talaván: And then a softer slower and sometimes a little bit not too near to the net. So, like higher above the net. So, yes, the risk is the shot is not too good like a Harvey Bara. But I have time enough to go to the net and, and maybe if the, the opponent do play low, I can do a, a good bolly because I’m in the right place. If I play a, a hard B and I have no time, maybe the low shot, I’m in the middle of the court and I cannot do a good bole. So, that’s the point.
Minter Dial: And yet when you’re doing a bandeja, let’s say that it’s, it’s at the service line. You do a bandeja to come back. You still need to penetrate enough because you know, if they’re rushing up on a bandeja, it’s easier to cut off than a hard bajada or. Yes. So, you need to penetrate. It goes higher across the net, but it needs to be through to give you the time to go in. Otherwise if they’re, if they’re in on it and it’s too short.
Marta Talaván: For example, it’s important the depth of the, of the ball you this type of bandeja. I, I, I’m explaining is you, the bandeja, should bound near the. The wall.
Minter Dial: Service. Oh, near the wall. Not even near the service line. Behind the service line.
Marta Talaván: Behind the service lines. Yeah, for sure. But if it’s near the wall, it’s better, right?
Minter Dial: Well, I’m just saying that. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, some of us aren’t that accurate, so it’s interesting to hear from a pro what they’re aiming for. Like, you know, I. I say when I. When I’m coaching for lobs, you know, every lob, or at least 90 of lobs, should be between the service line and the base wall, but not too close to the back wall because it comes off too hard for the bajada. So. But that’s what I say. But I don’t always execute like you. All right, listen, what about, like the day in the life of a pro talking about, let’s say right now you’re in between tournaments. What does it. What is a day in the. In the life of a pro, at your level, with such a team? What does it look like? Give us an idea.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, I’m. I used to play in the mornings. I used to train in the mornings. Padela Gym. And sometimes we. We do a double session of padel, but it depends on the. On the schedule and the coach idea. And then in the afternoon, we used to do physio. More physio than in the tournaments sometimes. And then all the other things. Psycho nutritionist. Normal life.
Minter Dial: As well.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. The problem when we are in the tournaments, that we are abroad. So, all the things that the normal people do in their daily life, we have to do only in a week or two weeks that we are in our home. So, maybe when I was in my house, I have a lot of things to do all the day with different activities. A sometimes padel and sometimes other things. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Like family.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: Yeah. So, let’s say, for example, nutritionist. You talk with your nutritionist. How. I mean, I’m a type 1 diabetic, for example, so I have to think a lot like Alejandro Luis or others. How do I eat? What am I eating? I think about. We all think about that somehow. But what does it look like for you? Are you talking vitamins? Are you talking more? You want to make sure you have more pasta before a match, or you need to have more vegetables, your Brussels sprouts and. Yeah, what are you. What are you talking about?
Marta Talaván: Well, my nutritionist gave me a competition routine. And how can I eat when I’m in the competition? It depends on if the match is in the morning or in the afternoon. So, the day before, the day after the match. So, this I think. And then we are trying to improve my com. My corporate composition because I. The. The idea is to have less fat and more muscle. So, I have to. It’s not. It’s not like to do a strict diet, so I. I need to learn how to do it in a good way. And during tournaments, sometimes it’s a little bit difficult because the food. It depends on the hotel or the organization. Yeah. In. When we are in home, it’s very. It’s very easy because you go to supermarket and you organize all your. Yeah. All your diet.
Minter Dial: You’re in control.
Marta Talaván: Yes. Yes. But that’s the point because sometimes now in. In my. In my case I’m in. In a good condition, physical condition. I’m feeling very good in. In the court, like very fast and recovery in the net and then moving faster than at the beginning of the season. But my composition now is worse than at the beginning. So, it depends on the. On the emotional. Emotional thing always. Because it’s not only. Yeah. It’s not only physical, it’s only. It’s the person. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Well, including stress, for example.
Marta Talaván: Yes, yes, for sure.
Minter Dial: To what extent you’re feeling stress, that changes the way your body is digesting things like that. So, in the challenging things you have. Often players will have an individual coach. My preferred coach is this and my coach, I. I train with that person. And then when you come to the match, both come, but with two coaches.
Marta Talaván: How do you.
Minter Dial: Does a team decide that? What are the. I mean, because I know a few coaches, I have a few friends, but it. It always strikes me as a really complicated thing to do.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. I think the. The best option is to have the same. The same thing for the same coach for both players. But it depends on the player. For in our case, I’m. I’m living in Madrid and senior is living in Valencia. So, is very difficult to have the same coach. We are trying to go to Valencia and Madrid to play together before tournaments. But it’s not only. Sometimes it’s not easier because it depends on the scale and the player need to rest in our houses. So, we need to take time apart because during tournaments we are together all the time 24 7.
Minter Dial: Last question before we get into what you’re doing at the board with is when you’re. When you got a pro tournament. Let’s say you’re in some city and you know you have a match. How. What go. What does Martha do to prepare for that match? And. And when do you warm up? When do you start thinking about this? Do you have a routine? You listen to some music? What do. What do you do to get ready for your match?
Marta Talaván: Yeah, we used to prepare the match with the coach. For example, if we are playing in the morning, we did we do the breakfast together talking about the match. Then we take our things and then go to the venue and I like to hear music during warm up and then go to the court. I don’t really like to do many things. Sometimes if we know the opponents the day before, before go to the bed. I like to do visualizations like if we talk about the. The tactical plan for the match. I like to imagine different situations but it depends on the. The knowledge about the others because sometimes play against people do never play. So, this.
Minter Dial: Especially in the early rounds.
Marta Talaván: Yes, yes, for sure. This is my routine. I’m very simple with this type of things. I’m very like relaxed with this because I’m competing like too many years now. I’m used to this type of situations.
Minter Dial: But do you have. Or do you have a specific music you like to listen to? Is it upbeat? Is always, you know, a singer, a song or just.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, I like to. To hear reggaeton and take. No. So, it depends on the day. On my. Yeah, on my feelings this day. I have a playlist and I, I play my favorite songs of the. The. The months. Yeah.
Minter Dial: So, you have a like a pre-game playlist?
Marta Talaván: Not a pre-game. I have a playlist like when I hear the song that I like, I added a playlist and then I have a playlist like 100 songs. Songs that say 2002, 2025. So, it depends the. The day. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Yeah. Beautiful. All right. List. Marta, talk to us about your role now as a member of the board of directors. What, when did that happen and what does that entail for you? Because that surely adds to your workload.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. When we begin. We began to work like only players because we knew that we need to do our work together. All the players. We began to work. Nuria Rodriguez Del Fibrea and I like the first members. And when Premier Padel was presenting the new project, we felt that we need to add some advisors. So, we, we are now we are seven players and two advisors working together. And we are trying to like to help the players to manage all the situations like difficult situations during tournaments and difficult situations that they had in their daily lives. Sport daily lives. So, we are trying to help in whole like sport things. Yeah.
Minter Dial: And do you. I’m sure with Deli and Nuria, you’re also talking about what you are trying to achieve as players on the sport. I mean, as in things like pay conditions for the players. So, how do you organize that and to what extent are you able to have everybody’s opinion? Because I’m sure one person says, well, I want this much. Another person says this much and I want these conditions and those conditions. And so, you have a lot of different cats. We like to say in English cats to her.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, this hard work. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Nuria and I, we are competing like she played also in junior categories with me. So, we have same career. So, we. We know that they. It’s very difficult to be professional. In my case, as I said before, I was. I was studying and playing at the same time and Nuria was working like doing lessons for people at the same time competing. And this is very hard. So, we know that the female players did a great effort to be where we are today with a personal effort. Because in these years we don’t have many opportunities. We didn’t have enough money to do it. So, it was a personal effort. Each one like the number one and the number 15, as I think the gemelas (twins) or Lucia sign when they were number ones, they didn’t have the prize money like so in this side all the female players are very.
Minter Dial: Agree. Agree.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. They agree that we need to work together to. To fight for the equality not only in price money, only in opportunities. Because we. We did a great effort. So, we have a. Well, we are very lucky because. Because we have two advisors, Maria Luis, that they help us a lot. Maria had a career in Barcelona in football club Barcelona. So, we developed the female project in Barca and then Barca is the top team in football. So, in female football. Football. So, we are very lucky to have they with us and they support us in this type of situation that we didn’t know how to manage. So, we have WhatsApp group for all the IPPA associated players and we discuss a lot of things. There are things that we discuss with all the players and they are. They. There are another things that we discuss only in the board. So, it depends on the. On the thing. But I think the. All the players are very comfortable with this situation. They trust on the board. So. And I think we are doing a great job. So. Yes.
Minter Dial: Cool. I hope everybody agrees. But one of the challenges is I, you. You obviously I’m. I’m imagining with Delph and Nuya of course, speaking Spanish. One of the challenges for Paddle in general is Getting it out so that one day your board is actually with a Swedish woman and a. Of course in Italian. But where, where the other language might be English as opposed to the. What it feels like today still, Marta, is that we are Argentinas and espanoles and Hispano faunus. Even if you’re, you know, like, if you’re Catalina Orsi or you’re senior, everybody speaks Spanish. That’s the, that’s the Ilidoma del Padel. But in order for padel to get to the next level, it does feel like we need to have, we need to get into having other flags, other, you know, languages coming in. To what extent is that a conversation that you guys have?
Marta Talaván: Yeah, I think it’s the, that’s the point that the Padel needs to grow in the whole world. But it’s, I think it’s a slow thing because you need to do some things before you have professional place. I’m explaining like you need to grow padel base like kids padel school systems. Have a good coach with experience. So, it’s a process. It was my coach during a lot of years with one of the best coach I ever had, Galan’s coach, he is in Qatar with this type of, of process. He’s a coaching. He’s training kids in Qatar. So, maybe he needs, I don’t know, 10 years to have Qatari player who will have the level to compete in professional circuit. So, it’s a long process, but I think we are doing this. I think fib. Fib has a good opportunity to do to put panel when we’re a body deserves. But it’s a long way.
Minter Dial: Yeah, the, the shortcut, this is me saying it, not you, is buy some Spanish people and bring them in. Yeah, that’s another way. But one of the things we talk about, Martha, in, in, in the, the amateur world, you know, my life is when we’re watching the pros level. Of course, most padel players today still don’t watch pros. They just prefer to play, which unlike, you know, football or tennis, more people watch than play. And, and one of the things I say to my men friends, we’re all old, old people running around is watch the women’s padel.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: It’s more realistic for us. And, and I, I, I’m always doing that because I, I can see how, you know, I. You guys don’t hit the ball out of the court as frequently as the boys. You have a different strength. You’re. We’re different.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: Yet the challenge is somehow, of course, the men are Getting paid more or that’s the, that’s the general issue. And, and the game is sometimes can be very slow if, especially if you’re on a slow court. So, you have these long points, lots and lots of lobs.
Marta Talaván: Yeah.
Minter Dial: So, what are, where’s the conversation happening with you guys about that? Do you. Are you concerned about that or you, are you thinking about changes or you’re like, well that’s how we are. Let’s stay that way.
Marta Talaván: Well, I, in my opinion Padel is, is this thing is. No. Nobody is thinking that female football players should play like shorter matches. So, I think in Padel is the same. We are different as you said. We have different ways of play. And different is not bad, right?
Minter Dial: Absolutely. Thank goodness. Different.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. I think in a male Padel is very physical. It’s very difficult to find a, a hold in the, in the court. So, they need to play out of the court because they don’t have enough space.
Minter Dial: The best holes are out of the, out the court.
Marta Talaván: Yeah, it’s. It’s really, really difficult. They. They think that they, they are, they, they are a taller than us. They are. So, it’s stronger than us. Is. Is different. But they need to be like physical at this, the hundred percent to compete at this level. Maybe in female is physical is always of course important, but our way of manage or mental thing is, I think most important we need to be more patience to have more patience to be more constant. Because the points are longer than longer. Yes. We need to be more concentrate because the games are longer. So, it’s a different way of playing. We don’t need to be as precise as the voice, but we need to play more balls. So, it’s different.
Minter Dial: Yeah. I mean that, that notion of concentration, you know, for people who are listening think about this. You know, you’re actually having one of those 60 second points. This, this happens occasionally for amateur.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: And then all of a sudden the ball’s coming back again and I have to play it. Oh my God. I don’t want to be the one who screws up.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: You know. Oh no, you just got to get it back. Oh, just got to get it back. And, and that can become so difficult.
Marta Talaván: Yes.
Minter Dial: The net all of a sudden starts getting taller, all starts getting smaller and the racket starts getting smaller and harder. And even though it’s of course the same net, same ball, same racket, it’s so difficult to keep that concentration and that energy and the decision making as the point gets longer and longer.
Marta Talaván: Yeah. Yeah. I think is The. The main difference, the. The. The time of the points, because the concert, it’s impossible to be 100% concentrate. All the points, all the match is. So, the way you manage this, this ups and downs is the different. The number ones are the best in this.
Minter Dial: Right. So, that’s a message to everyone who’s listening. All right, continue on. Listen, Martha, been great having you on. What I. In one word or one sentence, what do you think is the future of the women’s padel circuit? Rational padel circuit?
Marta Talaván: Well, it’s a difficult question. Yeah. I think we should to. To continue fighting for what we want because we deserve it. We. Yeah, as I said before, we fight a lot in the past to. To be here. And we need to continue fighting against the people who. Who didn’t want to. Didn’t want us. But I think a female padel deserves it. Yeah.
Minter Dial: Well, I certainly agree with you, Marta. I. I think you and I totally understand how the world is working and, and the ownership and all that. So, it’s going to be a good old fight. Wherever I can be of any help, you let me know, Marta, and hopefully one day I’ll get to see you on the court, shake your hand and keep on, keep on. Good success as you go forward with both your work representing women and in your padel. Professional. Marta Atel. Vamos. Thank you. Thank.