Alfonso De Hohenlohe And The History Of Padel

Behind every great racquet there’s a story and this particular racquet is no exception. It glories in a prestigious name, befitting its distinguished pedigree. This is the tale of the HEAD X Alfonoso Hohenlohe Padel Club racquet, named after a royal prince who discovered the game many years ago while visiting Mexico.

Prince Alfonso was in Acapulco visiting his good friend, Enrique Corcuera who was passionate about the native sport of padel. Enrique didn’t have a lot of space to make a proper padel court so he improvised and slightly modified the design including walls around his version to stop the ball getting lost in the nearby bushes. The walls quickly became a fun new part of the game providing a surface from which you could bounce the ball.

Enrique invited the prince to play and Alfonso was instantly smitten. He loved it and the more he played, the more he was convinced that this was too good not to share. When he returned to Spain in 1974, he built the first two courts at the Marbella Club Hotel an establishment frequented by kings and celebrities. Film stars such as Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Kim Novak, James Stewart and Sean Connery were frequent guests, as well as members of the European aristocracy: John Charles I, Grace Kelly and the kings of Sweden. Everyone who tried the game, fell in love with it and soon padel was the fashionable new sport of the jet-set in what was, back then, a fashionable resort. Padel was an instant hit and it wasn’t long before it became the global phenomenon we know, today.

In 1975, Julio Menditengui, Argentinian friend of Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe, brought this new sport to his country. The Argentine took the game to its heart, until it rapidly became the second most practiced national sport. Padel then spread to Brazil, Chile and Paraguay. Similarly, in Europe, padel took off in Sweden, France, Germany, and the UK, attracting remarkable numbers of participants and fans wherever it was played. In 1993, padel tennis was formally recognized as a national sport in Spain, spreading throughout the country thanks to the climate and the sociable nature of the game.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe, now celebrated as the “grandfather of padel”, HEAD has created a limited-edition racquet, emblazoned with a distinctive cactus design, a clear nod to the game’s Mexican origins. The grainy textures and retro style convey a rich sense of antiquity, befitting a racquet of such unique hertitage. In addition, HEAD Sportswear has also created a distinctive textile capsule collection, to match the padel racquet, which includes beautifully styled polo and shorts for men and tank top, shorts and dresses for women.

HEAD have been manufacturing premium, high-performance padel equipment for 25 years and continue to innovate and pioneer new designs and materials for players of all levels, both beginners and advanced. We’re also the equipment of choice for the best professional players, including world top-ranking athletes, Arturo Coello, Paula Josemaría and Ariana Sánchez.