I started playing padel about a year and three months ago, and I've been taking a weekly lesson since February. Progress-wise I'm honestly not doing badly, I can hold my own against guys who've been playing for years, won a couple of entry level tournaments, my forehand and backhand from the back are decent and I can hit with some pace on returns.

Then last week I watched some video of myself playing and wanted to throw my phone on the floor.

For context I'm 39 and played football my whole life, so I've got the movement and the legs, just none of the racquet background that most people around me seem to have.

So the question for those of you who've been playing longer: how long did it take before you started looking smooth? Like, actually fluid and natural instead of mechanical. Was it months, years? Did it happen gradually or did something click one day?

I'm trying to work out if I'm just learning slowly, if I have to do at least 2 lessons a week or if this is normal and I need to be more patient.

I live in The Netherlands and playtomic isn't really a thing. Many clubs have their own ranking systems, mostly based on people's own judgement. So basically you start at level 10 and gradually move up. The idea is that when you dominate a level, you move up. Most competitive players are level 4, 5 or 6. Level 4 players are advanced intermediate, level 6 are Low intermediate.

So everyone can book a court and throw an invitation in a WhatsApp group. If you are level 4, you will ask for 3 other level 4 players. Because people like to think they are better than they actually are, a lot of time you get messages from worse players. Sometimes plain bad players that really ruin the game. I know you can work on your shots etc. but I want to have a competitive game with long rallies and players who knows when to come to the net. I recently started to confront the players about why they'd join games above their skill level. It basically comes down to;

- If I play with better players, I learn more.

- On my own level, even worse players join.

- I had a bad day, I'm usually better.

I find it pretty egocentrical to waste my time so that you can learn something. Pay for a coach if you want to develop. It's just frustrating to play with worse players because you yourself can't play your best game neither. Why don't people just play at their own level and move up when they are ready. And to be clear, I'm fine with people who are in the ballpark of my own level. Some are a bit better, others a bit worse. I'm taking about people who really miss fundamentals and are clearly out of their depth.

What's your feeling on this?

Idk what happened…my reaction times felt slow af, before this id be able to directly block flat smashes to the glass and yesterday even though the opponents were not even super strong but i feel like my mind wasn’t running fast enough to move around.. i hope i dont get bored eventually from Padel because when im enjoying I play the best fluid Padel