by A diary entry on London’s hottest new courting ritual and one genuinely unhinged smash
Monday, A Sport I Was Not Prepared To Take This Seriously
Darlings, padel is apparently the London dating trend of the moment, dethroning run clubs entirely according to everyone who studies this sort of thing professionally, and having now been to exactly one padel dating night at a venue in Bermondsey, I understand completely why, and also why I am not entirely sure I am invited back. The format is genuinely charming, doubles matches, low pressure, a drink afterward, precisely the kind of activity date that takes the terror out of sitting across a table making eye contact for two hours straight.
My particular downfall was discovering, roughly four points into my first match, that I am considerably more competitive than any reasonable dating strategy would recommend, and by the second set I had, by my partner’s own gentle post-match feedback, stopped making charming conversation entirely and started narrating my own shots like a small, furious sports commentator.
Monday Afternoon, The Specific Moment I Lost The Plot
There was a smash, darlings, a genuinely beautiful smash, and I celebrated it with a noise I have not made since secondary school hockey, which drew concerned glances from the neighbouring court and a slightly wary look from my actual date, who had, until that exact moment, seemed rather taken with me.
Tuesday, A Small Attempt At Damage Control
I have since sent a follow up message acknowledging the intensity and framing it, somewhat generously, as passion rather than a competitive episode, a reframe he seems to be accepting with more grace than I probably deserve given the volume involved.
Would I Recommend It, Genuinely Yes
Whatever happens with this particular padel partner, I am fully converted to the format itself, and any future dates will simply need to be warned in advance about my relationship with competitive sport, which is, apparently, considerably less casual than I previously believed.
Wednesday update, for anyone invested, he has actually asked for a rematch, which I am choosing to interpret as either genuine forgiveness or a competitive streak of his own that Saturday’s match simply had not yet revealed, either way I am considering it a win.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
