Could you start by giving us a short introduction of yourself?

I’m Jorrit Notenboom from Haarlem and I’m 22 years old. I’m a professional padel player and trainer and also co-founder of Nowe. I’ve been playing padel for 7 years already. I started playing for fun together with my best friend Stan. In 2019 we won the Championship of the Netherlands for youth under 18. That’s when I decided I wanted to take the sport more seriously and bring it to a professional level. Now I ‘ve been dedicating myself fully to padel for 2,5 years. I’m part of the Aurial Padel Academy in Barcelona and I’m trained by Mati Ortiz and Pablo Crosetti, two of the best coaches in the world.

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What was the first introduction you’ve got to Padel?

Stan’s father introduced us to the sport. We were only 14 years old and Stan’s dad was playing at Padeldam. The first time we played, it was raining and the only two padel courts were located in the middle of a parking lot. It felt nothing like padel as we know it today, but we really enjoyed it. That’s when I fell in love with the sport.

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In what way do you feel the sport is different in Barcelona (Spain) and did you have to adapt in any way to this?

The sport is more mainstream in Spain. You can find a padel court anywhere, because it’s the second biggest sport in the country. In Holland it’s still a luxury sport. While in Spain it’s only 3 euros to book a court. The playing style in Holland is also different. Because professional tennis players started playing padel, the playing style is deprived from tennis with a lot of fast-play and smashing. While in Spain everyone plays slower and more solid. Also the level of the trainers is really high there.

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How do you structure your training routine to improve both your physical endurance and technical skills?

My routine is the same as everyone else’s here in the Aurial Padel Academy. I play padel for one and a half hour, two times a day and one hour of physical training. We focus on different things, tactical stuff as well as endurance training. I train four times per week and the academy plans everything out for me. So I just have to show up and do my work, which I think is very nice.

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What do you eat and drink to maintain your fitness and overall health as a padel player?

I focus on a rich diet in protein and carbs to support recovery, along with plenty of vitamins from fruits and supplements. Given my high calorie burn, I eat a lot of food to fuel my body. I used to track my calorie intake and I’ve since learned what works best for me. I believe enjoying a chocolate bar occasionally can be beneficial for happiness. So my diet is not restrictive, but balanced and healthy. I also prioritize sleep to support my recovery and use a tracking device called Whoop to monitor my rest.

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How do you stay motivated and focused during a match when things don’t go your way?

I have a few routines during a match to keep my focus. For instance I bounce the ball three times or I throw the ball in one specific corner until I have my focus back. The most important thing is to never give up, because you never know what can happen. I keep in mind that I have seen the weirdest matches, where someone was on the losing side the whole game and still won in the end.

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As a trainer, how do you approach coaching children who are interested to start playing padel?

I will start teaching again when I’m back in Holland. I want to focus more on giving exclusive lessons as a professional, but I really like making kids enthusiastic about the sport as well. When training them, the most important thing is to keep them active. I don’t give too much information and just let them play a lot of rallies. So I don’t really focus on the techniques yet. I just want them to have fun and make them want to come back.

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What’s your best advice for a beginner, intermediate and advanced player?

My number one piece of advice is to make the glass around the court your friend. Always try to use the glass as much as possible; it will buy you time and eventually make you a better player.

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Could you tell us some more about you and your business partner Stan?

We’ve been close friends for years and for our first three years of playing padel, we always played together. Our friendship made the game both fun and challenging, we weren’t afraid to call each other out on missed shots! After winning the championship in 2019, I felt inspired to take the sport more seriously, while Stan wanted to start coaching to share his passion with others. Now, I share that goal, which led us to launch Nowe together.

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Could you tell us about Nowe Padel Events and how the idea came to life?

Last year, we started planning to offer unique, customizable padel clinics. There are not a lot of companies that provide these experiences in the way we envision, especially for business events and student outings. As students, we recognized that padel is often seen as too expensive, so our goal is to make it accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

Our events are fully customizable: clients can choose the event’s scale, add features like a DJ or catering or even host a tournament. We’re beginning locally in Amsterdam, but we have plans for future growth, potentially internationally. To build our brand, we’ve created T-shirts and held a photoshoot and now we’re nearly ready to launch. The positive responses so far have been fantastic and we’re excited for what’s next!

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