Some people said he came out of the womb with a racquet in his hand…. ><
Davide has always been a natural in racquet sports and in sports in general! Read more about his path to becoming a padel coach.
A love for racquets…
Davide was born and grew up in Milan in the 1990s. After trying football and basketball he focused on tennis which he has been playing since the age of 6.
As a tennis player he progressed to compete in regional tournaments as an individual and in the national Coppa Italia tournament with the Tennis Club Anemoni team.
Davide loves playing all racquet sports: padel, tennis but also table tennis and squash!
Here are Davide’s thoughts on racquet sports: “Racquets are truly an increbible tool! I think of them like a gogo gadget which you can do an incredible number of things with. Mastering control of this object and feeling like it is a natural extension of your body is truly a magical feeling.”
The Padel “Switch”
Davide “switched” to padel from tennis since moving back to Italy from the UK in 2020. It was hard not getting involved… Padel as a sport had literally exploded across the country during the covid pandemic!
This was because it was deemed a “no-contact sport” which people could play during lockdown and which was (as we know!) way more accessible than tennis!
From 2020 to 2024 Davide has been fully immersed in the padel culture in the place he now calls home: Zoagli (Genova, Italy). In Zoagli he plays at the Athletic Zoagli Padel Club (give them a follow and check them out if you want to play padel in one of the most beautiful towns in Italy).
Davide plays tournaments locally in Zoagli, Rapallo, Santa Margherita and Recco.
Why does he like the game more than tennis which he grew up with? Let’s get him to answer that: “In Padel it is just so much easier to have fun! In tennis unless you get to a good level and have a really good technique to rally properly it’s a lot of picking up balls from the floor and moving back into position to start the next point. In padel, on the other hand, you are constantly in the point, rallies are longer and you play such a variety of shots: volleys, groundstrokes, bajadas, bandejas, viboras, smashes etc etc. What I also love is how much more tactical the sport is: you can be a great padel player and show up tennis players with a good knowledge of where to be and what shot to play and this is massively empowering for players! I love it!”
LTA Coaching
Davide started coaching padel in 2023. In 2024 he got accepted on to the LTA Level 2 Padel Coaching Course which he is due to complete in the summer to become LTA qualified.
Let’s get Davide to describe his experience with the LTA Padel Coaching Course: “The course is really amazing. The LTA did a great job with it thanks to a focus on tactics and game based coaching. The real value is also in the coaching framework and the attention to detail to ensure coaches are not just good players but first and foremost excellent communicators, great personalities and ambassadors of the sport to foster its growth. Special props to our coach Toby Bawden and to the great group of aspiring coaches which are working on the qualification with me.”
Davide does not take technique for granted but he believes the tactics is where all the magic happens and he loves giving beginners the tools to progress their skills and allow them to gain confidence.
Coaches will coach
Davide is passionate about coaching beyond Padel. In his teenage years he coached tennis.
More recently he has gained a Level 2 Basketball Coaching qualification with Basketball England and coached the Manchester University Ladies Second Team.
“Basketball coaching is incredibly challenging”, Davide explains, “the tactics are massively important and the game is super fast which requires you to prepare your players on so many levels. As a coach you need to have a variety of different skills, coaching tactics and technique is only a small part of it! The most difficult thing is coaching the game situation itself where you need to manage ongoing player rotation to give them frequent breaks as well as addressing team needs and skill balance on the court. At the same time you also need to read and react to opposing tactics to adjust offensive set pieces, defensive plays, individual matchups as well as coaching timeouts to give players energy, confidence and correct tactical issues.”
Davide believes the number 1 skill that translates to padel coaching and coaching in general is the skill of observation and analysis: “Having such an active coaching role during games your level of awareness of the impact of specific elements on the outcome of the game is crucial. Being able to spot an issue, calling a timeout and fixing it could change the momentum and outcome of a game.
Sport forever
Davide is obsessed by sport and fitness. Training the body is something he loves to do and is a big believer of it’s impact on mental health: “getting out there and training, no matter what level or what sport helps you feel better and tackle everyday life. Its benefits on people cannot be underestimated.”
Davide has participated in a range of competitive running events including 10Ks, 5Ks and a Half Marathon. Recently he has also taken up cycling and has entered in Triathlon and Duathlon races.
Outside of endurance sports and racquet sports Davide loves to play basketball, football and volleyball.
Here on the left he is with Marianne at the Zena Runners Genova Duathlon in 2023.
In his coaching Davide loves to “contaminate” padel with other disciplines if players are into it: “I believe this can be an entry point for people who are coming from different backgrounds to try the sport”.