Anyone for padel? No, I hadn't heard of it either

It's loved worldwide and I knew zip about it. Time to get swinging

- says Marie Le Conte

I told my boyfriend we'd have to finish lunch early, as I had to get to east London to watch a game of padel. He narrowed his eyes and asked me if padel was the same thing as pickleball. “Hmm,” I replied, realising that I actually had no idea what either sport involved.

That was always the deal with this column: I was to go and watch a sport alone once a month, without learning anything about it beforehand. I genuinely had no idea what to expect from padel.

Still, I'd been looking forward to it. There's no glory in suddenly becoming obsessed with football or rugby as an adult. This felt like an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. As I learned from some retrospective Googling, padel only became popular globally during the pandemic. Could I start a new life as a sports hipster?