Padel Chess – tactical simulator for padel (padelchess.me)

by AlexGerasim 50 comments 74 points
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50 comments

[−] MouadNos 56d ago
Ok that's actually not bad. I played padel a lot these last few months and I feel like i'm struggling with getting better because of my positioning.

Waiting on the IOS app

[−] AlexGerasim 56d ago
You can instal the web app to the home screen on IOS so far, it's similar experience. Let me know if you need a guidance to do that, it takes 1 minute.
[−] AlexGerasim 56d ago
Thanks for the feedback, working on it.
[−] OJFord 56d ago
Quick feedback: I kept instinctively trying to press the A/B/C on the actual court(?) even after realising it's at the bottom on the first one.

I would suggest either making those clickable, or styled less like buttons somehow, so they don't have such an affordance for being the thing to press.

[−] AlexGerasim 56d ago
Thanks for the feedback! The buttons on the actual court should also be clickable, doesn't it work for you? If so can you please tell me your device / OS you're testing it on?
[−] OJFord 56d ago
Oh, nice then, very intuitive. `:) Android (Pixel 10) in Firefox.
[−] AlexGerasim 56d ago
Thanks for reporting, gonna test it on Androids more and will try find / fix the bug.
[−] AlexGerasim 55d ago
Should be fixed now (changed listeners from onTap to onPointerDown)
[−] rolymath 55d ago
Same issue

Android pixel 9 on Brave

[−] AlexGerasim 55d ago
Should be fixed now (changed listeners from onTap to onPointerDown)
[−] AlexGerasim 55d ago
Got it, thanks for reporting, working on the fix.
[−] zingar 56d ago
Can anyone explain to me why this sport is so popular that it’s taking over prime locations in expensive cities?
[−] dandaka 56d ago
Quite a few reasons:

1/ Easy to start, hard to master.

2/ Good balance between being still athletic (you have to run), while not punish less-fit players a lot.

3/ Social component. In Portugal you must get a beer after each match. Suddenly you have 100+ friends and a shared interest.

4/ Full gradient between 'funny dumb ass game with friends with no experience' to 'professional competitive sport'. With a lot of options in between like beginners games, clubs events, amateur leagues and semi/pro tournaments.

5/ The game is more tactical, that athletic. After you get initial technical background, you start to play more 'chess' than 'overpower opponent' style.

6/ Good business. More people on less space = more revenue. More social = more spending in a bar. Coaching is more profitable as well (groups of 4).

7/ Open to all social groups. My wife is playing female-only tournaments. We play mixed tournaments together.

I play padel for 3 years, played tennis for year, tried squash and badminton.

[−] tambourineman88 56d ago
Simply put: it’s a very fun sport.

It’s doubles so you only need four people to play. The underarm serve gives it a very shallow learning curve so almost anybody can play. However, there is enough nuance to the game that there’s lots of tactics and skill to learn as you get better.

Also the app (Playtomic) for organising games works great.

We have indoor courts here in the UK where’s there’s not much else to do in the winter. It’s a lot easier to get four people together to play padel for 90 minutes than trying to get 10/12 together for a 5/6-a-side football match.

[−] ArekDymalski 56d ago
Besides being beginner friendly (forgiving mistakes), easy to learn and see the progress quickly (instant gratification, quick catch-up with friends who started earlier) the fact that it's not as physically exhausting as squash or tennis makes it attractive for many people.
[−] XCSme 56d ago
I tried it, it was fun to get started, but after 3-4 sessions, when you want to start getting good and learning stuff, it's not fun anymore.

I tried playing with Playtomic, with better players, and everyone expects to play the same, go and play at the net as that's the main goal, but I dislike staying close to the net and playing the reflex game, while trying to not get hit by the ball. I have a lot more fun playing back court, and volleying the ball, but apparently that's not the way to play this sport.

Also, the wall part of the game, once you play against better players, is not fun. Most of the balls go in the corner, and you have to wait for the ball/predict and avoid hitting the glass or hit from an uncomfortable position, which is not as fun as the open play game.

[−] gus_massa 56d ago
I ussed to play it with friends. The big advantage to tennis is that the ball never gets too far away :)
[−] 1313ed01 56d ago
5+ years ago, perhaps? Almost all the places have closed down now here in Sweden. The bubble popped and now it's a joke and you see repurposed ex-padel buildings around every city. It's been years since I heard anyone talk about it other than to comment on how weird it was that it was so popular for a short time and then disappeared.
[−] solids 56d ago
It takes much less time to learn it at a playable level than tennis. In my opinion, learning tennis and being able to hit a powerful drive is much more rewarding, but nowadays people don’t want to “waste” time in improving technique.
[−] jgalt212 56d ago
Every time I'm playing pickleball on vacation with my younger children, I look over at Padel courts (if available) with envy. It seems both more fun and athletic, but still less challenging to pick up than tennis.
[−] moron4hire 56d ago
Wait, is this like European pickleball or something?
[−] andrepd 56d ago
Yuppies/expats love it, that's pretty much the reason.
[−] m00dy 56d ago
yeah, it is getting popular everywhere.
[−] victorbjorklund 56d ago
Bubble. We had it a couple of years ago. Everything got converted to a paddle place. Then it popped and most closed down.
[−] lightbulbish 56d ago
Only played paddle twice but played a lot of badminton and would like to play more paddle.

Love the concept. Feedback: more explanations for beginners. I didnt know what ”mine’s up/ your’s up” means.

When you guess wrong, also show what the right answer would mean (lines, animation and explanation) Also more than 5 puzzles per day for free tier please. For me to even begin the habit i want to spend more than 2 minues a day here. After i feel i could convert. But i’m not paying for a habit i dont yet have and might not establish. Good luck with the product!

[−] dandaka 56d ago
Love the design and implementation. Even small details like cage on side!
[−] bilsbie 56d ago
Did you make the graphics yourself or find them?
[−] bilsbie 56d ago
Someone should make this for pickleball.