Why Every Padel Club Has the Same Booking Problems

Summary: Doesn't matter the size of the club or the country. The problems are the same: bookings in multiple places, dependence on one person, and empty time slots. The solution is the same too.

Every club owner thinks their situation is unique.

"We have very specific problems that other clubs don't have."

The reality: everyone's fighting the same 5 things.

The 5 Problems That Repeat Everywhere

Problem #1: Bookings in Multiple Places

The reception notebook. The backup spreadsheet. The online system. The WhatsApp group for regulars.

Result: Constant conflicts, wasted time, and frustrated members.

When information exists in 4 different places, nobody knows which one is accurate.

Problem #2: One Person Knows Everything

"If Maria gets sick, we're lost."

That phrase appears in almost every club.

Reality: When all knowledge is in one head, the club is one sick day away from chaos.

Problem #3: Dead Hours

Courts are full from 7 to 10 PM. The rest of the day, empty.

That means courts are underutilized most of the day.

The opportunity: Those empty hours represent revenue you're not capturing. Not because there's no demand, but because there's no strategy to fill them.

Problem #4: Numbers at Month's End

"When the month closes I see if we made money."

That's making decisions blindly for 30 days.

Key point: Without daily data, problems grow without you noticing. When you see them, they're already big.

Problem #5: Reactive Marketing

"We wait for members to bring friends."

That's not a strategy. That's hoping something good happens.

Result: Acquiring new members costs more than retaining the ones you have. But without data, you don't know how many you're losing.

Why Nobody Fixes It

1. "It works, why touch it"

If the club makes money and members don't complain much, why change?

The problem: "works" isn't the same as "works well." You could be operating at 50% of your potential without knowing it.

2. Nobody Shares What They Do

Every manager feels alone. There's nowhere to learn what other clubs are doing.

Everyone reinvents the wheel. Everyone makes the same mistakes.

3. Too Many Options, No Decision

"There are so many systems I don't know which to choose."

Analysis paralysis is real. Meanwhile, the problem continues.

The Solution That Works

You don't need revolutionary technology. You need to systematize the basics.

The pattern of well-functioning clubs: They don't have complicated systems. They have simple systems that everyone follows.

Where to Start

Week 1: Audit

• Count how many booking sources you have
• Note every conflict that appears in 7 days
• Ask your team what their biggest frustrations are

Week 2: Unification

• Choose ONE source of truth for bookings
• Eliminate the alternatives (no exceptions)
• Communicate it to the whole team

Week 3: Measurement

• Start tracking basic daily metrics
• Occupancy per court, cancellations, revenue
• Doesn't have to be sophisticated, can be a spreadsheet

Week 4: Adjustment

• Review what worked and what didn't
• Adjust the process based on reality
• Plan the next step

The Uncomfortable Question

How much longer will you keep doing the same thing expecting different results?

The problems you have today are the same ones you had a year ago. And they'll still be the same next year.

Unless you do something different.

The first step isn't buying software or hiring consultants. It's organizing what you already have.

One booking source. Visible data. Clear processes.

Everything else comes after.