Léo Poulain devotes the fourth episode of his international documentary series to padel in Belgium. After Bali, Australia and Portugal, the French creator spends time mainly in Liège to play, visit several clubs and understand how the local game is organised.
The video follows several playing levels, from a P500 amateur to matches presented as P700 and P1000. Léo Poulain is accompanied in particular by Esteban Padel, who joins him for part of the trip and documents his own progression on his YouTube channel. The documentary also answers two practical questions for players unfamiliar with Belgium: how the local categories work and how much a match costs in the clubs visited.
In Liège, automated clubs and levels from P50 to P1000
The trip begins with a match alongside Esteban Padel, who has set himself a clear target for the season:
I started playing padel about a year ago, with the goal of going from 50 to 500 in one year.
Esteban explains a progression through the P50, P100, P300, P400 and P500 categories, followed by P700 and P1000 for men. That scale runs throughout the documentary, as Léo Poulain and Baptiste gradually face stronger opposition, moving from P500 players to P700 and then P1000. Against a pair presented as being around the Belgian Top 50, they lose 7-5 after previously beating P700 opponents.
The video also shows how several clubs around Liège operate: online booking, automated access and lighting linked to the reserved time slot. For one of the first matches filmed, the off-peak price announced is €52 for four players, or €13 per person. Léo Poulain also points out the differences between venues, with some courts offering limited ceiling height and others using much larger facilities.
Clément Geens, a leading Belgian player and a key figure at the end of the trip
The documentary moves to another level with the appearance of Clément Geens. The former tennis player, who says in the video that he reached No. 245 in the ATP rankings in 2016, is now one of Belgium’s main representatives on the international padel circuit.
Léo Poulain meets him at Eleven Padel by Bullpadel in Nivelles. The club has seven indoor panoramic courts and four outdoor courts. It is also home to the GAP Academy, a project involving Clément Geens and François Azzola.
The meeting gives Geens the opportunity to share his own view of the development of padel in Belgium. He discusses the coexistence of several federations, the growth in the number of clubs and players, and the rising demand among younger players. In the video, he mentions increasing interest in padel schools and training camps for children. The documentary ends on court at Eleven, where Léo Poulain and Baptiste face Clément Geens and Gill. The score is 6-0, 6-1.
Padel in Belgium remains divided between several structures
Léo Poulain repeatedly highlights the institutional fragmentation of Belgian padel. Padel Belgium distinguishes a Dutch-speaking organisation around Tennis & Padel Vlaanderen and a French-speaking structure linked to Padel Wallonie-Bruxelles. AFPadel also operates as a separate French-speaking organisation. This situation also comes up in the discussion with Clément Geens, who explains that players can find it difficult to navigate between the different federations and their systems.
For a French player, comparisons with French P categories can therefore be misleading. In Belgium, P500, P700 or P1000 refer to the player’s individual level and determine which competitions they can enter. The documentary uses that scale as a thread by gradually increasing the level of opposition.
From Liège to Eleven Padel, several sides of Belgian padel
Léo Poulain spends a large part of the trip in the Liège area before finishing at Eleven Padel in Nivelles. The documentary shows several clubs without always clearly naming or displaying them. Eleven, however, is clearly identified, as it hosts both the interview and the match with Clément Geens, who is also involved there with François Azzola through the GAP Academy.
Between the matches organised by Esteban, the games against P500, P700 and P1000 players, the coaching sessions and the final sequence with Geens, the video offers a broad view of Belgian padel. Esteban plays a central role throughout the trip: he arranges matches, accompanies the team between clubs and helps explain local habits. His progression and content can be followed directly on YouTube.
