Coach Julio Gallardo stands with both feet behind the service line.
He bounces the ball onto the blue hard court floor.
As soon as this is at hip height, the racket hits the ball precisely and a dull impact sounds.
The yellow ball flies diagonally over the net into the opposite service field to the opponent.
He returns the ball and the rally begins.
Up to this point, the game is similar to classic tennis.
But Gallardo plays "Padel".
This new sport is a combination of tennis and squash.
"The serves, forehand, backhand and volleys come from tennis, the discs and walls were taken from squash," says Gallardo.
If the ball flies past the service line, it does not count as out.
Instead, the padel player can bounce it against the plexiglass wall at the back of the court and just keep playing.
The Plexiglas wall, together with sections of metal fence, encloses the playing field like a cage.
The racquets are also different from those used in tennis, a padel racquet does not have crossed strings.
The solid surface is perforated.
The strap, which is attached to the racquet, is worn around the wrist during play for a safe shot.
It is only played in doubles, two against two.
The teams playing against each other face each other on the field divided by the net.
A point is lost if the ball first touches the back or side wall in play without first touching down in the field of play.
To win a game, at least four points are required, counted like in tennis: "15, 30, 40, game".
The first team to win six games while maintaining a lead of at least two games wins the set.
Two or three won sets decide the match.
Especially popular in South America and Spain
The sport is particularly popular in Spain and South America.
"The first padel court was created in Mexico in 1969," says Gallardo.
The name derives from the racket, which is reminiscent of a paddle, "paddle" in English.
As the sport spread early in Argentina, the term padel became common via Spanish.
The sport is also attracting more and more fans in the Rhine-Main area.
"Padel has the potential to become a new trend sport," says Gallardo.
There is already a German national team for women and men.
The "Padel-Rhein-Main" in Multisports Wallau in Hofheim, a commercial sports center, has existed since 2017. 1400 users are now registered there alone.
With five indoor padel courts and a training ground, the facility is one of the two largest indoor padel facilities in Germany.
Although Multisports Wallau offers many different sports, many sports enthusiasts come just for padel.
"We even had our soccer pitches demolished to create more space," says Multisports operations manager Maurice Himmelsbach.
Padel is very dynamic
Some padel enthusiasts hear from acquaintances how much fun the sport is and want to try it out.
Others got to know the game on holiday in Mallorca or Lanzarote and would like to continue playing at home.
“A young woman did an Erasmus semester in Malta, tried padel and got a taste for it.
Since she's back in Germany, she's been playing here in Padel-Rhein-Main every week," says Gallardo.
Padel is very dynamic: Anyone who otherwise plays tennis will be amazed at how much faster the ball lands back in their own court.
Or that the ball suddenly comes from behind instead of in front because it shoots back from the Plexiglas wall.
A good ability to react is required in order to catch the ball precisely in the dynamics of the game.
Compared to tennis, the court is smaller.
The player has to move towards the ball more often and more quickly, but in a smaller radius.
What is required is less strength than tactics and skill.
But you always start to sweat.
Padel tennis is suitable for people of all ages and physical conditions, as Gallardo says.
“Padel is much quicker to learn than tennis.
You just have to know the rules and within an hour anyone can play.” Experience in a sport with a racquet is an advantage, but by no means a requirement.
"Even people who do little or no exercise get the balls," says the coach.
The tennis-squash combination offers exercise and fun with little physical effort.
Padel lessons are possible as single or double training, but also in threes or fours.
"The individual training sessions are much harder, because here we not only train the technique, but above all the fitness," explains Gallardo.
Tactics in particular are trained when training with several people.
Multisports Wallau currently employs two padel trainers.
There is already a Bundesliga for the new sport in Germany, and two months ago the German championship was held in Multisports Wallau.
For Gallardo, the nice thing is that the sport attracts players from different countries: "There are two Germans, three Spaniards and one Colombian in our team." In padel, the sense of community is particularly strong, the atmosphere on the court is family, most of the players know each other each other and also meet after the game.
The coach thinks that padel could be a good addition to tennis clubs.
Both sports could benefit from each other.
"Padel and tennis are not mutually exclusive."
A few tennis clubs in the Rhine-Main area have already built padel courts.
For Gallardo it is a dream come true that his sport is becoming more and more popular in Germany.
The trainer, whose main job is a hotel employee, says: “Padel is my life.
Even after ten hours of work, I love to give another four hours of training here.”