NOX launches the first padel ball format designed to avoid coronavirus transmission
Although it is still not clear when and in what form the padel courts will return to action, it is evident that both the padel clubs and their players will have to alter their routines and habits under the post-COVID-19 “new normal life”. A large number of initiatives and protocols are being developed in order to minimise the risk of infection during play.
The padel ball is one of the elements receiving the most attention as all players hold the ball in their hand during the game, at a minimum when serving, contaminating it in the process. While the FIP does propose in an internal work document that players wear a glove on their non-dominant hand and the use of disinfectant hydrogels, this alone does not guarantee that transmission of the virus will be avoided. The glove loses all effectiveness as it remains contaminated when a player touches any part of their body, such as their face, a reflex motion that is difficult to avoid. Even the World Health Organization considers frequent hand washing more effective than the use of gloves.
Meanwhile the International Tennis Federation goes one step further in their Return to Tennis Guidelines security by recommending each player to "use his/her own set of separately numbered balls" so that the balls do not come into contact with the hands of all the players.
This format, which the brand has named PlaySafe, adapts their four-ball tube, unique in the market, assigning each of the balls to a player
The way it works is simple. Before the game, players are assigned a number from 1 to 4. On opening the tube of Nox Pro Titanium PlaySafe balls, each player takes the ball with their assigned number.
During the game, each player will be able to hold their assigned ball by hand, whether when serving or when collecting the ball from the ground. The players should avoid touching the rest of the numbered balls, instead passing them by foot or with their racket.
The Pro Titanium PlaySafe balls are the first product that Nox plans to launch under the PlaySafe concept, products aimed at offering maximum health safety guarantees to both clubs and their players.