Inside the Tapia Collab: How the World No. 1 Helped Design His Own Signature Sleeve

Agustín Tapia is 24 years old, Argentinian, and the current world No. 1 in men's padel. On tour they call him the Mozart of Padel — a nickname earned by the kind of touch, timing and instinctive shot-making that most players spend a lifetime chasing and never find. He plays with a wrist that operates like a violinist's bow. And that wrist, more than almost anyone else's on tour, needs protecting.

When Tapia asked to work with Floky, we didn't hand him a pre-made product with his signature slapped on top. We handed him a design brief.

The problem Tapia wanted to solve

Elite padel players hit the ball, on average, 800 to 1,200 times in a single match. The vibration travelling from ball to racket to hand to forearm to elbow adds up quickly. Tapia's playing style — heavy on wrist-driven finesse shots, the víbora, the bandeja, delicate finger-flick vollies — puts more load on his forearm extensors than most players on tour. It's what makes him extraordinary. It's also what makes his forearm tissue work overtime, match after match, week after week.

He needed a sleeve that did two things his existing kit didn't. First, absorb more vibration. Second, stay perfectly in place through the full range of wrist articulation — no slipping, no bunching, no readjusting between points.

What we changed

The NO-STRAIN Tapia sleeve is built on the same platform as our standard NO-STRAIN sleeve, but with three specific evolutions.

Enhanced vibration-dampening. The silicone application pattern was reworked to add mass at the exact vibration transmission points that emerged from Tapia's biomechanical testing. More mass in the right places means more energy absorbed before it reaches the tendon.

Anatomical wrist fit. The lower cuff was redesigned to sit closer to the wrist joint without restricting the wrist's range of motion. This solves the slipping problem — the sleeve now anchors against the wrist rather than relying only on compression at the forearm to hold position.

Tapia signature construction. His signature is knitted into the fabric alongside the Argentine flag — a tribute to Catamarca, the province where he grew up hitting balls against the walls of his family's home.

None of the cosmetic changes reduce the performance. Everything visible is functional. The signature and flag are woven into the compression zone, not printed on top of it.

Why he wears it every match

Tapia has worn the sleeve in every Premier Padel match since the collaboration launched. Not for marketing — because it works. The vibration reaching his tendon is measurably lower. The sleeve stays in place through the full match. And the extra proprioceptive feedback from the silicone applications sharpens his sense of forearm position during shots that happen too fast for conscious thought.

At his level, marginal gains compound. A slightly less fatigued forearm at the end of a tight three-set final is the difference between a decisive winning shot and a tight miss.

Who should wear it

Realistically? Any padel player who wants what Tapia has: less elbow load, sharper feel, and a garment that doesn't have to be re-adjusted between points.

If you play the wrist-heavy shots — the bandeja, the víbora, the tight vollies — the Tapia sleeve is engineered for you. If you're prone to forearm fatigue or early-stage padel elbow, it'll help. If you just want to wear what the world No. 1 wears every match, that's a good enough reason too.

It is a limited edition. Once the run is finished, we won't be making more.

Shop the NO-STRAIN Tapia sleeve →

Also worth reading: Padel Elbow: What Causes It, How to Prevent It → What Is Biomechanical Sportswear? →