What is padel? A complete guide to the world's fastest-growing sport

The short answer

Padel is a racket sport played in doubles on an enclosed court 20 metres long and 10 metres wide — roughly the footprint of a doubles tennis court but nearly 4 metres shorter. The ball is similar to a tennis ball but pressurised to a lower internal pressure (between 11 and 16 psi, vs a standard tennis ball's ~14 psi at sea level). The racket is solid, perforated, has no strings, and cannot exceed 45.5cm in total length per FIP regulations. The walls are part of the game — the ball can be played off the back glass after it bounces. Scoring uses tennis scoring (15, 30, 40, game, set), but the underhand serve and the wall play make the rallies feel completely different from anything else in racket sports.

Where padel came from

Padel was invented in Acapulco, Mexico in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera, who built an enclosed court at his vacation home because the property wasn't big enough for a regulation tennis court. He enclosed the space with walls on three sides and added a net. A Spanish friend, Alfonso de Hohenlohe, saw the court during a visit and took the concept home to Marbella in 1974, where he built the first Spanish courts at the Marbella Club. The sport caught on with the affluent beach-club crowd and spread rapidly through Spain's network of clubs. From Spain it spread to Argentina in the 1980s — where it developed its own culture and produced many of the top professional players — then expanded across Europe and Latin America in the 2010s. The current global boom started around 2018, driven by social media, the pandemic's demand for outdoor sport, and the emergence of the Premier Padel professional circuit.

Why padel is growing so fast

Three structural reasons. First, it's easier to start than tennis — beginners can sustain rallies within their first hour because the enclosed court means fewer balls go out of play and the underhand serve is immediately learnable. Second, it's social by design — always doubles, always with three other people, and a standard set takes 30–45 minutes. Third, the courts scale economically in ways tennis cannot: a padel court costs a fraction of a tennis court to build (smaller footprint, no landscaping requirement, modular glass-and-steel structures), fits in spaces too small for tennis, and generates higher revenue per hour because it serves four players simultaneously. Spain has over 20,000 padel courts — more courts than any country has tennis courts. The UK went from a handful in 2018 to over 900 in 2026. The US doubled its court count between 2023 and 2024.

The court

The padel court is 20 metres long by 10 metres wide, divided by a net at the midpoint. Net height is 88cm at the centre and 92cm at the posts. The court is fully enclosed: back walls behind each baseline are 3 metres of tempered glass (called 'cristal' in Spanish); side walls are a mix of glass at the back portions and metal mesh in the middle and front zones. Service boxes are marked at 6.95 metres from the net — the same distance as tennis service boxes but from the net rather than the baseline. The walls are not boundaries — they're active surfaces. A ball that bounces in your court and then hits the back glass or side wall is still in play. This is what creates the extended rallies and the back-glass attack sequences that no other racket sport has.

The equipment

The padel racket is solid, perforated, and stringless. It must not exceed 45.5cm in total length (handle plus head) or 26cm in width. Holes in the face must be 9–13mm in diameter. Most adult rackets weigh 360–375g and are made from carbon fibre or fibreglass over an EVA foam core. The racket shape ranges from round (beginner-friendly, large sweetspot) to diamond (advanced, smaller sweetspot, more power). The padel ball is rubber with a felt covering, similar to a tennis ball but pressurised slightly lower. Balls come in standard indoor and outdoor versions — outdoor balls are slightly more durable due to the turf surface. Shoes are padel-specific or omni-sole court shoes: running shoes on a sand-turf court surface are a lateral ankle injury waiting to happen.

Scoring and rules basics

Padel uses tennis scoring: points go 15, 30, 40, game. Sets are first to 6 games with a 2-game lead; a 6–6 tie goes to a 7-point tiebreak. Matches are typically best of three sets. The serve must be hit underhand, below the waist, bounced off the court first, and land in the diagonally opposite service box. Two serve attempts are allowed (fault + second fault = double fault, point to the receiver). After the serve, the ball is in play when it bounces on the opponent's side — they can then play it off any wall as long as the ball does not bounce a second time on the ground before they hit it. A ball that hits the fence or netting (rather than the glass or solid wall) is out. The ball can be hit out of the court over the wall — called 'por tres paredes' (through three walls) — and the opponents must play it back in, which is one of padel's most dramatic tactical sequences.

The basic shots

Forehand and backhand are the foundation, played with shorter swings than tennis because the court is smaller and reaction time is compressed. The lob is the most important tactical shot in padel — used to push opponents off the net position and reset the balance of the point. The smash and bandeja are the two attacking overheads: the smash is a flat or topspin power shot aimed to end the point; the bandeja is a sliced, controlled three-quarter overhead used to maintain net position when the lob is too deep to smash. The víbora is a side-arm topspin overhead that kicks the ball aggressively into the side wall. Glass play — hitting the ball after it bounces off your own back wall — is the shot that defines padel and has no equivalent in any other racket sport.

How padel differs from tennis, squash, and pickleball

Compared to tennis: padel is doubles only, uses walls in play, has an underhand serve, uses a stringless solid racket, and the court is smaller. The serve is not a weapon — it's a neutral opening shot. Rallies are longer and more tactical. Compared to squash: bigger court, walls played indirectly (only after the ball has bounced on the ground), doubles format, much slower ball, and more strategic — padel is not a pure-pace sport the way squash is. Compared to pickleball: padel has a larger court (20×10m vs pickleball's 13.4×6.1m), uses walls in play (pickleball does not), uses a rubber tennis-style ball (pickleball uses a plastic wiffle ball), and is considerably more athletic with longer rallies and faster court coverage demands. Padel is closest in spirit to a tactical doubles chess match played at sprint pace.

How to start playing

You need three things: a court (find one through Playtomic or a local club), three other players, and a racket. Most clubs rent rackets for €5–10 per session if you don't have one. A first session typically costs €20–40 per court split between four players. Padel shoes matter immediately — don't play in running shoes. A coaching session for absolute beginners covering grip, serve, and basic positioning (serve and come to net) is the fastest way to make your first matches enjoyable rather than frustrating.

How long it takes to get good

Most beginners can sustain rallies in their first hour on court. Three months of regular play (twice a week) gets you to a competent recreational level where you understand basic positioning, can serve consistently, and can use the back glass defensively. Six to twelve months gets you to a club league level where you can play competitively. The hardest jump is from intermediate to advanced — that's where players plateau because court time alone doesn't fix technique errors that have become habitual. Video analysis, coaching, or AI-based technique feedback is what moves most players past that plateau.

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