What is Padel Tennis (Padel)?
Padel is played by over 10 million players and has become the fastest growing sport in the world!
Padel is a racket sport that combines the elements of tennis, squash and badminton. It is only played in doubles and is practised outdoors as much as indoors.
The game was invented by Enrique Corcuera of Mexico, who created the first padel club in Marbella in 1974. The sport became very popular in Spain, which has been the professional circuit host of the World Padel Tour where it has been played since 2005.
Over the course of the past 10 years, padel has begun to spread rapidly to the rest of Europe and the United States.
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How do you play Padel?
About the Padel Court
- Dimensions: 200m² (10x20m)
- A net divides the court into two sides
- Glass walls and netted steel fence surround the court
- The back of the court and the beginning of the sides are made of window glass surmounted by a steel fence (height: 4m)
- Access to the court is on each side of the net
- There are no doors
About the Padel Rules
The game starts with a server which must be hit diagonally to the opponent on the other side of the net. The ball must bounce within the opponents serving “square”.
The serve is underhanded, with 2 attempts allowed – If the ball hits the nett and bounces in the box, it is a let (as in tennis).
During the Game:
The ball must bounce on the ground before touching any external walls. If the ball hits an external wall before first bouncing on the floor it is out.
A ball can be returned once it has hit the floor and/or any glass walls. However, it cannot bounce twice. Volleys are also permitted.
Scoring:
Scoring is the same as tennis, except matches, are usually made up of the best of 3 sets (male and female). Six games are needed to win a set and the pair who wins two sets wins the match.
Players will play a 7 points tie-breaker if the score reaches 6/6.