If you like pickleball, get ready to up the ante with padel. We know what you’re thinking: first, how do you pronounce it? And second, is padel the same as pickleball? For starters, it’s pronounced PAD-el, not to be confused with its homophone paddle, which is a different sport. And no, padel isn’t the same as pickleball — but it’s just as fun.
Padel is the fastest-growing racket sport in the world, while pickleball is “only” the fastest-growing sport in the United States, says Julian Wortelboer, executive VP and chief padel officer of Ultra Club Miami, the largest padel club in the world, and co-host of the Padel Smash Academy podcast with Cesar Caceres. Wortelboer’s Ultra Club Miami has 28 courts, and Wortelboer says the club is at capacity for its full operating hours – 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.– more days than not. Padel will be an invitational sport in the Paris Olympics, and a full Olympic sport for the 2028 Olympics held in Los Angeles.
In other words, padel is a big deal, and it’s only getting bigger. Want to get in on the fun? In addition to Wortelboer, PS tapped padel pros Scott Colebourne, former board member of the United States Padel Association and Victor Perez, one of the top ten padel coaches worldwide, for a padel primer, including how to play padel, tips for beginners, and a break down of padel vs. pickleball.
Experts Featured in This Article:
Julien Wortelboer, is the executive VP and chief padel officer of Ultra Club Miami.
Scott Colebourne, is a former board member for the United States Padel Association.
Victor Perez is one of the top ten padel coaches worldwide.
What Is Padel, Exactly?
“Padel is a form of tennis that is easy to play, fun and extremely sociable,” says Perez. Colebourne describes padel as a blend of tennis and squash that involve lots of strategic, fast-paced play. “Padel is typically played in doubles on an enclosed court that’s roughly 25 percent smaller than a tennis court,” he says, and balls can be played off the court’s walls in a similar way to squash.
Where Did Padel Begin?
Padel has a fascinating origin story. The sport began in Mexico in 1969, says Colebourne, when Enrique Corcuera set up the first court in the backyard of his summer house. According to Wortelboer, Corcuera had limited backyard space, so he created a smaller-sized tennis court, enclosed on either side by the walls of his neighbor’s houses, and started playing a version of tennis that allowed playing the ball off the walls.
When he shared the game with two of his high-society friends from Spain and Argentina, they loved it, and quickly brought it home to their respective countries, says Wortelboer. The sport exploded in Argentina and Spain in the early 1980s, and spread to global popularity from there. According to Wortelboer, major growth happened in 2018 and 2019, and now there are 30 million padel players worldwide. Spain is currently hosting the Seniors World Padel Championships, with over 35 countries participating.
How to Play Padel
Padel is played on a court with enclosed walls 20 meters (about 66 feet) long and 10 meters (about 33 feet) wide, which is larger than a squash court, but smaller than a tennis court. The court is completely enclosed by walls, typically made of concrete, glass, or wire mesh, and a net similar to a tennis net divides the court in half, says Perez. Court surfaces vary, but common materials include artificial grass, carpet, or concrete.
Padel is always played in doubles, and uses the same scoring system as tennis, says Wortelboer. Games are typically played to six points and need to be won by two points, says Perez. Like tennis, players serve into the opposite box, with the ball required to bounce once on the floor and a key rule is that the serve must be underhand, says Colebourne. The ball can only bounce on the ground once, says Perez, but it can bounce on the walls more than once. Once the ball is in play, you can play it off the ground or wall.