What is padel?
Padel is a racket sport, often described as a cross between tennis and squash. The courts are enclosed with walls of metallic mesh and glass, with shots played both against the glass and over the net. Padel is always played in doubles, meaning – to quote our team member Rachel – you always have a buddy.
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Padel 101
From court etiquette to mastering those basic shots, the questions we often get asked about padel.
Padel is a racket sport, best described as a mix of tennis and squash. It is a fun, social racket sport for all abilities and ages. It’s usually played in doubles on an enclosed court a third of the size of a tennis court, surrounded by walls of glass and mesh.
Padel venues are located all over the world, with a number of courts springing up more recently in the UK, where the sport has gone from strength to strength.
If you want to familiarise yourself with the basic rules of padel ahead of play, watching this video on Padel Rules 101 from our ambassador, The Padel School’s Sandy Farquharson, is a useful place to start. Here are some additional useful resources for when you’re starting out:
If you’d like to see some of the most commonly-used shots in padel, have a watch through the videos below:
Padel is generally understood to have originated in Acapulco, Mexico, when businessman Enrique Corcuera built the first-ever padel court in the garden of his holiday home. The sport, originally dubbed Corcuera Paddle by its inventor, was brought to international attention by Spanish entrepreneur Alfonso de Hohenlohe, a friend of Corcuera’s, built Spain’s first two padel courts in Marbella in 1974. The following year, the sport was discovered by Argentinian millionaire Julio Menditenguia, who brought the racket sport to his native country.
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