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Padel, which is sometimes called padel tennis but typically known as just ‘padel’, is a dynamic racket sport that combines elements of tennis and squash. It is a very accessible sport, which has helped it become the world’s fastest growing sport.
Padel is played on an enclosed court which is approximately one-third the size of a tennis court. Although the scoring will be familiar to tennis players, the use of the walls is an obvious difference to tennis and the experienced padel players will be very strategic in how they can use the walls to their advantage.
Padel is typically played as doubles, so it is a highly social sport and the use of solid paddles and de-pressurised balls helps make it easier to get started and you can mix different skill levels far more than you can with traditional tennis. Padel is great fun to learn and challenging to master.
Padel tennis was invented in 1969 by a wealthy businessman in Mexico called Enrique Corcuera. Corcuera's goal was to create a game that could be played within the confines of his home in Acapulco.
As an aside, our name ‘Padel39’ was born as a celebration of padel’s origins, as 39 are the first two digits of Acapulco’s zip code.
Corcuera combined elements of tennis and squash, constructing the first padel court with walls to allow for unique play dynamics. His innovative creation laid the foundation for what has become a widely popular sport across the globe.
Early growth in Padel was especially strong in both Spain and Argentina, where it became deeply ingrained in the sporting culture, but padel is now played by 26 million players in over 90 countries.
Professional tours and tournaments are helping to fuel padel’s growth, but the social nature of the sport is perfect for the premium athletic club experience on offer at Padel39.
Although padel and pickleball do share some similarities, they should not be confused. The rules, court dimensions, and equipment of pickleball differ significantly from those of padel tennis.
Padel tennis is played on an enclosed court with walls, and the gameplay closely resembles a mix of tennis and squash. Pickleball, on the other hand, is played on a badminton-sized court with a net and a perforated plastic ball, similar to a whiffle ball.
While padel tennis and traditional tennis also clearly share some similarities, they are distinct sports with several key differences.
Padel is played on a smaller, enclosed court with walls that players can use to keep the ball in play, adding a strategic dimension to the game.
The rackets used in padel are solid and perforated, unlike the strung rackets used in tennis.
Padel serves are made underhand, and the sport is almost always played as doubles, fostering a more social and collaborative environment.
Whilst padel offers endless opportunities to improve your game, it is much easier to get started than tennis and you can be having great fun and getting the heart rate going extremely early on in your padel career.
For more detail, read our blog post about the differences between padel and tennis.
Strictly speaking, padel should be pronounced ‘pah-DEL’.
The emphasis is on the second syllable, and it rhymes with ‘hotel’. This pronunciation reflects the sport's Spanish origins, where it first gained prominence and continues to thrive.
That said, many people pronounce it ‘paddle’. Padel39 is where you meet to play, train, relax, and connect. We are more interested in our members having fun on and off the court than obsessing about how to pronounce it.
