What Is Padel? The Sport Explained in 5 Minutes
What padel is, where it came from, how it's played, and why it's the fastest-growing racket sport in the world. A quick explainer for curious beginners.
Padel is a racket sport that mixes tennis and squash. It's played in doubles on a small court enclosed by glass walls, with solid stringless rackets and a ball that looks like a tennis ball. Points are scored like tennis, but the walls keep rallies going, so beginners have fun from their very first hour.
If friends keep inviting you to "a game of padel", this is everything you need to know.
Where padel comes from
Padel was invented in 1969 in Acapulco, Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera, who built walls around a small court at his home. Friends brought the game to Marbella in Spain in the 1970s and to Argentina soon after. Spain and Argentina turned it into a national passion, and today courts are opening across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the United States.
How padel is played
- Four players: two pairs, one on each side of the net.
- A 20 × 10 m court: about a third of a tennis court, surrounded by glass and mesh.
- Underhand serve: the ball is bounced and hit below waist height, diagonally into the opponents' box.
- One bounce, then the walls: the ball must bounce once on the other side before touching a wall. After that, players can play it off the glass.
- Tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game; six games win a set, often with a golden point at deuce.
Read the full padel rules or our step-by-step guide to playing.
What equipment do you need?
- A padel racket: solid foam core, holes in the face, no strings.
- Padel balls: like tennis balls with slightly lower pressure.
- Court shoes with a herringbone or clay sole for grip on sand-filled artificial grass.
Why is padel so popular?
- Easy to learn: the underhand serve and small court mean long rallies from day one.
- Social: four players, short distances and lots of laughter.
- Less power, more brains: placement and teamwork beat raw strength, so mixed ages and levels play together.
- Great exercise: constant movement without the punishing sprints of singles tennis.
Padel, paddle tennis or pickleball?
They're different sports. Paddle tennis and platform tennis are American games with their own courts and rules. Pickleball uses a plastic ball and an open court. See padel vs pickleball for the details.
Ready for your first match? Padel Scoreboard: Score Keeper counts 15-30-40, golden points and tiebreaks for you, so you can focus on the ball.