Padel facts for kids
Padel players on outdoor padel courts
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| Highest governing body | International Padel Federation (FIP) |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Paddle (US, Canada) |
| First played | 1969, Acapulco, Mexico |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Team members | Usually doubles |
| Mixed-sex | Separate competitions (mixed sometimes in leagues) |
| Type | Racquet sport |
| Equipment | Padel racquet, padel ball |
| Venue | Outdoor or indoor padel court |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Olympic | No |
| Paralympic | No |
Padel (Spanish: pádel), sometimes called Padel Tennis, is a racket sport of Mexican origin, typically played in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court. Although Padel shares the same scoring system as tennis, the rules, strokes, and technique are different. The balls used are similar but with a little less pressure. The main differences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, stringless bats are used. The height of the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.
History
The sport is thought to have been invented in Acapulco, Mexico by Enrique Corcuera in 1969, after he modified his squash court to incorporate elements of platform tennis.
Many well-known professional padel players have previously competed in tennis, including former WTA Tour players Roberta Vinci and Lara Arruabarrena.
Rules
- Players: Usually played as doubles on a 10 by 20 metres court (32' 10" by 65' 7") Singles use a 6 by 20 metres (19' 8" by 65' 7") court instead.
- Serves: Serves are always underhand. Balls that hit the walls around the court after bouncing on the ground are still in play.
- Balls: Padel balls are required in official matches; these are similar to tennis balls but are slightly smaller. Padel is usually played casually with regular tennis balls.
- Rackets: Padel rackets are made of a composite material without strings. The hitting surface is perforated. The racket is similar to the one used in platform tennis but has its own specifications.
- Court: The court has a floor made of concrete, plastic or artificial grass. It is designed similarly to a tennis court, only smaller - measuring 10x20 m, with a 0.88m (34.6 inches) high net in the middle. The court is surrounded by 4 meter high walls made of glass or brick, or a fence when outside
Scoring
Padel follows the same scoring as the tennis scoring system with the following exception:
- In the 2020 season, World Padel Tour introduced the "Gold Point" or "Golden Point", a new scoring method for main tournaments (Master Final, Master, Open and Challenger) organized by the World Padel Tour. This method of scoring has been widely adopted throughout non-professional tournaments as well.
- The golden point in Padel:
- The golden point occurs when the score reaches deuce during any game.
- The receiving team chooses whether the service will come from the right or left of the court.
- The team that wins that one single point will win the game.
- The golden point in Padel:
Court
The padel rules state that the playing field should be a rectangle 10 metres (32 ft 10 in) wide (back wall) and 20 metres (65 ft 7 in) long (side wall) (with a 0.5% tolerance), enclosed by walls. At the middle of the playing field there will be a net dividing the court in two, the net has a maximum height of 88 cm in the center raising to 92 centimetres (36 in) at sides (with a 0.5 centimetres (1⁄5 in) tolerance).
The superstructure is made from connecting 3m high x 2m wide panels, with an additional 1m mesh height over the glass back walls (10m walls). This additional 1m height is continued for 2m from each corner over the side walls also. This means that the back walls and service corners are actually 4m in height, with the remaining side walls are 3m in height.
Glass panels make up the back walls and service side walls (closest 2 side panels to back walls), whilst metal mesh panels occupy the sides.
The service lines are placed 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) before the back wall and there will be also another line in middle that divides the central rectangle in half. All lines have a 5-centimetre (2 in) width and should be clearly visible.
The minimum height between the playing field and an obstacle (for e.g. the ceiling) is 6 metres (19 ft 8 in).
Adoption
Europe
Padel Pro Tour (PPT) was the professional padel circuit which was created in 2005 as a result of the agreement between a group of organizers of matches of padel and Association of Professional Players of Padel (AJPP) and the Spanish Feminine Association of Pádel (AFEP). Nowadays, the most important padel circuit is World Padel Tour (WPT), which started in Spain though it has already reached international expansion. In 2014 WPT has travelled to Portugal, Argentina and Dubai.
The sport's popularity along the Costa del Sol in southern Spain and the Algarve in southern Portugal has exposed it to a large number of British visitors, leading to an increased popularity of the sport in the UK and a launch of the UK Padel Federation in 2011.
In 2021, there were approximately 700 Padel Courts in Sweden. The Swedish Padel Association (Svenska Padelförbundet) was included as a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet) in 2021.
Despite being a game born in Spanish-speaking countries, the number of padel players and clubs built in the northern part of Europe is growing. Sweden is the country with the second highest number of searches for the term "padel" in Google after Spain, according to the report presented by Playtomic and Monitor Deloitte. And while countries such as Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway mainly opt for building indoor padel clubs because of their climatic conditions, Belgium, Italy, France and Germany prefer outdoor courts.
The Americas
The US Padel Association was founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1993, and opened two courts in the Chattanooga area. The American Padel Association was formed in 1995 and built its first courts at a private club in Houston, Texas for exhibition games.
Asia
In 2014, the Swiss Club in Singapore opened the first padel court in Singapore.
See also
In Spanish: Pádel para niños
- Padel World Championship
- Paddle tennis
- Real tennis
