Padel

Padel
Padel players on outdoor padel courts
Highest governing bodyInternational Padel Federation (FIP)
NicknamesPaddle (US, Canada)
First played1969, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Characteristics
ContactNo
Team membersUsually doubles
Mixed-sexSeparate competitions (mixed sometimes in leagues)
TypeRacquet sport
EquipmentPadel racquet, padel ball
VenueOutdoor or indoor padel court
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide
OlympicNo
ParalympicNo

Padel (Spanish: pádel), also 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.[1][2] 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.

As of 2023, according to the International Padel Federation (FIP) there are more than 25 million active players in more than 90 countries.[a][4] Padel is worth about €2bn a year and growing fast.[5]

The Padel World Championship is held every second year since 1992, with Argentina or Spain reaching the final in every competition.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference padel-test.de was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Economist2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Noble, Josh (28 July 2023). "Padel power: players and investors flock to tennis's upstart rival". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference FT20230824 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).