It looks a bit like a beach bat and ball game, but padel (pronounced paddle) tennis, this summer’s fitness hit, has properly sporty credentials. Played with a paddle that looks suspiciously like the bat from a garden Swingball set, and with balls that look and feel similar to tennis balls, but are slightly smaller and “depressurised” to be less bouncy, it is billed as a fun fusion of tennis and squash and is designed to be accessible to all. Among its fans are Andy Murray, David Beckham and Rafa Nadal.
Lionel Messi loves playing so much he has reportedly installed a padel court in his back garden and his fellow footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovich has opened a chain of five Padel Zenter clubs in Sweden, with one planned for Milan.
The game is already big in South America and the Middle East, but it’s popularity in Europe is growing swiftly. In Spain, where there are five million padel players, it overtook tennis to become the country’s second biggest participation sport after football, and in the past two years the number of padel courts in Italy has increased fivefold, up to almost 5,000. We are not quite at that level yet, but there are an estimated 89,000 players in the UK and with a concerted push from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the sport’s governing body, the number of UK courts has risen from 40 courts in 2019 to about 165 at 66 locations. Tom Murray, the head of padel development at the LTA, says that the target is 400 courts around the country by 2023. “The demand for courts is huge,” he says. “In 2022, our aim is to add another 100 courts.”
If you haven’t tried it yet, it will soon be hard to avoid. “Participation in padel, which is very equal among males and females, is rapidly rising,” Murray says. “We hope that integrating padel into venues will encourage people to give it a try.” There are busy public courts in Regent’s Park and Hyde Park in London as well as other parks and leisure centres around the UK.
At David Lloyd Leisure there are plans to roll out padel and bring the game to its existing clubs, with a target of 90 courts over the next decade and three courts as standard at all new venues. I’m trying it at the branch in Bushey, Hertfordshire, where the instructor Bjorn Schroder is talking me through the basics.
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What’s immediately appealing — at least to me with my lack of squash and tennis expertise — are the elements of familiarity coupled with a sense that it’s less pretentious than its racket sport relatives. Schroder says that anyone of any age can play — he has clients in their late sixties who are enthusiastically taking it up. “There’s a steep learning curve and quick progression,” he says. “There’s less bounce off the ball and the bat so less loss of control for beginners — and most people find that even an hour in they are able to have a good volley with an opponent.”
A court measures 10m by 20m, about a third smaller than a standard tennis court, and is enclosed by a walled or fenced edge 3-4m high, which means there’s no chasing wayward balls after you miss them. As in squash, balls can be bounced off the walls to create long, fast rallies so that you are constantly on the go, working up a sweat. All serves are underarm and you bounce the ball before hitting it — with the same scoring system as tennis and the best of three sets played. A player or pair — most games are doubles format — must be ahead by two games to win or participate in a tiebreaker if there is a draw. Simplicity that makes it perfect for playing on holiday if you can find a court.
Equipment, at least relative to some sports, is inexpensive. A set of three balls costs as little as £5 and although a top-of-the-range bat can cost upwards of £300, you can pick up a decent enough beginner’s paddle from Decathlon for £39.99. They come with a loop attached to the handle, which should be slipped over the wrist. This, Schroder tells me, is an essential safety strap — somewhat disconcertingly, given that I am about to step on court for the first time. “There were some serious injuries with people losing control of the bat which ended up hitting their opponent,” he says. “The rule is always ‘loop on’.”
What’s it like to play? Schroder says the rule is to serve below waist level and not overhead and, even with my dismal hand-eye co-ordination, something that lets me down in tennis, I was encouraged by my first service in padel resulting in a rally of about 12 shots. Immediately it feels easier to get into the flow of a game, helped enormously by the big bat; its hard, composite-material construction means that strokes require less power but feel more dynamic, even for a novice like me. It’s fast-moving — and it’s the speed of the game, combined with the smaller size of a padel court, that makes singles matches so much more difficult than in tennis.
You might think that you run more on a larger tennis court, but for beginners the long rallies in padel keep you sprinting and darting about for longer. Schroder estimates that 75 per cent of court time is taken up by running about, compared with 25 per cent for beginner tennis players. As he adds rebound moves off the walls and introduces the basics of the bandeja, a high forehand hit used as a defensive smash that is different from anything in tennis — making it tricky for experienced tennis players to learn — it becomes a fully fledged workout; 20 minutes in and I’m working hard enough to break a sweat.
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Fitness-wise, all that running provides a big cardiovascular boost and the leaping and lunging will strengthen legs, calves and glutes. You will burn between 200 and 300 calories in 30 minutes, comparable to tennis and similar to squash, and your arms and core muscles get a workout from reaching and volleying.
“After their first lesson a lot of my clients feel confident enough to book a court and play with friends,” Schroder says. “It’s a game that lends itself to participation because it’s manageable for most and it’s so much fun to play.” There is an elite arm to the sport — a GB national padel team competes at World and European Championships and the LTA is steering promising players into its padel performance pathway — but the beauty of it for most of us is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I will be joining the throngs booking a court this summer.
