What is padel?

What exactly is padel?

Padel is a racket sport for four players, two per side, on a court roughly a third the size of a tennis court and enclosed by walls. The ball can bounce off those walls and stay in play, which is what makes padel feel different from every other racket sport: points last longer, mistakes are forgiven, and positioning matters more than raw power.

The International Padel Federation (FIP), the sport's world governing body, sets the rules. Its current rulebook, in force from January 1, 2026, describes a court 10 meters wide by 20 meters long, a net across the middle, and walls of glass or other solid material topped with metal mesh. You can read how each part works in our guide to padel court dimensions.

How does a point of padel work?

Every point starts with an underhand serve. The server bounces the ball behind the service line and hits it at or below waist height, diagonally into the opponent's service box. The receiver must let the serve bounce once before returning it.

From then on, each team gets one bounce on its own side. After that bounce, the ball may hit your own back or side walls and you can still play it. Your return has to cross the net and land on the floor of the opponents' court before it touches their walls or fence. If it hits their glass on the full, you lose the point.

Points end the familiar ways: a second bounce, a ball in the net, or a shot that lands out or hits the wrong surface first. Our padel rules guide covers every fault in plain English.

What do you need to play padel?

You need a court, a padel racket and padel balls. Clubs usually rent rackets and sell balls, so a first session costs little beyond the court booking.

• Racket: solid, stringless and perforated with holes. FIP limits the total length to 45.5 cm, the width to 26 cm and the thickness to 38 mm, and requires a wrist cord. Start with a round, control-friendly model; see beginner rackets.
• Balls: they look like tennis balls but are slightly smaller and lower pressure. The differences are explained in padel balls vs tennis balls.
• Shoes: court shoes with a herringbone or clay-style sole grip the sanded artificial turf most courts use. See padel shoes vs tennis shoes.

Where did padel come from?

According to FIP's official history, padel was invented in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco, Mexico. He wanted a tennis court at his home but lacked the space, so he built a smaller court, 20 by 10 meters, enclosed by walls with a net in the middle. His wife Viviana wrote the first rules.

The game reached Spain in the early 1970s through Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe, who built courts at the Marbella Club Hotel, and Argentina soon after. FIP was founded in Madrid in 1991, and Spain and Argentina agreed unified rules in 1997. Spain and Argentina remain the sport's two great centers, but growth is now global.

How popular is padel today?

Very, and growing. In June 2026 FIP reported 38 million players across 178 countries and territories, about 85,000 courts, 27,000 clubs and 100 affiliated national federations. FIP also notes that almost half of all players worldwide are women.

Padel is already on the program of several multi-sport events, including the European Games, Asian Games, South American Games and Mediterranean Games. Professional padel runs on the Premier Padel tour, with the CUPRA FIP Tour beneath it. In the United States, new clubs are opening in Miami, New York, Texas and California; our club directory lists them city by city.

Why is padel easy for beginners?

Three things make padel welcoming. The serve is underhand, so nobody spends their first hour learning to serve. The court is small and enclosed, so you chase fewer balls and rallies happen quickly. And because it is doubles, you share the court with a partner and the social side is built in.

The flip side is that padel rewards tactics more than athleticism. The players who improve fastest learn to keep the ball low, lob when pushed back, and move forward to the net with their partner. Our beginner strategy guide covers those habits.

How is padel different from tennis and pickleball?

Padel sits between the two. Like tennis it uses a felt ball, tennis scoring and full swings from the back of the court. Like pickleball it is played mostly as doubles on a small court with an underhand serve. The walls are what no other common racket sport has.

For the full comparisons, read padel vs tennis and padel vs pickleball.

How should you start playing padel?

Book an introductory class or open-play session at a local club, rent a racket, and wear court shoes. A coach can teach the two habits that separate beginners in the first hour: letting the ball come off the back glass instead of rushing it, and moving up to the net with your partner. Then play as often as you can. Our how to play padel guide walks through a first match step by step, and padel near me explains how to find a court.

Sources

• International Padel Federation, Rules of Padel (review in force January 1, 2026), checked October 11, 2026.
• International Padel Federation, History of padel, checked October 11, 2026.
• International Padel Federation, Padel celebrates Olympic Day: the numbers behind a global sport, June 23, 2026.
• USA Pickleball, What is pickleball, checked October 11, 2026. Tennis dimensions from the ITF Rules of Tennis, Rule 1.

Browse all padel learning guides.