The primer
Padel,
explained properly.
Ten minutes here and you'll know more than most people who already play. No jargon, no gatekeeping.
Padel is a doubles racket sport played on an enclosed court roughly a third the size of a tennis court. The glass walls are part of the game. The serve is underhand. The racket is a solid perforated paddle with no strings. It is the rare sport that is fun on day one and still interesting in year five.
It was invented by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1968, by adapting a squash court and borrowing ideas from platform tennis. It spent decades as a mostly Spanish and Latin American sport before going global.2
The numbers
This is not a trend piece.
Figures below are from the International Padel Federation's World Padel Report 2025, published December 2025. They are the most recent official figures at the time of writing.
- players worldwide1
- 35M+
- courts worldwide1
- 77,300
- clubs worldwide1
- 24,600
- growth in courts during 20251
- +15.2%
Those are global figures. The DC region is early — a handful of operators are open or announced, and most people here still haven't played. That's the opportunity and it's also why this club has to teach as much as it hosts.
The court
Twenty metres by ten. Glass on the ends.
The doubles court is 10m × 20m, enclosed by glass and mesh. The net is 88cm at the centre and 92cm at the posts. Service lines sit 3m in from each back wall — about 6.95m back from the net — and a centre line splits each service area in two.2
- Back glass
- In play. The ball can bounce on the floor and come off the glass, and you can play it. Learning to let the ball come off the wall is the single biggest jump a beginner makes.
- Service line
- 3m from the back wall. Serves must land in the diagonal box beyond the net.
- Net
- 88cm at the centre, 92cm at the posts — lower than a tennis net.
- Centre service line
- Divides each service area into two boxes. You serve diagonally, alternating sides each point.
Drawn to scale. 1 unit = 1 decimetre.
The rules
Everything that actually matters, in six lines.
- 01
It's doubles.
Two against two, always. Singles courts exist (6m × 20m) but they're rare and not what anyone means by padel.2
- 02
The serve is underhand.
Bounce the ball, then strike it at or below waist height with at least one foot on the ground. Two attempts, like tennis.2
- 03
The walls are in play.
The ball must bounce on the floor first — then it can come off the glass and still be live. Hitting the mesh fence before the bounce is a fault.2
- 04
Scoring is tennis scoring.
15, 30, 40, game. Sets to six. Many clubs play a 'golden point' at deuce — next point takes the game.2
- 05
The racket has no strings.
A solid perforated paddle, with a wrist cord you're required to wear. Less power, more control, far easier to make clean contact.2
- 06
You can go outside the court.
In some situations you can play the ball back from outside the glass. It looks spectacular. You will not need this in your first year.
Versus everything else
How it differs from the sports you already know.
| Padel | Tennis | Pickleball | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court size | 10m × 20m, enclosed | ~11m × 24m singles, open | 6.1m × 13.4m, open |
| Format | Doubles | Singles or doubles | Singles or doubles |
| Serve | Underhand, after a bounce | Overhead | Underhand |
| Walls | In play | None | None |
| Racket | Solid, perforated, no strings | Strung | Solid paddle |
| Time to a real rally | Your first game | Weeks to months | Your first game |
Padel and pickleball are both easy to start. The difference people notice is the walls — padel rallies keep going, which is why a beginner point can last twenty shots instead of two.2
What you need
Almost nothing.
- A racket
- Available at the club. Buy your own later, once you know whether you prefer control or power.
- Shoes
- Court shoes or clean trainers with grip. Running shoes are survivable but not ideal — there's a lot of lateral movement.
- Balls
- Provided. Padel balls are slightly less pressurised than tennis balls, so they sit up a fraction more.
- Anything you'd wear to the gym
- That's genuinely it.
Glossary
Words you'll hear in your first session.
- Bandeja
- A controlled overhead played with slice, used to keep your team at the net rather than to win the point outright. The defining padel shot.
- Víbora
- A more aggressive cousin of the bandeja, hit with sidespin. Sounds like a hiss off the strings — hence 'viper'.
- Chiquita
- A soft low ball played to the opponents' feet to force them to lift it. How you take the net back.
- Golden point
- Sudden death at deuce — one point decides the game. Keeps matches on schedule.
- Salida de pared
- Letting the ball rebound off the back glass and playing it on the way out. The skill that separates week one from month three.
- Por tres
- Playing the ball back after it has left the court through the side gate. Rare, spectacular, entirely optional.
Still deciding? Read the straight answers.