Are you tired of the same old racket sports? Well maybe its time to consider 2 newer racket sports that are gaining popularity in different parts of the world – Pickleball and Padel. These unique racket sports take elements of many others and combine them uniquely into their own. Pickleball is a combination of table tennis and tennis played on a court 1/3 the size of a tennis court with similar rules to tennis. Padel is a combination of squash, racquetball and tennis, and has many similarities with Pickleball, but a few very key differences. Read on to learn more about the differences between Padel vs Pickleball and how to get started playing.
What is Padel?
Padel is a racket sport that was invented in Mexico in the late 1960s and has since become popular in Latin America and Spain. that is played within an enclosed space. Padel takes elements of Tennis, Racquetball, & Squash, and combines them into a unique racket sport that is played with both a net in the middle and walls that can be used along the back end of each side of the court.
The main characteristic of padel is the walled court its played on. A padel court is two sided with a net in the middle similar to a tennis or pickleball court. In terms of size, it is larger than a pickleball court and smaller than a regular tennis court, and has walls that surround the boundaries of the court which players can legally play the ball off of similar to squash or racquetball. The paddles used in padel are usually made of plastic, thicker than pickleball, and contain holes. The ball is similar to a tennis ball, and can even be substituted for a tennis ball.
The sport has been growing in popularity, especially lately. One could speculate that because of the success of pickleball and the existence of traditionally played sports of squash/racquetball, it is the next racquet sport to blow up in the US. It slowly made its way to America and in 1993 the US Padel Association was formed in Chattanooga, TN. Nowadays, different places to play padel are becoming more available.
What is Pickleball
Pickleball is a sport that was invented in Bainbridge Island Washington State in 1965. It is a racket/paddle sport with a net similar to a tennis net played on a court roughly the size of a badminton court.
The rules are also similar to badminton and tennis, and it is quite easy is easy to pick up and play with your friends on a blacktop or a tennis court. The game involves either 2 pickleball players playing singles or 4 pickleball players playing doubles. Games are played to 11, win by 2. It is a game that is fairly easy to learn and play, having less of a learning curve than tennis.
Pickleball is the fasted growing sport in the USA currently and fast becoming the most popular paddle sport spanning all age groups. The reason for its popularity is largely due to the fact that the rules are fairly simple, and you can set up a Pickleball court on any blacktop if you have the right equipment.
Court differences between Padel vs Pickleball
The dimensions of a padel court are 65.6 feet (20 meters) long and 32.9 feet (10 meters) wide with each of the back walls residing at the back line boundaries. The painted lines on a padel court follow that of a singles tennis court. The playing area is divided in half by a net that is hung at a height of 36 inches at the center and 34 inches at the ends.
In Pickleball, the court dimensions are smaller. A pickleball court measures 20 feet wide by 44 feet long. There is also a non-volley zone, also known as the “kitchen,” which extends 7 feet from the net on either side. The lines on the court are 2 inches wide and are considered inbounds. The height of the net is the similarity that a padel and pickleball court share, as the net is 36 inches tall on the ends and 34 inches in the middle.
How are the rules different between padel and pickleball?
- There is no non-volley-zone in Padel, aka the “kitchen”, which is a key rule enforced in Pickleball. In short, when the ball is in play in Pickleball, players can’t be in the kitchen when volleying a ball.
- Padel uses the scoring system that tennis uses (15,30,40, Love) and Pickleball uses a point scoring system to 11, win by 2. Matches in Padel are played in sets of 3, each set played in the best to 6 games.
- In Pickleball, you can only score a point when your team is serving. If a point is lost, the service switches to the opposing player. In Padel, however, service rules follow that of tennis, where each game has one server.
- The wall is considered in play in many situations in Padel. In most situations, the ball has to hit the ground before it can hit the wall, and at that point the ball can be played off the wall. Pickleball does not have a wall to play off of and has playing boundaries.
- The serving rules in both sports are very similar in that players have to serve underhand in both sports, but there is one small difference. In padel, the serve is underhand and must be hit below the waist, whereas in pickleball, there are no specific height restrictions.
Which sport is more popular?
It depends upon what scale we are talking about when we take into consideration the popularity of Padel and Pickleball. In the United States, Pickleball is much more popular than Padel. It is the second most played outdoor racket sport next to tennis and is growing in popularity each year. However, on a global scale, it can be argued that Padel is more popular as it is a highly popular sport in at least 3 or 4 Latin countries including Spain.
How can I play Padel?
To play padel, you will either need to find a court or build one. We are guessing you most likely don’t have the extra cash (or time) to build a padel court, so you’ll have to find one! Padel courts are few and far between, even in countries where it is played a lot. If you live in a major city, you might be a bit lucky and padel courts could be more accessible. But access to them is not cheap. Clubs like Padel Haus in NYC and Padel Clube in Chicago are two examples of clubs specifically run to give Padel players a place to enjoy their favorite racket sport.
In terms of equipment, you’ll just need a padel racket and a few perforated tennis balls to play.
How can I play Pickleball?
Pickleball on the other hand is a much more accessible sport than Padel. As for equipment, you’ll need a few pickleball paddle and a few balls at the very least. In terms of finding a court to play on, you have options no matter what your situation is. If you are in a major city, just do a quick google search and you’ll probably find some solid courts you can play Pickleball at with your friends. If you aren’t in a major city, you’ll just need a pickleball set and a driveway or blacktop surface where you can set up your own court.
Conclusion
Padel and Pickleball are two unique racket sports that have become increasingly popular in recent years. Padel is a combination of Tennis, Racquetball, and Squash, and is played on a walled court that has a net in the middle. On the other hand, Pickleball is played on a smaller court and involves a non-volley zone, with players not allowed to be in the kitchen when volleying a ball. Although Pickleball is more popular in the United States, Padel is highly popular in Latin America and Spain. Pickleball is a much more accessible sport than Padel, however places to play padel are becoming more common as the popularity of the sport grows.