Padel is another racket sport that was arguably founded in North America (Mexico) and has a lot of passionate fans. While it is a bit harder to find padel courts to play, padel is a sport that is growing globally, and I would bet that you might be seeing some of your friends playing it soon. Padel has an interesting history, so let’s look at some of the specifics on how it has developed over the years.
Where does Padel come from?
Padel is a relatively new sport and is just over 50 years old. Many might assume that it was started in Argentina or Spain since that is where its popularity has exploded in the past few decades. But it is actually a North American-born sport founded in Acapulco Mexico in the 1960s.
As the legend goes, Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera was an avid squash player. He thought that he would invent a variant of the game in his backyard by putting up metallic fences that encircled a mini tennis court. Corcuera didn’t have the space to build a full tennis court, so he thought to get creative and build out a court that took elements of squash and tennis. Enrique was called “Paddle Corcuera” after his last name. Corcuera played the game with family and friends and grew to love the sport so much that he build padel courts in a tennis club that he frequented in Spain. From the club, the sport was introduced to other influential racket sports enthusiasts throughout the Spanish speaking world and the game grew in popularity and was imported to places like Argentina and the United States.
Who started the sport of Padel?
Enrique Corcuera started the sport of padel. A Mexican businessman, he created the game in the late 1960s as a hybrid between tennis and squash. Corcuera developed padel as a way to adapt the game of tennis to smaller spaces, using a solid racket and a smaller court with walls to create a unique and fast-paced sportHis son continues the legacy today as the proprietor of a company called CoPa (Corcuera Padel) which makes Padel apparel.
Where is Padel played?
In modern times, padel is played by tens of thousands of people worldwide. Padel is the most popular racket sport played in Spain and the 2nd most popular racket sport in Argentina. It has also spread to countries like Portugal, France, and the UK in Europe as well, and continues to grow.
Padel is also gaining in popularity in North America as well where you can find courts in certain major cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Where can I play Padel?
It is difficult to find Padel courts if you are in the US. In major cities like NYC, Los Angeles and Chicago, you can find padel courts in places like Padel Haus, Los Angeles Padel Club, and Padel Clube respectively It is still a tough sport to find a good place to play, due to the unique nature of a walled padel court, but as the sport grows in popularity, more places to play will crop up over time.
How is Padel different from Pickleball?
There are a few ways Padel differs from Pickleball. The main ones are that Padel has a wall surrounding the court that the ball can bounce off of. Pickleball has outside boundaries like tennis. This is the main difference.
Smaller differences between the sports exist too. A few include the face that Padel is played with a tennis ball whereas Pickleball is played with a whiffle ball. Padel’s paddles are different as well. Padel rackets are solid like Pickleball, but are thicker and have holes to let air through. Padel courts are also larger in size than pickleball courts.
In terms of the rules, Padel and Pickleball have similar rules, but some differences as well. In both sports, the serve is underhand and they both have a double bounce rule after the serve (the ball must hit both sides on the ground at least once). Scoring wise however, the sports are different. Padel uses the 15-30-45 scoring system of tennis, where pickleball uses a first to 11, win by 2 scoring system.
All in all, there are more similarities between the sports than differences.
Conclusion
Padel is a growing racket sport that was founded in Mexico in the 1960s by Enrique Corcuera. After his invention, he brought the sport to Spain in the mide 1970s, and it has gained widespread popularity in Spain, Argentina, and other countries around the world since. While it may be challenging to find padel courts in some regions, the sport is gaining traction in North America as well. Padel has unique features such as a solid racket, a smaller court with walls, and a scoring system similar to tennis. As padel continues to be one of the fastest growing sports in the racket sports worl more people are discovering and enjoying this exciting and dynamic sport.