WHAT IS PADEL TENNIS?

THE COURT

A padel court is 20m x 10m, courts are enclosed by fencing at the sides and toughened glass at the rear, meaning the ball can remain active after hitting the walls. This makes the game much more exciting, and allows rallies to be longer whilst also remaining inclusive for people of all abilities.

THE RACKET AND BALL

A padel racket is typically made of carbon fibre or fiberglass, and has no strings, making shots much easier to play for beginners. A padel ball is very similar to a tennis ball, but is slightly smaller and with less pressure, causing the bounce to create longer rallies.

THE PLAYERS

Padel is similar to a hybrid of tennis and squash, that is flexible, easy to play and extremely sociable, due to being predominantly a doubles sport. As padel does not focus on strength, but rather tactics, it is appropriate for all abilities to participate.

HOW TO PLAY

Padel requires two teams of two players (doubles). The game begins by an underarm serve, diagonally into the opposite corner on the oppositions side. When the player takes a serve, the ball must bounce once on the floor then hit from below, or at, waist height.

The aim is to score more points than the opposing team. Points are won if; the ball bounces twice on the opponents side, the ball strikes either of the opposing players, or if either of the opposing players fail to hit the ball over the net. Or if the opposition fail to hit the ball over the net, if they hit it into the wall or fixture before landing, or out of the court before it bounces.

Similar to tennis scoring, matches are played in 3 sets of 6 games. To win the game, a team must win 2 of the 3 sets. The games points are awarded as follows: 15, 30, 40 and game. If there is a tie on 40 - 40 then this is called deuce. In some tournaments a ‘golden point’ is played, meaning the next point takes the game.

CHECK OUT SOME VIDEOS OF HOW PADEL IS PLAYED BELOW

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