Padel: The Next Step For Tennis Players?

 

Enrique Corcuera, an entrepreneur from Acapulco, Mexico, would sleep at his Casa (house) every afternoon because of the extreme heat there. However, Viviana, his daughter, would annoy him by bouncing tennis balls off the house's walls. As a result, Corcuera constructed a separate wall for her to knock against. From that point, his improvised racket sport started to take shape. Corcuera built additional walls with metal fencing to stop the ball from fleeing down the side of the wall. He then attached a net across the middle of the area to finish off the enclosure. Originally intended as a game for one household in Mexico, Padel has developed into a well-liked racket sport that combines aspects of both squash and tennis. 

Padel now has twenty five million players worldwide in more than 90 countries today, more than 50 years after it first appeared. It has especially become a popular sport within the Tennis players, or should we say, ‘ex-tennis player’. After finishing up their careers as tennis players many of them have taken up Padel. Whether they were armature level or semi-pro or even at professional level such as Andy Murray, the next step of tennis players seems to be Padel.

“I know a lot of former tennis athletes that have taken up the sport when they've done playing and find that it's wonderful for their health, but it's also not nearly as hard as tennis as it is less demanding.” said Andy Murray.

How it's played:

Padel is typically played in a doubles format, unlike tennis, despite the fact that both sports employ the same points system. Every serve is underhanded, and following a return, shots may be struck on the volley, following a single bounce, or after a wall-rebound. On their side of the net, participants can also shoot the ball into the side and back walls that line the 20-meter-long, 10-meter-wide court. In contrast to the wooden or stringed rackets used in tennis, squash, badminton, and other sports, padel rackets are smaller and thicker than most rackets and the striking area is entirely constructed of fiberglass.

Originating from Mexico, Padel has now become a well-known and well enjoyed sport in countries all over the world. Last Year, research showed that 15,000 new padel courts were opened and actively used in Europe. Padel is now one of the most popular participation sport in Spain, after football, with more than 6 million current players and an estimated 20,000 courts. Padel is limited impact and slow game compared to other racket sports; this, along with the pleasant "pock" sound made when hitting the ball, has helped to increase its appeal. Padel is played on a court that is one-third the size of a tennis court.

Although there is a developing professional circuit for padel in the World Padel Tour, the sport's popularity is now best seen among amateur players. With the growing popularity, could it perhaps ever match tennis in terms of global acclaim? Andy Murray believes that this is just the start for padel and the exciting sport will just get bigger and bigger.