What padel is
Padel is a doubles game on a small court surrounded by glass walls and wire mesh. Two play against two, the racket is short, perforated and has no strings, and the ball looks like a tennis ball. After a bounce the ball may come back off a wall and can still be played, as in squash. Padel was invented in Mexico in 1969 and spread to Spain, where it is now one of the most popular racket sports.
The court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide and the net is 88 cm high in the middle. The serve is underarm and the walls give the ball back, so beginners have real rallies from the first time. With four players on court, padel is also a social game.
Where and when it is played in Estonia
In Estonia padel courts are mostly in indoor halls, so you can play all year round. A court is usually booked for an hour or an hour and a half, and the price is split four ways. Many padel venues take bookings in the Playtomic app, some on their own website. Club nights are often americanos, where partners change every round. You see the number of venues and the towns at the top of this page.
In short for beginners
- Most venues rent rackets. A round head and a softer face suit a beginner.
- Shoes must grip on sandy artificial grass: padel or tennis shoes, not running shoes.
- Finding three other players is the hardest part at first. You can come to a club night or an americano alone.
- The full guide: how to start playing padel.
The rules in short
- The serve is underarm, at waist height or lower, diagonally into the opponents' service box. A failed serve gets a second try.
- The ball may bounce once on your side, after which it may hit a wall and still be played.
- Your shot must bounce on the opponents' floor first, not hit their wall directly.
- Scoring is as in tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. A set goes to 6 games and a match is best of three sets.
- The full rules are on our padel rules page in Estonian.