"Padel tennis" redirects here.
Not to be confused with Paddle tennisRacket sport
Padel (Spanish: pádel), sometimes called Padel Tennis, is a racket🧲 sport of Mexican origin, typically played in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court.
[1][2] Although🧲 Padel shares the same scoring system as tennis, the rules, strokes, and technique are different.
The balls used are similar but🧲 with a little less pressure.
The main differences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off🧲 them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, stringless bats are used.
The height of🧲 the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.
History [ edit ]
The sport is thought to have🧲 been invented in Acapulco,[3] Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera in 1969,[4] after he modified his squash court to incorporate elements of🧲 platform tennis.[5]
Many well-known professional padel players have previously competed in tennis, including former WTA Tour players Roberta Vinci and Lara🧲 Arruabarrena.[citation needed]
Padel Vocabulary [ edit ]
Most of the Padel vocabulary comes from Spain due to the popularity in the country.
However🧲 with rapid growth in the Middle East and Africa more and more words are being added to the padel vocabulary.
Bandeja🧲 One of the most-used shots in padel, the bandeja is a crucial part of padel vocabulary.
In essence, it is an🧲 overhand shot hit with spin rather than power.
The bandeja, which is always taken out of the air without letting the🧲 ball bounce, is often used to slow a rally down or to bring down a lob without smashing.
Defensively oriented players,🧲 or players who are not great hard-hitters, will often rely on having a good bandeja.
While often seen as a safe🧲 option to tread water in a rally, well-placed bandejas can prove to be winners.
Víbora Next is the víbora, which is🧲 similar to the bandeja.
The main difference is the víbora is hit with a lot more power and spin than the🧲 bandeja.
A víbora is typically hit diagonally down.
It is meant to speed up a rally and take away initiative from the🧲 opponent, while the backspin on the ball prevents it from bouncing up and away from the wall.
Unlike a smash, a🧲 víbora is not perse an attempt to a winner, although it very much can be.
Bajada Another bit of lingo that🧲 is used often is the bajada.
In the most simple terms, it is when a ball takes a high bounce off🧲 the wall and is brought down with an overhand hit.
While usually the case, a bajada does not necessarily have to🧲 be hit with venom.
Any overhand hit that has the ball bouncing off the wall first falls under the umbrella of🧲 the bajada, which literally translates to 'the bringing down' from Spanish.""
Chiquita One of the more delicate shots in padel and🧲 one of the harder ones to get right is the chiquita.
A chiquita is similar to a drop shot, in the🧲 sense that you are putting the ball in the frontcourt and close to the net.
However, a chiquita is also hit🧲 from the frontcourt.
It is a very delicate shot, basically lifting the ball over the net very softly from close range🧲 and making it drop down right behind it.
The purpose of the chiquita, as it will bounce right in front of🧲 the net, is to leave the opponent in an awkward position.
As the ball drops down, it cannot be volleyed back🧲 with power.
Salida Salida translates to 'exit', and that is essentially what it is.
A player running off the court to save🧲 a ball that has bounced off the wall and out of the 20 by 10 court is a salida.
To be🧲 successful in a salida, you need to be excellent at anticipating a smash and then have the footwork to actually🧲 return the ball.
The likes of Alejandro Galán, Martín Di Nenno and Agustín Tapia are famous for their salidas in the🧲 men's Circuit, with players like Tamara Icardo, Gemma Triay and Ariana Sánchez doing so in the women's Circuit.""
Hammerfuck This describes🧲 a shot that is hit with immense power.
A mistimed Hammerfuck can give rise to a salida or a Bajada being🧲 returned.
There are two versions of the Hammerfuck, the first is the conventional hammerfuck that sees the net player smash the🧲 ball straight down bouncing it over the back wall, the second type of hammerfuck is more aggressive and is aimed🧲 directly at an opponent, usually the net player.
It's thought that the hammerfuck originated in the high altitude of Joburg where🧲 the ball travels much faster and the game is played at pace.
Cadete A more niche term but one worth knowing🧲 within padel vocabulary is cadete.
Most often, it is used by players who have more flair in their game like Paquito🧲 Navarro.
A cadete is a behind-the-back shot.
This means a shot is hit with the dominant hand going behind the back, rather🧲 than hitting a simple backhand.
Cadetes are mostly used when backed in the corner and having no space to hit a🧲 backhand, although it is not by any means a practical shot.
[6]Rules [ edit ]
Padel court dimensions
Players: Usually play doubles on🧲 a 10 by 20 meter court (32' 10" by 65' 7") Singles use a 6 by 20 meter (19' 8"🧲 by 65' 7") court instead.
Serves: Serves are always underhand.
Balls that hit the walls around the court after bouncing on the🧲 ground are still in play.
Balls: Padel balls are required in official matches; these are similar to tennis balls but are🧲 slightly smaller.
Padel is usually played casually with regular tennis balls.
Rackets: Padel rackets are made of a composite material without strings.
The🧲 hitting surface is perforated.
The racket is similar to the one used in platform tennis but has its own specifications.
Court: The🧲 court has a floor made of concrete, plastic or artificial grass.
It is designed similarly to a tennis court, only smaller🧲 - measuring 10x20 m, with a 0.88m (34.
6 inches) high net in the middle.
The court is surrounded by 4 meter🧲 high walls made of glass or brick, or a fence when outsideScoring [ edit ]
Padel follows the same scoring as🧲 the tennis scoring system with the following exception:
In the 2020 season, World Padel Tour introduced the "Gold Point" or "Golden🧲 Point", a new scoring method for main tournaments (Master Final, Master, Open and Challenger) organized by the World Padel Tour.
[7]🧲 This method of scoring has been widely adopted throughout non-professional tournaments as well.
The golden point in Padel: The golden point🧲 occurs when the score reaches deuce during any game.
The receiving team chooses whether the service will come from the right🧲 or left of the court.
The team that wins that one single point will win the game.
This method of scoring has🧲 been widely adopted throughout non-professional tournaments as well.
Court [ edit ]
Padel area at ISPO 2014
The padel rules state that the🧲 playing field should be a rectangle 10 metres (32 ft 10 in) wide (back wall) and 20 metres (65 ft🧲 7 in) long (side wall) (with a 0.
5% tolerance), enclosed by walls.
At the middle of the playing field there will🧲 be a net dividing the court in two, the net has a maximum height of 88 cm in the center🧲 raising to 92 centimetres (36 in) at sides (with a 0.
5 centimetres (1⁄5 in) tolerance).
The superstructure is made from connecting🧲 3m high x 2m wide panels, with an additional 1m mesh height over the glass back walls (10m walls).
This additional🧲 1m height is continued for 2m from each corner over the side walls also.
This means that the back walls and🧲 service corners are actually 4m in height, with the remaining side walls are 3m in height.
Glass panels make up the🧲 back walls and service side walls (closest 2 side panels to back walls), whilst metal mesh panels occupy the sides.[10]
The🧲 service lines are placed 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) before the back wall and there will be also another🧲 line in middle that divides the central rectangle in half.
All lines have a 5-centimetre (2 in) width and should be🧲 clearly visible.
The minimum height between the playing field and an obstacle (for e.g.
the ceiling) is 6 metres (19 ft 8🧲 in).
Adoption [ edit ]Europe [ edit ]
Padel Pro Tour (PPT)[11] was the professional padel circuit which was created in 2005🧲 as a result of the agreement between a group of organizers of matches of padel and Association of Professional Players🧲 of Padel (AJPP) and the Spanish Feminine Association of Pádel (AFEP).
Nowadays, the most important padel circuit is World Padel Tour🧲 [es] (WPT),[12] which started in Spain though it has already reached international expansion.
In 2014 WPT has travelled to Portugal, Argentina🧲 and Dubai.
The sport's popularity along the Costa del Sol in southern Spain and the Algarve in southern Portugal has exposed🧲 it to a large number of British visitors, leading to an increased popularity of the sport in the UK and🧲 a launch of the UK Padel Federation in 2011.[13]
In 2021, there were approximately 700 Padel Courts in Sweden.
[14] The Swedish🧲 Padel Association (Svenska Padelförbundet) was included as a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet) in 2021.[15]
Despite being a game🧲 born in Spanish-speaking countries, the number of padel players and clubs built in the northern part of Europe is growing.
Sweden🧲 is the country with the second highest number of searches for the term "padel" in Google after Spain, according to🧲 the report presented by Playtomic and Monitor Deloitte.
And while countries such as Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway mainly opt🧲 for building indoor padel clubs because of their climatic conditions, Belgium, Italy, France and Germany prefer outdoor courts.
The Americas [🧲 edit ]
The US Padel Association[16] was founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1993, and opened two courts in the Chattanooga area.
The🧲 American Padel Association was formed in 1995 and built its first courts at a private club in Houston, Texas for🧲 exhibition games.
[citation needed]Asia [ edit ]
In 2014, the Swiss Club in Singapore opened the first padel court in Singapore.
[17]See also🧲 [ edit ]Notes [ edit ]
