Padel - A Type of Tennis
Adapted from tennis, padel tennis or simply ‘padel’ is a popular sport in the United States and Latin America. Padel is a mix of squash and tennis. It is typically played in doubles (4 players) in a court which is about half the size of the standard tennis court. This small-sized court with walls around actually adds a strong emphasis and benefit to net play resulting into the fast and reaction-based game.
a solid string-less racket is used in padelThe paddle used is simply a solid string-less racket. The paddle may be perforated. The sport uses a normal tennis ball but with the little less pressure. Similar to in tennis, this small rubber ball is allowed to bounce one time only. Service must be done underhand but points scoring rules are same as that of tennis.
This game has spread its wings to many European nations, Arab countries like Egypt and Gulf states including Dubai. Today, local leagues and tournaments of padel tennis are frequently organized in these countries.
The sport was Invented in the 1960’s. Created in 2005, PPT (Padel Pro Tour) is a professional Padel Circuit that results from the agreement of AJPP (Association of Professional Players of Padel), AFEP (Spanish Feminine Association of Pádel) and a group of Padel tournaments organizers.
The World Padel Tour (WPT) is today’s most important padel circuit started in Spain and now reached the international expansion. Since 1992, Padel Tennis World Championship is an internationally held competition with three years interval.
Similar Sports
- Tennis (Lawn) - players use a racket to hit a ball over a net
- Stické Tennis — an indoor racquet and ball based sport derived from lawn tennis in the late 19th century, using a smaller court surrounded by four walls.
- Squash Tennis — derived from both squash and lawn tennis, played on a squash court with tennis rackets and balls.
- Real Tennis — the sport from which modern lawn tennis was derived. It is played in an indoor court of asymmetric dimensions, using rules and scoring similar to those of modern tennis.
- Platform Tennis — a variation of tennis with modified equipment on a much smaller court surrounded on all sides by a fence.
- Squash — a racket sport played by two or four players in a four-walled court with a small hollow rubber ball.
- Paddle Tennis — a variation of tennis on a smaller court, with a lower net, using a solid paddle and ball.
- Pickleball — a non-contact racket sport that is similar to badminton, tennis, and table tennis.
Related Pages
- Padel v Pickleball - what are the differences?
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports — a list of every sport from around the world.
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