What is Padel Tennis? [2024 Facts and Stats]

What is Padel Tennis? [2022 Facts and Stats]

Curious about the fastest growing racket sport in the world?

Well, it is called padel tennis, and the number of people playing it worldwide and in the UK is increasing at an alarming rate. 

Stay put as we will take a look at some of the most interesting padel tennis facts and statistics


Top 7 Must know Padel Tennis Statistics and Facts

  1. The padel tennis family grows by 250 000 new members every year.
  2. Padel tennis is played in 57 countries. 
  3. In 2020, 900 000 padel tennis rackets were sold worldwide.
  4. There are over 150 padel tennis courts in the UK.
  5. The two padel courts’ dimensions are 20mx10m and 20mx6m.
  6. The UK target is 100 more padel courts in 2022.
  7. Running out of the padel court to hit the ball is allowed.

What is Padel Tennis?

1. Padel Tennis is a combination of Tennis and Squash.

(Head)

Padel tennis is a racket sport similar to tennis but played on a smaller court surrounded by walls and metallic mesh. The game is also close to Squash.

It is usually played in two opposing teams of two players.

In padel sport, the strategy and padel tennis tactics are more important than the player’s strength.

2. The goal is to win two out of three sets in a single match.

(Stiga Sports) (Padel Joy)

To do so, you have to hit the ball with the padel bats to the other half of the padel court.

One of the key moves is to bounce the ball from the wall so you can make it harder for your opponents to return the ball and score points.

3. A padel tennis match starts with a coin toss.

(Rules of Sport)

Let us quickly guide you to the most important padel tennis rules:

  • The coin toss winner chooses which team serves or which side of the court to start on.
  • The serve must be an underarm, and the ball must go diagonally into the other side of the court.
  • Each match has 3 sets with six games. The team wins a set when they collect 6 games with a difference of 2. 
  • Points start from 15 and go to 30, 40 and game. If the score is 40 – 40, the game is called deuce.

History of Padel Tennis

4. Enrique Corcuera invented padel tennis in 1969. 

(Padel) 

According to Padel tennis facts place the beginnings back to the home Squash court of Corcuera in Puerto de Acapulco, Mexico. The game was born when he adapted his home court and added some elements of platform tennis in the game.

5. The British Paddle Association was established in 1992.

(LTA) (Padel)

Enthusiastic Brits formed the Association to have the opportunity to participate in the first World Padel Championship in Madrid, together with Argentina, Spain and France. 

Padel Tennis Statistics

6. There are 8 million padel tennis players worldwide.

(Padel) (Everything Padel) 

Although most padel tennis players in the world are men, women are coming in strong as they represent 30% of the padel tennis players.

However, when it comes to financial gains from tournaments, they dont even come close to the highest-paid tennis players.

7. The padel tennis family grows by 250 000 new members every year. 

(Padel) (Padel Joy)

The estimations are that 200 new padel tennis clubs open every year. It shows that the padel tennis growth rate is constantly rising.

There are 18-26 tournaments of the World Padel Tour annually organised for men and women.

8. Padel tennis is played in 57 countries.

(Sky Sports) (Padel FIP)

According to Padel tennis statistics, out of the 57 countries that play padel tennis, only 45 Padel Federations are officially registered in the International Padel Federation.

9. There are more than 20 000 padel tennis courts in Spain. 

(Sky Sports) (Statista)

Padel tennis is the second most popular in Spain, after football.

The number of padel tennis courts in 2019:

  • Spain – 11,500
  • Argentina – 8,000
  • Italy – 550
  • France – 500
  • Brazil – 500

10. In 2020, 900 000 padel tennis rackets were sold worldwide.

(Everything Padel) (Statista)

Compared to 2017, with 409 158 padel tennis rackets sold, the sales doubled in 2020. 

The best padel tennis rackets in the UK are:

  • Adidas Adipower Junior for junior padel players
  • Head Evo Delta 22 for beginners
  • Dunlop Galactica Light for intermediate level players
  • Nox Tempo WPT Padel Racket for advanced players

11. There are over 150 padel tennis courts in the UK.

(LTA) (Everything Padel)

More than 89 000 British people love to hit the ball with their padel tennis rackets in more than 66 venues across the UK.

It is a significant rise of around 20,000 players from 2020.

12. The two padel courts’ dimensions are 20mx10m and 20mx6m.

(Padel) (Rules of Sport)

The bigger padel court, which is 20mx10m, is the most common, and it is for doubles.

On the other hand, the 20mx6m court is for one-on-one padel tennis matches. 

                              Padel Tennis vs Platform Tennis

One of the best tennis players Andy Murray, also plays padel tennis.

13. Platform tennis is a social outdoor racquet sport.

(Platform Tennis) (Racket Sports World)

Platform tennis is played on a raised platform with a wire fence around the platform tennis court. It is usually played in cooler weather conditions with heaters installed below the playing platform. 

14. The padel tennis courts are larger than the platform tennis courts.

(Rackets Sports World)

What is the difference: padel vs paddle tennis

  • Padel tennis balls are depressurised, and platform tennis balls are solid sponge balls.
  • You can make overhead serves in platform tennis. In contrast, they are not allowed in padel tennis.
  • The court for platform tennis is raised.

                                             Padel Tennis Trends

15. Padel tennis has taken the world by storm.

(Sportageous) (Itik)


Padel tennis trends show positive growth in the sport’s popularity. Australia is building padel tennis courts, Egypt has higher padel tennis participation, and the sport has been widely spread around Sweden since the COVID-19 pandemic started. 

16. The UK target is 100 more padel courts in 2022. 

(LTA)

To expand the number of padel tennis courts in the UK, the LTA Head of Padel, Tom Murray, has shared the initiative for integrating padel tennis courts into tennis venues.

Because of the padel tennis popularity in the UK, the planned LTA Padel Tour in 2022 will have more events and venues for all level players and competitions.

17. The UK gambling world is looking forward to the possibility of betting on padel tennis.

(Padel Magazine)

As the sport’s popularity grows in the UK, the betting sites are thinking of putting padel tennis as a sport you can place a bet on.

The padel betting will have similar bets to tennis but with specially created formulas for padel tennis.

New betting formulas are needed because padel is mainly played in doubles. 

Interesting Padel Tennis Facts 

18. A lot of celebrities are into playing padel tennis.

(Sky Sports)  (Everything Padel)

Some of them include one of the best football coaches of all time, Jurgen Klopp, English legend David Beckham and the English tennis player Jamie Murray.

Moreover, Lionel Messi has taken it to the next level, as his garden is upgraded with a padel court.

19. The padel tennis balls are not the same size as tennis balls.

(Padel Nuestro)

A padel tennis ball ranges from 6.35cm to 6.77cm.

In contrast, tennis balls can be between 6.5cm and 6.8cm. Both types of balls weigh from 56g to 59.4g. 

Both balls for the two sports share the same colours, yellow and white.  

20. The holes on the padel tennis racquets are made according to the players’ skills.

(Everything Padel) (Stiga Sports)

The fast-paced sport is played with padel tennis racquets in three shapes: drop-shaped, round and diamond-shaped.

They are made out of carbon, fibreglass and rubber.

The paddle bats have small holes contributing to the ball’s more dynamic strokes. 

21. Running out of the padel court to hit the ball is allowed. 

(Everything Padel)

One of the most interesting padel facts is the  “saca por tres” move, which means “out by three.”

So, players can leave the cage and hit the ball back in.

Wrap up


Whether you’re a competitive player or just looking for a recreational game, when seeing these padel tennis facts, you will see that this sport is definitely worth playing.

So, don’t waste time. Grab your padel tennis shoes and a padel bat and see why the world has gone crazy about padel tennis.

Sources:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *