Why tennis players love padel so much

In the family of racket sports, let’s meet the father and son! The newest addition to racket sports, padel is very much a descendant of tennis, borrowing many of its features and giving them a Spanish twist. When you look at player numbers, you can see the trends for the two sports beginning to cross. Indeed, some tennis players are moving to padel. But why do tennis players love padel so much?

Familiar ground for tennis players

Even though the two sports are different, padel has borrowed many rules from tennis, starting with the scoring system. 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, everything is just like tennis, as is alternating sides on serve. Depending on the tournament, the golden point (punto de oro) may be used to save time and speed up rotation. For sets, it's the same story, scored just like tennis: best of 3 sets, first to 6 games in most matches, except in some tournaments where 4-game sets are used, once again to save time and allow players to face each other as much as possible.

Another similarity is, of course, the way the game is played. Forehands, backhands, volleys, smashes... Many basic shots are shared with tennis. Tennis players of any level will feel at home, at least to begin with. 

The time for change is now! 

There is also the appeal of changing sports: the novelty padel offers compared with tennis. Some tennis players have played for years and gradually grow tired of competitions and training. For them, padel is a breath of fresh air without feeling too unfamiliar, letting them discover racket sports from a new angle. The figures reflect this shift among tennis players: tennis had 30,000 fewer registered players in 2021 than in 2020, while the number of padel players has soared to 150,000 today, up from 80,000 in 2019! The number of padel courts has also risen significantly in recent years, to around 1,000 compared with 600 two years ago. Whether at tennis clubs or dedicated venues, courts are becoming easier to find, showing just how fast our sport is growing! 

An exciting challenge for all tennis players 

Padel also has plenty of distinctive features that may motivate competitive tennis players to learn and master the many shots that differ considerably from those in tennis. First, the glass walls demand an ability to anticipate the rebound that is not easy to master at first. Some tennis habits can even be counterproductive in padel, such as hitting a topspin forehand. Tennis players also tend to hit their smashes hard, whereas in padel it is often wiser to place the ball and add spin to unsettle your opponent and force a mistake. Because of the glass walls, hard-hit smashes are often less effective and can easily be returned, especially by beginners who have not yet mastered the par 3 . 

In tennis, the lob is a minor part of the game, but in padel it is one of the key shots. It is very useful for pushing your opponents to the back of the court, taking the net and gaining the advantage in the rally. Conversely, when an opponent plays a lob that falls a little short, you have several options. You can use a smash to finish the point, but as mentioned above, that is not always the best choice. To return the ball and hold your position at the net, the bandeja is effective; to put your opponent under more pressure, the vibora is the shot to use. For more information, read our article on the vibora and the bandeja.

Padel = Fun! 

Played exclusively in doubles, padel is easy to pick up thanks to the size of the court and the rackets, which are much smaller and more manoeuvrable than tennis rackets. That means any tennis player can get into the game and have fun. In a padel match, there are generally longer rallies than in tennis, thanks in particular to the glass walls and the amount of court the players can cover. This makes the game more fun, more sociable and, above all, more accessible than tennis, which can sometimes be dull when there is a big gap in ability. Progress is also fairly quick if you come from tennis, because the basics are the same, as mentioned above: forehands, backhands, volleys, smash — almost everything is there. All that is left is to learn how to use the glass walls! 

Another feature tipping the balance in favour of padel is the physical demand. Indeed, in padel, you run less over long distances and much of the play takes place at the net on the volée. For players who can no longer handle the long sprints of tennis (or for the lazier ones), padel remains an excellent alternative to keep the racket sport feel without being completely exhausted after an hour of play. But be careful, make no mistake: padel is still an active sport involving plenty of movement where many parts of the body are engaged, especially the joints. You will definitely work up a sweat, perhaps even more than in tennis! 

A friendly, sociable way to experience sport! 

Finally, the last and probably most important point: the friendly, social aspect of padel and clubs in general. Firstly, playing in pairs adds an element of team esprit that brings it closer to team sports: laughs at a recreational level, tactical depth at a competitive level, partnering up makes for a great time. The lack of prominent doubles competitions in tennis is also a factor driving this migration of tennis players to padel. 

Padel clubs are also set up differently from tennis clubs. Instead of just a clubhouse, bars or sometimes restaurants are part of the facilities, offering more than just a game. Like Spanish clubs, French venues such as Padel Horizon in the Paris region, Toulouse Padel Club and Esprit Padel in Lyon have adopted this approach so players can make the most of their padel experience. Tournaments are more fun too: held over one or two days, they bring everyone together to play at the same time and place, while the restaurants and bars make it easier to meet people.

Padel perhaps looks like the worthy successor to tennis, which seems to be slowly but surely declining both in France and abroad. In any case, for now both sports complement each other, and players seem to enjoy switching between the two.