11 Facts About Padel You Need to Know
Because padel is growing at an unfathomable pace, we thought we’d offer some interesting facts and figures about it!
The LTA has certified Padel as a discipline of tennis in the United Kingdom. Since padel is growing so quickly, courts are popping up left right and centre with 82 padel courts across the country with more on the way.
What is Padel?
Quite simply, imagine the principles of tennis and squash merged… but not quite. Played in doubles in an enclosed court with glass walls and metal fencing, it makes for a fast paced, dynamic game.
It’s funner, more social and more accessible for players of all ages and ability.
The ball can bounce off the walls and the fencing, but it has to have made contact with the ground beforehand. Players can also use the walls (only the walls) to bounce the ball off to return it, the same can’t be said for the fencing.
The court dimensions are 10 meters by 20 meters an it uses the same scoring system as tennis does, 15, 30, 40, Game, Deuce etc.
Padel is more popular than Tennis
Padel is more popular than Tennis worldwide, not just in Spain! With over 4 million players, padel is now one of Spain’s most popular sports by far.
Padel is played in doubles.
A padel court is a four-player court that is approximately 25% smaller than a tennis court. Due to the fast pace of the game and the small area of the padel court, singles is difficult and exhausting. There are singles courts, but they don’t seem to be as popular.
It’s no secret that a lot of famous people have a thing for padel. Football is a pastime enjoyed by everyone from athletes to celebrities. Jurgen Klopp, Neymar, David Beckham, and Lionel Messi have been observed using it. Many of them post about it on social media, showcasing its great!
Fastest growing sport worldwide
Padel is the world’s fastest-growing sport, with players from all over the world. In 2020, 450 additional courts will be built in Sweden, with more than 1,000,000 reservations already in place.
Padel is extremely popular in Argentina, but it is also the most played sport in Spain. There are around 20,000 padel courts in Spain, with four million active players. It is the country’s second most popular sport, after only football. That equates to 10% of the population playing Padel.
You can see it all throughout Europe and North America: a significant increase in the number of people taking up the sport. You’ll see it in the United Kingdom soon enough.
6,000 players in the UK for now…
Remarkably, the UK has 6,000 padel players for now. With people taking up padel on a weekly basis, this number will quickly increase. Will we see the same level as Spain?
Padel is not an Olympic sport (yet)
As padel continues to develop worldwide, there have been many requests for it to be added to the Olympic Games. If padel was to become an Olympic sport, it must be played in at least 75 nations worldwide, which currently stands at 57. Come on Eritrea, build your courts.
20 million players worldwide (and growing)
With a population of 47 million, Spain has 20% of the world’s players! The bulk of the numbers are now spread all over the world, with the majority in:
- Spain
- Argentina
- Brazil
- France
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- United Arab Emirates
The sport was invented out of nothing
Creating a tennis-like game with walls was not a difficult task at all. On the other hand, Enrique Corcuera erected walls around his yard to keep the ball from straying into his neighbours’ property while he was playing Tennis.
It took only a few tweaks for this to evolve into what we know and love today!
Rallies last 60-70% longer than Tennis
Because of the four players and the use of the walls. More time is spent on rallies than in other sports.
While padel rallies may go as long as an hour, Tennis is far more power-oriented and players will go for their shots.
900,000 padel rackets sold last year
The total number of padel rackets sold last year was 900,000 whereas 400,000 tennis rackets were sold in the same time period. This demonstrates how many new padel players there are that require rackets!
30% of padel players are women
One of my favourite padel statistics is that more women than males are now participating in the sport. On the other hand, Tennis has only a 15% female count.
280,000,000 views in the WPT
More than 280 million people have seen videos on the World Padel Tour’s youtube account, with 11 million of those views coming in the previous 30 days.
Demonstrating the rapid expansion of the sport and the influx of fans from all around the world!
A few out-of-this-world examples follow.
25% Of Shots Played In The WPT Are Lobs
This is for those that play padel regularly. For those who don’t already know, padel is all about the lob, and on the World Padel Tour (where the pros play), 1 in 4 shots was made using this technique.