Padel is a sport for anyone and everyone.

There’s a reason why it’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world – it’s easy to pick up and much more difficult to put down. No matter your age or ability, everyone is welcome on the padel court.

You don’t have to have played tennis – or any other sport before – just grab a bat, a doubles partner, and away you go!

Padel is a fast-paced, social racket sport that is often described as a mix between tennis and squash. Predominantly played as doubles, padel is suitable for anyone to play and it’s easy to learn the basic skills.

All you need is a partner, some basic equipment (see our recommendations below), a court, and away you go. Padel is played on what looks like a smaller tennis court, with a net dividing both sides and glass walls surrounding it – which you can play the ball off to try and win the point.

So, how do you play padel? We've got a whole host of tutorials below to help you pick up the basic skills, and you can head to our rules page to learn more.

Here you can learn how to hit a forehand, backhand, serve, volley and more padel shots to help you get started on court.

If your serve clips the net but still lands in the correct service box, and doesn’t touch the cage first, this is called a 'Let'. You will get the chance to re-take the serve.

However, if it clips the net and touches the cage or doesn’t bounce in the service box first, the serve is faulted.

Yes. After the ball bounces on your side, it may hit the back glass or the cage before you return it. After it hits the glass or the cage, you have to return it before it bounces again. This is often used tactically during rallies.

Yes. If the ball exits through a door after bouncing in court, you can go outside and attempt to return it, keeping the rally alive.

Like tennis, you are allowed two serves per point. If you make an error on both, your opponents win the point.

Padel balls differ to tennis balls in both pressure and diameter but see the same requirements when it comes to the weight of the ball in competitions.

Padel balls differ to tennis balls in both pressure and diameter but see the same requirements when it comes to the weight of the ball in competitions.

Pressure differences

A tennis ball has to be at a pressure of 14psi brand new compared to a padel ball which sits at 11psi when brand new.

Diameter difference

A tennis ball must have an exact diameter of between 6.54cm and 6.86cm.

A padel ball must have an exact diameter between 6.35cm and 6.77cm.

The extra size from the tennis ball is a direct result of the increased pressure when bumped up in production.

Weight similarities

A tennis ball must weigh between 56.0 grams and 59.4 grams.

A padel ball must weigh between 56.0 grams and 59.4 grams.

There is no difference in the weight of a tennis and padel ball in competition use.

A padel court is 20m long by 10m wide, and is made up of glass and wired mesh for the rebound walls. The wall can also be made up of any other hard surface like concrete to allow the ball to rebound off it.

No, you can't play padel on a tennis court. Padel courts are designed for four players and are roughly 25% smaller than the size of a tennis court.

Padel and tennis use very similar skills, techniques, scoring and movements, but there are a few key differences including the court, equipment, and techniques used.

The biggest difference between padel and pickleball is that a padel court is surrounded by glass walls and a metal cage, with a door on either side of the court, whilst a pickleball court has no surrounding wall.

Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera set up the first-ever padel court at his holiday home in Acapulco – and the rest is history.

Padel was invented in Mexico in the 1960s. Although a similar sport was played on British cruise ships and in Washington and New York in the 1910s – a game appropriately named platform tennis – it was in 1969 when padel, as it is played today, was created.

Padel's the fastest-growing sport in the world - it's a fast-paced, social sport that's easy to pick up, but difficult to put down. It can be played by anyone and everyone, no matter your age or ability.

While padel is predominantly played as doubles - you can also play padel singles as well. The main difference is that padel singles is played on a slightly smaller court (20m x 6m).