Is it Padel Tennis or Paddle Tennis?

Padel vs Paddle, what is the difference?

Padel is one of the most frequently misspelt words in our industry and sport. In almost all cases, the word “paddle” should be spelt “paddle.”

You might be surprised to learn that these are two wholly distinct sports.

Padel vs Paddle is the topic of discussion today.

Let’s get started now.

Padel Rules vs Paddle Rules

What is Padel?

Padel tennis is ONLY a doubles game in which the goal is to induce your opponent to make a mistake by not being able to return the ball before it bounces twice. Padel is played on a court about one-third the size of a tennis court.

The rules are similar to tennis, and the game is played with comparable balls, except serving is done underhand, and the walls are employed as part of the game.

Serving is also done underarm; the purpose of the service is to start the point, not win the point. It is sufficient if the ball bounces on the other side of the net in the court.

One strange aspect of padel is that the ball can be played from outside the court back into it. It’s worth seeing some of the videos from this.

Outside-the-court shots are insane.

What is Paddle?

In many aspects, this sport differs from padel. Paddle is a tennis-inspired game that may be played solo or doubles, with a small court and a smaller target space for the ball to bounce initially.

Similar to padel, the goal is to compel your opponent to make a mistake by not being able to return the ball you hit before it bounces twice. A smaller target area; the ball must first bounce in the target blue region, as shown in the image on the left.

The walls around the paddle tennis court are visible, but the ball must first bounce in the blue region.

Popularity – Padel vs paddle

Padel is by far the most popular racquet sport globally, while Paddle is a distant second. More than 20 million people worldwide are playing the game, compared to just 25,000 paddlers. Only a few hundred paddle courts exist around the globe, compared to tens of thousands of tennis courts.

Playing padel is more entertaining since it allows you to use all of the court and the walls. The tournaments in Spain are a lot of fun to watch because of the large number of participants, and some of the best players in the world are known for their crazy strokes. Padel is the fastest growing sport in the world.

However, Paddle has not developed as quickly as the padel, and it has grown mostly in the United States. An explosion of padel took place. There were some confusion when Paddle was renamed Pop Tennis in 2015.

Padel tennis dominates the popularity stakes in the rivalry between padel and Paddle.

Where is it played?

The fact that padel is played on five continents all over the world ties up with its growing popularity and its resounding victory in the padel vs paddle competition.

On the other hand, Paddle tennis is mainly practised in Florida and New York, where it is most popular.

In the world, roughly a quarter of all pédallers are native to Spain, where the racquet sport is most popular. It’s also popular in South America, although it hasn’t taken off in the United Kingdom yet.

Below are some additional padel vs paddle statistics.

• Thin Paddle, a thick racket for padel.
• Low-pressure tennis balls for padel and a spongy softball for Paddle are recommended.
• Padel was invented in 1965, and the Paddle was founded in 1915, both in the United States.
• Padel has thousands of courts; Paddle has hundreds of courts.

For padel players, use a low-pressure tennis ball, and for Paddle, use a sponge ball.