Padel: The Sport Everyone’s Playing, But No One Can Properly Explain

There’s a sport sweeping the world right now. It involves glass walls, underarm serves, and doubles-only chaos. It’s been called “tennis with commitment issues” and “squash for people who still want to chat mid-point.” It’s not pickleball. It’s not quite tennis. It’s padel — and it’s booming in a way that makes Peloton look like a warm-up act. But how did this Spanish side-hustle with a suspiciously vibey aesthetic become the fastest-growing sport on the planet? And more importantly: what does its rise say about us?

Wait, What Even Is Padel?

Padel is a racket sport played in doubles, on a small enclosed court, with scoring borrowed from tennis and chaos borrowed from squash. The twist? You’re allowed (encouraged, even) to bounce the ball off glass walls after it hits the floor. You serve underarm, the rallies are long, the movement is surprisingly tactical, and the rackets look like something you’d use in a medieval tavern fight. The rules are deceptively simple. The etiquette? Not so much. Ask ten padel players how many bounces count and whether you can smash off the back wall, and you’ll get twelve different answers. That’s part of the charm. What makes padel addictive isn’t just the mechanics — it’s the feeling. Long rallies feel heroic. You can be terrible and still feel brilliant. And unlike tennis, you’re not punished for not being an athlete. Which, let’s be honest, is most of us.

The Rise: From Rich Kid Hobby to Global Hype

Invented in the 1960s by a Mexican businessman who built a wall around his tennis court to stop the ball escaping (an origin story that tells you everything you need to know), padel simmered in Spain for decades. But it wasn’t until the 2010s — and then explosively during the pandemic — that it went nuclear. By 2023, padel had: 30 million players, 40,000+ courts, presence in 90+ countries and was growing faster than almost any sport globally. Lockdowns helped — outdoor, non-contact, low barrier to entry. But timing alone doesn’t explain the frenzy. Padel fits something deeper: the desire for social exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise, the Instagrammable kind that looks like a lifestyle, not a sport. Tennis asks for dedication. Padel asks if you want to play after brunch.

The A-List Effect

When David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Maria Sharapova, and Drake are all involved in the same sport — something’s up. Add to that a growing list of investors, franchise teams (yes, there’s a Messi-owned padel team), and Instagram reels of slow-mo trick shots, and you’ve got the Pelotonification of sport: not just a game, but an identity. The pro circuit is now flush with Qatari money, having merged into Premier Padel, and padel courts have become architectural accessories for yachts, rooftop bars, and luxury shopping centres. One floating court in Miami drew comparisons to Bond villain HQ. A British billionaire built one inside his superyacht. Of course he did.

Spain, Dubai, West London: A Global Case Study in How Trends Travel

In Spain, padel is practically a civic duty. There are more padel players than tennis players, and courts are as common as cafés. It’s a religion with fewer arguments. In Dubai, its status sport meets urban planning. The Crown Prince built a court in his palace. There are now more padel courts than Starbucks. No, really. In the UK, growth is sharp — from fewer than 100 courts five years ago to over 400 today. Padel has become the fastest-growing sport in the country, with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) throwing serious weight behind it. Footballers play. Royals dabble. And every third converted car park in West London is now a glass-walled shrine to the sport. But the picture isn’t uniform. In Sweden, where padel mania led to overbuilding, courts are now closing. The bubble burst. Too many facilities, not enough players. That’s a cautionary tale the UK would be wise to learn from.

Why This Sport Took Off (And Not the Others)

There’s a graveyard of niche sports that never made it past the group chat: teqball, squash 2.0, ultimate frisbee, even pickleball outside North America. So why did padel stick? It hit the Goldilocks zone:

• Easier than tennis

• More tactical than pickleball

• Less brutal than squash

• More fun than it has any right to be

And crucially: it films well. Padel rallies look great on camera. Long, dynamic, acrobatic. In the age of the vertical video clip, this matters more than anyone wants to admit. TikTok is full of 15-second padel rallies with dramatic music and captions like “Padel. Is. Life.”

But… Is It Actually Good?

Yes — but not just in a “fun” sense. Padel hits several cultural sweet spots:

• Multi-generational (kids can beat their parents)

• Gender-inclusive (mixed doubles is the norm)

• Low ego, high reward (you can feel skilled quickly)

• Social and shareable (games are chatty, short, and memeable)

It’s a sport that flatters you into liking it. You rarely look bad. You rarely feel bored. And when you hit a shot off the glass wall that actually lands in — it’s borderline euphoric.

The Cracks in the Glass

But like all hype trains, padel has its issues.

1. Accessibility: In the UK, padel clubs are six times more likely to be in wealthy areas than deprived ones. The gear isn’t cheap, the court hire isn’t always public, and the social image leans posh. It risks becoming the new golf, with slightly cooler shoes.

2. Noise Complaints: The signature “pop-pop” of padel rackets echoes. Loudly. In some towns, neighbours have called it “relentless,” with legal battles emerging over court approvals. Padel’s vibe might be friendly, but the acoustics are causing municipal headaches.

3. Governance Drama: The pro scene recently went through a “civil war” between rival tours, only resolved when Premier Padel absorbed the competition. There’s still tension over how money, power, and growth are being managed. This could get messier before it stabilises.

4. Burnout Risk: Sweden built too fast, too soon. Courts closed. Interest waned. Without long-term planning (schools, public courts, community clubs), padel risks fizzling after a golden few years — a sort of Zumba with better branding.

So, Is It a Fad or the Future?

The truth: it’s both. For some regions (Spain, Argentina, Dubai), it’s already baked into the culture. For others (UK, France, US), it’s still playing the long game — and whether it becomes a staple or a novelty will depend on how well it integrates into public life. There’s serious talk of Olympic inclusion by 2032, and if that happens, expect another explosion. But even if it doesn’t, padel has left a mark: it redefined what a sport can be — fast, accessible, social, and weirdly glamorous. Padel doesn’t ask you to be athletic. It just asks you to show up, try, and maybe laugh when the ball bounces off the wall and hits your teammate. Twice.

And in a world craving connection and low-stakes joy? That might be exactly the point.