Make Space, Tennis, Pickleball and Squash. Here Comes Padel.
I first heard about padel last summer, when my partner sent me a photo of a small court during a visit to Germany.
What is that? I wondered.
“Padel. A childish version of tennis,” he texted, anticipating my question.
As an avid tennis player I wasn’t very interested.
A few months later, while riding my bike in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I saw a large building with a sign that read “Padel Haus,” advertising itself as the first padel club in New York City. This sport wanted my attention, so I invited Victor Mather, a veteran sports reporter, to join me for a lesson.
Victor was willing to give it a try. “I’m a pretty fit guy,” he said. But he was turning 60, he said, adding, “My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, I haven’t played tennis since high school, and I’ve never played squash or racquetball.”
I was happy just to be on a tennis court with a racket in my hand, because it is not easy to reserve a tennis court in the city.
This is what we learned.
First of all, what is padel?
At first glance it looks like tennis.
The sport — a mix of squash and tennis — can be played indoors or outdoors. It is always played on grass, which is gentler on the knees than the paved hard courts associated with tennis and outdoor pickleball. The padel racket, usually made of foam and carbon fiber or fiberglass, is shorter than that of tennis and has holes instead of strings. The ball is also smaller and has less air pressure.
The scoring is like tennis. There are glass walls at the back and sides of the court. The walls are in play, and provide ricochet shots that bring the squashiness to padel.
Serves are hit from below the waist. Players are encouraged to run to the net after the serve. Padel is played in doubles and teams can move as a unit rather than spread out.
Santiago Gomez, the founder of Padel Haus, grew up playing in Mexico, where the sport originated in the late 1960s. He spent much of the Covid-19 pandemic in Acapulco and decided to launch his business when he returned to New York City, where he opened a club in 2022.
The sport is becoming increasingly popular.
Elmo Coleman, 27, learned padel in Venice during the coronavirus pandemic. But he dropped the sport when he moved to New York City due to a lack of places to play. He played tennis, reluctantly. Now he plays padel in Dumbo three times a week.
The sport has grown in popularity in places like South Florida, Texas, Southern California and New York, he said. the American Padel Association.
According to a report from the U.S. Courts, there were 180 courts in the United States in 2022, compared to fewer than 20 in 2016. Playtomic Global Padel Reporta community of players that prepared the analysis with the consultancy firm Monitor Deloitte. The USPA estimates there are now 50,000 players and 400 courts, not including private courts.
According to the USPA, there are millions of padel players worldwide.
“Padel is still in its infancy in the US,” said Martin Sweeney, the association’s president. “We expect exponential growth in the coming years and in the future.”
It is attractive to racket sports enthusiasts.
The first wave of players who visited the Padel Haus locations in Brooklyn (there are two in Williamsburg and one in Dumbo) came from other countries, Mr. Gomez said. The second wave included tennis players.
On a recent winter day, the four lanes in a former warehouse with 30-foot ceilings in Dumbo were packed. Sunlight filtered through enormous glass doors and “Can’t Stop Your Lovin’” by Panama and Poolside blared from the speakers.
“Tennis is very complicated to play in New York,” Mr. Coleman said after two and a half hours of play. “The demand is so high that it’s very difficult to just book a court and play.”
Some consider padel to be a less demanding sport.
“It’s very insulting to say, but it’s like tennis for people who are not very good at it,” said Virgilio Contucci, 27, who works in finance. “This is an easy way to enjoy a racket sport.”
The main demographic drawn to Brooklyn courts is young men, but that is changing, Mr. Gomez said.
“It’s raining guys, I’m not complaining,” said Talia Campbell, a 30-year-old who works in private equity, as she came off the field.
Court booking costs can vary widely.
The sport can be expensive, at least in New York. At Padel Haus, court rental costs $65 per hour during busy weekend hours, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Members pay $37.50 per hour; membership at one location costs $140 per month. The cheaper times are Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm: $25 for members and $40 for non-members. The hourly rate does not include racket rental and balls. (The New York Times paid $195 for our one-hour private lesson.)
“I feel like the only thing keeping all of us from playing more is the price,” said Will Elkins, 26, who works in the financial industry.
There is also a pop-up padel site in Manhattanwhich is not open year-round. Court admission fees can vary outside of New York, from free play to $40 to hundreds per session.
Now it’s time to play.
Before our lesson, Victor and I walked onto the artificial grass and marveled at the high ceilings.
We grabbed our rackets and stood opposite the net from our coach, who explained to us how to hold and swing the racket. The grip is the same used for serving and volleying in tennis.
We alternated between forehands and backhands. Then we tried to slow down the timing while the coach hit the balls deep into the court. We let them bounce off the wall before trying to send them over the net. That was the hardest part.
“After I successfully hit the first few balls over the net, I felt a wave of confidence,” Victor said later. But that “came to an abrupt end when I chased a lob and crashed straight into something unexpected and unyielding. Oh, that’s right. Padel courts have glass walls.”
He said it was sometimes difficult to pick up the ball, especially in the light, and that “the hour-long session was a real workout.” It required running across the net to ‘kick back again and again’, which can be difficult for less fit players.
As for me, I will definitely play again. I’ve already started asking my friends if they’ve heard of the sport. When they ask what it is, I don’t say it’s a childish form of tennis. I tell them that it is a good alternative if you cannot reserve a tennis court.
Victor Mather played padel for this report.
