Filed under: Courts
Just like tennis, padel is played on a variety of surfaces but increasingly as more money is invested in sports facilities nowadays it is rare to find concrete playing surfaces – you are much more likely to find artificial surfaces such as the one shown below, which is one of the public courts in the Retiro park, Madrid.
The main difference between the two types of surfaces is obviously that concrete surfaces are much harder which will effect both the speed (quicker) and bounce (higher) of the ball. In padel this means that the points are likely to be shorter on a fast surface like concrete and it is easier to return the ball from the wall.
Synthetic surfaces or ‘artificial turf’ are softer and so the difference is felt not just in the movement of the ball but also in the pressure and load that is exerted on the body, in particular the knees, ankles and back.
Another important feature which is more likely to be relevant to outdoor padel courts in the UK than in countries around the mediteranean with milder climates, is that after rain an artificial surface containing sand will give the player better grip underfoot, reducing the chances of a fall. (But remember if you do fall this is likely to result in quite a painfall graze on the hands or knees!).
At present there are only two courts in the UK.
One is a glass walled court at the Harbour Club in Fulham (020 7751 9443) which is a private members gym and leisure centre so unfortunately non-members can't just turn up and play.
The other one is a concrete walled court at the Rye Lawn Tennis and Squash Club (01797 223151).
Filed under: History
Padel was born in 1974 when Alfonso de Hohenlohe travelled to Mexico to visit his friend Enrique Corcuera who had just devised a new game that was based largely on tennis but was played with wooden bats, and utilised a slightly smaller court due to restrictions of space.
The biggest departure from tennis is that the 20m x 10m court at Corcuera's house, which is shown below, was enclosed by walls up to 3m high, and the rules of the game permit the ball to be returned to the opponents court after hitting the wall.
As he was so interested in the sport, Alfonso de Hohenlohe started to tweak some of the rules of the game and the details and measurements of the court itself, and then when he returned to Spain he constructed the first two courts at the Marbella Club. And thus Padel began to spread its roots across Spain and Europe.
