The guide · Padel vs tennis

Padel vs tennis.

They share a scoreboard and almost nothing else. If you already play tennis, about half of what you have is useful and some of the rest is actively in your way.

Short version. Padel is doubles on a smaller, glass-walled court with an underarm serve and solid rackets; tennis is a bigger court, an overhead serve and strung rackets. Scoring is the same. Padel is far easier to start, equally hard to master, and much kinder to your shoulder.

Side by side

	Padel	Tennis
Format	Doubles, almost always	Singles or doubles
Court	20 m × 10 m, enclosed	23.77 m × 10.97 m (doubles), open
Space needed	Essentially the court itself	Court plus run-off all round
Walls	In play	None
Racket	Solid, perforated, no strings, max 45.5 cm, wrist cord compulsory	Strung, up to 73.7 cm, no cord
Serve	Underarm, bounced, at or below the waist	Overhead, no bounce, as hard as you like
Scoring	15 / 30 / 40 / game — identical	15 / 30 / 40 / game
Deuce	Often a single Golden Point	Advantages, usually
Net height	0.88 m centre, 0.92 m posts	0.914 m centre, 1.07 m posts
Ball	Slightly smaller, slightly lower pressure	Standard tennis ball
Where points are won	At the net	Mostly from the back
First session	You will rally	You probably won't

The space difference is bigger than the table suggests

On paper a padel court is about three-quarters the area of a doubles tennis court. In a city that comparison is almost meaningless, because tennis needs room around the lines — space to run back for a lob, space between courts — and padel does not. The walls are the boundary.

In practice you can put roughly three padel courts in the footprint of one tennis court. That single fact is most of why padel has spread through European cities at the speed it has, and why an indoor club in London is a building you can actually find.

If you play tennis, here's what transfers

Transfers well

Your eye for the ball and your timing. Your volley, almost completely — padel is a volleying sport and you already own that shot. Your footwork and split-step. Your understanding of doubles shape, if you have played any.

Transfers badly

Your serve, which is simply not the same stroke. Your topspin forehand: heavy pace rebounds off the back glass and comes straight back to the player you hit it at. And your lob, which in tennis is a last resort and in padel is the main attacking shot — you will under-use it for weeks.

Works against you

The instinct to live behind the baseline. In padel the pair at the net wins, and a tennis player's default position is the losing one. Also the instinct to volley anything in the air — the serve must bounce, and that reflex costs points for about a fortnight.

This is why good tennis players lose their first few padel matches to people who have never held a racket. It is not bad luck and it is not a judgement on your tennis. It is three specific habits, and they go within a month. The positioning page covers the fix.

Which should you play?

You want to play this month, with friends, and enjoy it immediately. Padel. It is not close.
You want a solo sport you can train at for years. Tennis. Padel is doubles and it is not pretending otherwise.
Your shoulder or back has opinions. Padel. No overhead serve, shorter racket, less load.
You are over fifty and starting something new. Padel, comfortably. Short bursts, a small court, and nobody serving at you.
You already play tennis and want a second sport. Both. Most people who try padel keep their tennis; they just find padel easier to get four people out for on a Tuesday.

Is one better exercise?

They are differently demanding. Tennis singles asks for sustained running and more raw power. Padel is repeated short bursts with constant direction change, longer rallies and four people sharing a smaller space — closer to interval work than to distance work. Neither is the fitter choice; they tax different things, and padel taxes the shoulder considerably less.

Common questions

Is padel easier than tennis?

Easier to start, not easier to master. The underarm serve, the shorter racket and the walls that keep the ball alive mean a complete beginner rallies in their first session, which almost never happens in tennis. The ceiling is just as high — positioning, the bandeja and reading rebounds off the glass take years.

Is a padel court smaller than a tennis court?

The marked court is a little smaller: 20 m by 10 m against 23.77 m by 10.97 m for a doubles tennis court, so about three-quarters of the area. The difference in practice is much bigger, because a padel court is enclosed by walls and needs no run-off around it. Roughly three padel courts fit in the space one tennis court requires.

Does tennis experience help in padel?

Partly. Your eye for the ball, your volley and your footwork all transfer. Your serve does not, because padel's is underarm. Your topspin groundstroke is often a liability, because the walls punish pace. And your instinct to stand behind the baseline is wrong — padel is won at the net. Most good tennis players lose their first few padel matches to worse athletes.

Which is better exercise, padel or tennis?

Different rather than better. Tennis singles asks for more sustained running and more raw power. Padel is short bursts, constant direction changes and longer rallies, with four people sharing the court. Padel is gentler on the shoulder because there is no overhead serve, and kinder to take up later in life.

Can you use a tennis racket to play padel?

No. A padel racket is solid, perforated and stringless, no more than 45.5 cm long, with a compulsory wrist cord. A tennis racket is longer, strung and has no cord, and is not legal on a padel court. Clubs lend padel rackets, so there is no reason to buy one before you know you are staying.

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