Padel 101

Padel vs Tennis: What's the Difference?

The PadelCourts+ team3 March 20264 min read

Padel and tennis look similar but play very differently. A clear rundown of the court, rackets, serve, walls and scoring, and which is easier to learn.

Padel borrows its scoring from tennis and is often played by tennis fans, but on court the two games feel quite different. Here's how they compare.

The court

A padel court measures 20 metres by 10 metres and is fully enclosed by glass and metal mesh. A tennis court is larger and open. The enclosure is the defining feature of padel: the walls are part of the game.

Rackets, serve and walls

+Rackets: padel rackets are solid and stringless with a perforated face, and shorter than a tennis racket.
+Serve: padel is served underarm, off a bounce, which is far more approachable for beginners than a tennis serve.
+Walls: in padel the ball can be played off the walls after it bounces, so points keep going where a tennis rally would have ended.
+Format: padel is almost always doubles, whereas tennis is commonly singles or doubles.

Which is easier to learn?

Most people find padel quicker to pick up. The court is smaller, the serve is simpler, and the walls give you a second chance at balls that would be winners in tennis. That gentle learning curve is a big part of why padel has spread so quickly.

Our take: the enclosed court is what makes padel special, and it's also what makes court quality matter. Glass, structure and surface all shape how the game plays.

See how our courts are built