I first learned about padel last summer, when my partner sent me a photo of a small coat during a visit to Germany.
what is that? I wondered.
“Padel. It's the kid's version of tennis,” he texted, anticipating my question.
As an avid tennis player, I wasn't really interested.
A few months later, while riding my bike in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I noticed a large building with a sign that read “Padel House.” It billed itself as New York City's first padel club. This sport wanted my attention, so I invited Victor Mather, a veteran sports reporter, for a lesson.
Victor was happy to take on the challenge. “I'm a pretty healthy guy,” he said. But he said he was about to turn 60, adding: “My eyesight isn't what it used to be. I haven't played tennis since prep school, and I've never played squash or racquetball.”
It's not easy to reserve a tennis court in the city, so I was really happy to be able to grab my racket and stand on the court.
Here's what we learned.
First of all, what is padel?
At first glance, it looks like tennis.
This sport, which combines squash and tennis, can be played both indoors and outdoors. It is always played on grass, which is easier on the knees than the paved hard courts used for tennis and outdoor pickleball. Padel racquets are typically made of foam and carbon fiber or fiberglass, are shorter than tennis racquets, and have holes instead of strings. The ball will also be smaller and the air pressure will be lower.
Scoring is like tennis. There is a glass wall at the back and sides of the court. The wall works and sets up a ricochet shot that puts Padel in a crouch.
The serve is struck from below the waist. Players are encouraged to rush towards the net after serving. Padel is played in doubles, allowing teams to work as a unit rather than apart.
Padel House founder Santiago Gomez grew up playing in Mexico, where the sport was born in the late 1960s. He spent most of the coronavirus pandemic in Acapulco, and upon returning to New York City decided to go into business, opening the club in 2022.
The popularity of this sport is increasing.
Elmo Coleman, 27, learned padel in Venice during the coronavirus pandemic. However, when he moved to New York City, he had no place to play, so he quit the sport. He reluctantly played tennis. Currently he plays his padel three times a week at Dumbo.
The U.S. Padel Association says the sport is growing in popularity in South Florida, Texas, Southern California and New York.
There will be 180 courts in the U.S. by 2022, up from less than 20 in 2016, according to the Global Padel Report by Playtomic, a community of players that prepared the analysis with consulting firm Monitor Deloitte. The USPA currently estimates there are 50,000 players and 400 courts, not including civilian courts.
According to the USPA, there are millions of padel players around the world.
“Padel is still in its infancy in the United States,” said association president Martin Sweeney. “We expect exponential growth over the next few years and into the future.”
It will appeal to fans of racquet sports.
Gomez said the first wave of players who visited Padel House's Brooklyn locations (two in Williamsburg and one in Dumbo) were from other countries. The second wave also included tennis players.
On a recent winter's day, all four courts in a former warehouse with 30-foot ceilings in Dumbo were full. Sunlight trickled in through the giant glass doors, and “Can't Stop Your Lovin'” by Panama and Poolside played over the speakers.
“Playing tennis in New York is very complicated,” Coleman said after playing for two and a half hours. “The demand is so high that it's very difficult just to reserve a court and play.”
Some people consider padel to be a less demanding sport.
“It's a very unpleasant thing to say, but it's like tennis for people who aren't very good at tennis,” said Virgilio Contucci, 27, who works in finance. “This seems like an easy way to enjoy racquet sports.”
The main demographic attracted to Brooklyn courtrooms used to be young men, but that is changing, Gomez said.
“It's raining, guys. I'm not complaining,” Talia Campbell, 30, who works in private equity, said as she stepped off the court.
The cost of making a court appointment varies.
The sport can be expensive, at least in New York. At Padel House, court rental costs he $65 per hour during peak weekend hours, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. As a member he pays $37.50 per hour. Single membership costs $140 per month. Low price hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and cost $25 for members and $40 for non-members. Hourly rates do not include rental rackets or balls. (The New York Times paid us $195 for a one-hour private lesson.)
“I think the only thing keeping us all from playing more is the price,” said Will Elkins, 26, who works in finance.
There is also a pop-up padel site in Manhattan, but this one is open seven days a week. The cost of access to courts outside of New York can range from free play to $40 per session to hundreds of dollars.
Now it's time to play.
For our lesson, Victor and I walked on the artificial grass and marveled at the high ceilings.
We grabbed our rackets, stood on the other side of the net, and the coach taught us how to hold and swing the rackets. The grip is the same as that used for serve and volley in tennis.
I alternated between hitting forehands and backhands. Next, we tried to lower our timing when the coach hit the ball deep in the court. We tried to bounce them off the wall and then over the net. That was the most difficult part.
“After I successfully hit the first few balls over the net, my confidence came,” Victor said later. But it ended abruptly when he was “chasing a lob and ran directly into something unexpected and non-negotiable. Ah, that's right. Padel courts have glass walls.”
He said that it was sometimes difficult to pick up the ball, especially against the lights, and said, “The hour-long session was a real training.” He had to simply backpedal “many times” to rush to the net, which can be difficult for less physically fit players.
As for me, I will definitely play again. I have already started asking my friends if they have heard of this sport. When they ask what it is, I don't say it's some childish form of tennis. I tell them it's a good alternative when you can't book a tennis court.
Victor Mather I played padel for this report.
