on December 30, 2025

Padel: What It Is, How It’s Played and Why It’s Growing in Canada

Padel is one of the fastest-growing racquet sports in the world. It’s fast, social, easy to learn, and incredibly fun. While still relatively new to Canada, it’s already gaining momentum across the country, with new clubs, courts, and communities forming every year.

Here’s everything you need to know before stepping onto a padel court.

What Is Padel?

Padel is a doubles-focused racquet sport that combines elements of tennis and squash. It was created in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco, Mexico, as a sport that was easier to pick up than tennis but still exciting and competitive.

Players use a solid, perforated racquet and a low-compression ball on a 20 m x 10 m enclosed court. Walls and fencing are part of the game, which adds strategy, longer points, and plenty of creativity.

How Padel Is Played: Basic Rules

Player Positions

Padel is almost always played in doubles.
Only the server must be behind the baseline.
All other players may stand anywhere on their side of the court.
The receiver stands diagonally across from the server.

Scoring

Scoring follows traditional tennis: 15 – 30 – 40 – game.

Matches are usually best-of-three sets, with a two-game margin needed to win a set (depending on the event format).

Serving

The serve must be underhand and struck below waist height.
The ball must bounce before it is hit.
It must land in the opposite service box.
You get two attempts, just like tennis.
Special rules apply if the serve clips the net or makes contact with the glass or fencing.

During the Rally

After the return of serve, the ball can be volleyed or played off the bounce.
The ball may rebound off the glass walls or metal mesh after it hits the ground.
The rally continues until the point ends, for example when:

The ball bounces twice
A player hits the net
The ball hits a wall before bouncing
The ball goes out and is not returned legally

You can even run outside the court to retrieve a ball, as long as it hasn’t bounced twice.

What Makes Padel Different from Other Racquet Sports?

1. The Court

A padel court is smaller than a tennis court (20 m x 10 m vs. 24 m x 11 m). It’s fully enclosed with glass walls and metal mesh, and those surfaces are part of play, similar to squash.

2. The Racquet

Padel racquets are: