You already play tennis
Padel keeps your scoring, net game and lob, and adds the glass. Most tennis players are hooked in an hour.
PADELTHE COMPARISON
Padel vs pickleball,
every difference side by side
Padel vs pickleball is the comparison most newcomers to racket sports end up making, because both promise a proper game in the first hour. They are not the same sport. Here is the court, ball, racket, scoring, cost and crowd for each, checked against the FIP and USA Pickleball rulebooks.
- Padel court 20 x 10 m
- Pickleball 44 x 20 ft
- Padel: walls in play
- Pickleball: the kitchen
AT A GLANCE
Padel vs pickleball
at a glance
Sources: the FIP rules and the 2026 USA Pickleball rulebook.
| Feature | Padel | Pickleball |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 20 x 10 m (65.6 x 32.8 ft), enclosed. Full padel court dimensions. | 44 x 20 ft (13.41 x 6.10 m), open. Same court for singles and doubles. |
| Walls | Walls to 3 m, mesh to 4 m (13 ft). The ball stays in play off them. | None. Outside the lines is out. |
| Net | 0.88 m (34.6 in) centre, 0.92 m (36.2 in) at the posts. | 34 in (86.4 cm) centre, 36 in (91.4 cm) at the sidelines. |
| Ball | Pressurised felt ball, 6.35 to 6.77 cm, 56 to 59.4 g. Softer than a tennis ball. | Hard perforated plastic. Larger holes indoors, smaller outdoors. |
| Racket or paddle | Foam-core racket, perforated face. Max 45.5 cm long, 38 mm thick, most 355 to 370 g (12.5 to 13 oz). Wrist strap compulsory. | Flat solid paddle. Max 17 in long, length plus width 24 in. No weight limit, most 7.3 to 8.4 oz (207 to 238 g). |
| Scoring | Tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game, sets to 6. Golden point at deuce is common. | Games to 11, win by 2. Only the serving side scores; rally scoring is a provisional option. |
| Serve | Underarm. Bounce the ball, hit it at or below the waist, diagonally into the box. | Underarm. Volley serve with an upward arc below the waist, or a drop serve. Diagonal, clearing the kitchen. |
| Signature rule | The walls. After the bounce the ball can come off the glass and stay in play. | The kitchen: a 7 ft (2.13 m) non-volley zone each side of the net. Plus the two-bounce rule. |
| Format | Doubles almost always. | Singles and doubles. |
| Where it is big | Spain, Argentina, Italy, Sweden, the UAE. Fast growth in the UK. | The United States, by a wide margin. |
| Cost | Court hire by the hour, split four ways. Rackets from about 40 to 490 euros. | Any hard surface with lines and a portable net. Paddles start cheap. |
| Learning curve | Rallies in the first session. Reading the glass takes months. | Rallies in ten minutes. The kitchen game takes longer. |
THE LONG ANSWER
Two origins, two feels,
two kinds of player
The padel vs pickleball confusion comes from surface similarities: a solid bat, an underarm serve, a game on day one. That is where the overlap ends. Padel is compact tennis inside glass walls. Pickleball is closer to giant table tennis on a badminton-sized court.
Where each sport comes from
Padel was invented in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco, Mexico. He had no room for a tennis court, so he built a 20 by 10 metre court with 3 metre walls and a tennis net, as the International Padel Federation records. Spain and Argentina adopted it in the 1970s.
Pickleball is four years older. In 1965 Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum improvised it on a badminton court on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with table tennis paddles and a perforated plastic ball, then lowered the net to 36 inches, according to USA Pickleball.
How each game feels
A padel rally looks like tennis doubles until the ball hits the glass and comes back into play. The pair at the net controls the point, so the lob is a weapon and the back wall a second chance. Rallies are long and overheads decide them. Start with how to play padel, then the padel rules for the walls and the golden point.
Pickleball happens on a court less than half the size, with a plastic ball that neither bounces high nor travels fast. Nobody may volley with a foot in the 7 foot non-volley zone, so points settle into dinks at the kitchen line until someone pops a ball up. It rewards patience and quick hands over footwork.
Who each sport suits
Padel suits people who like to run, hit overheads and play long points. Pickleball suits people who want less ground to cover, one reason its US player base skews older, and lets a child and a grandparent rally together.
A tennis player picks up either, with one habit to break. In padel the big topspin drive comes straight back off the glass, so the backswing must shorten. In pickleball the urge to rush the net and volley is what the kitchen forbids.
How popular each one is
Pickleball wins on raw numbers in one country: the Sports & Fitness Industry Association counts 24.3 million Americans who played pickleball in 2025. Padel wins on reach: the FIP World Padel Report 2025 counts more than 35 million players and 77,300 courts across 150 nations. In Britain the LTA reports 860,000 players and 1,553 courts at the end of 2025, double the year before.
What each one costs
A padel court is steel and glass, so you book it by the hour and split the fee four ways. Rackets run from about 40 to 490 euros; a beginner needs nothing above 150, see the best padel rackets for beginners. Balls lose pressure fast, see our padel balls guide. Pickleball needs only lines and a portable net, and many public courts cost nothing.
If padel is your pick, film a match and let Padel AI score your technique from the video.
WHICH ONE
Which one should you try
You want the least effort to start
A slow ball, a small court, a cheap paddle. If a public court is nearby, you can play this weekend.
PICKLEBALLYou are over 50 or nursing a joint
Less running, far fewer overheads. Padel is playable at any age, but the kitchen game is kinder to knees and shoulders.
PICKLEBALLYou want a sport with a ladder
Padel has a 1.0 to 7.0 level scale, a pro tour and an Americano every weekend. Check your level in the app and climb.
PADELCOMMON MIX-UPS
Padel vs pickleball:
what people get wrong
Padel is not pickleball with walls
Ball, racket, scoring and court all differ. The only rule they share is the underarm serve.
The two serves are not the same serve
Padel makes you bounce the ball first. The standard pickleball volley serve is hit out of the hand; only the drop serve bounces.
The kitchen has no equivalent in padel
You may volley from anywhere on a padel court. In pickleball a volley with a foot in the non-volley zone is a fault.
Rally scoring is not the pickleball standard
Standard scoring gives points only to the serving side, and a doubles game opens with the call 0-0-2. Rally scoring is a provisional option.
FAQ
Questions about
padel and pickleball
Is padel the same as pickleball?
No. Padel is played on an enclosed 20 by 10 metre court with a felt ball, a perforated racket and tennis scoring, walls in play. Pickleball uses an open 44 by 20 foot court, a plastic ball, a flat paddle and games to 11.
Which is easier to learn, padel or pickleball?
Pickleball has the gentler first hour: a slow ball, a small court, no walls. Padel gives beginners rallies in the first session too, but reading the glass takes months. The 30 short lessons in the Padel AI app start from the rules.
Is padel more expensive than pickleball?
Usually. A padel court needs glass walls and a steel frame, so clubs charge by the hour, and a decent racket costs more than a decent paddle. Pickleball works on any lined hard surface.
Can you play pickleball on a padel court?
In a pinch. A 20 by 10 metre padel floor beats the USA Pickleball minimum surface of 60 by 30 feet, and the padel net sits within 2 centimetres of pickleball height. Tape a 44 by 20 foot court with kitchen lines.
Which is more popular, padel or pickleball?
Padel vs pickleball popularity depends on the country. In the US pickleball is far bigger: SFIA counts 24.3 million players in 2025. Worldwide padel is bigger: the FIP counts more than 35 million active players in 150 nations, most of them in Europe.
Is padel harder on the body than pickleball?
Slightly. Padel involves more running, direction changes and overheads, so it loads shoulders, elbows and knees more. Pickleball is lower impact, which is why it works for players in their seventies.
What is the difference between a padel racket and a pickleball paddle?
A padel racket is a thick foam-core bat with holes through the face, up to 45.5 cm long and 38 mm thick, with a compulsory wrist strap. A pickleball paddle is a thin flat board up to 17 in long, usually 7.3 to 8.4 oz.
Is padel coming to the US?
It is already there. The United States Padel Association reports just over 1,000 courts across 31 states as of April 2026, and 1,073,000 Americans who played padel in 2025.
KEEP READING
More guides
worth reading
How to play padel
From booking a court to keeping score: the grip, the serve, four shots and the two rules.
Padel rules
Scoring, the serve, the walls, lets and golden point, as the FIP rules state them.
Padel court dimensions
Every measurement of a padel court, what the walls are made of, and what a court costs in the UK.
Picked padel?
Find your level in one video
Film one match, upload it, and Padel AI scores your technique from 1.0 to 7.0.