Why Padel Is Taking Over the Racket World: The Rise of Padel in India & Around the Globe

Walk past almost any new sports complex in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurgaon or Chandigarh today, and you're likely to hear the distinctive pop of a solid, perforated racket and see a glass-walled court packed with four players and a waiting list behind them. That sport is padel - and it has gone from a niche pastime in a handful of countries to one of the fastest-expanding racket sports on the planet in less than a decade.

Padel isn't a new invention. It was created in Mexico in 1969 and grew into a mainstream sport across Spain and Latin America over the following decades. What's changed recently is the pace and reach of its expansion: padel is now played in over 150 countries, and India has gone from a single court in 2017 to several hundred within the last two to three years. Understanding why that's happening - and what it actually takes to get started - matters whether you're a lifelong tennis player, a pickleball convert, or someone who has simply seen the courts appear and is curious.

This guide covers what padel is, why it's growing so quickly worldwide and in India specifically, how it stacks up against tennis and pickleball, and what beginners need to know about equipment before stepping on court for the first time.

What Is Padel?

Padel is a doubles racket sport played on an enclosed court roughly a third the size of a tennis court, where the surrounding glass and mesh walls are part of play - the ball can be returned after bouncing off them, similar to squash.

Players use a solid, stringless racket (often called a “bat” or “paddle”) with a perforated face, and hit a ball that resembles a tennis ball but is inflated to a slightly lower pressure. The court measures 20 metres by 10 metres, is almost always played in doubles, and uses an underarm serve struck at or below waist height. Scoring follows tennis's point structure (15, 30, 40, game), though many recreational and competitive formats drop the “advantage” rule so that, at deuce, the next point simply wins the game.

Because the court is enclosed, rallies tend to last longer than in tennis - the ball stays in play off the walls - which rewards positioning and touch over raw power. That combination is one of the biggest reasons the sport travels so well across skill levels.

Why Is Padel Becoming So Popular?

Padel's growth is driven by a combination of accessibility and social design rather than any single factor. The doubles-only format makes it inherently social - you can't play alone, and most sessions involve friends, colleagues, or new playing partners on a shared court. The smaller, enclosed court reduces how much ground each player has to cover, which shortens the learning curve compared with tennis, where footwork and technique take longer to develop before a beginner can sustain a rally.

Padel also fits into denser urban environments than tennis does. According to Wikipedia's overview of the sport, roughly three padel courts can fit into the footprint of a single standard tennis court, which is one reason gyms, sports clubs and mixed-use developments have been able to add padel relatively quickly in space-constrained cities. Combine that with a format that's genuinely enjoyable within a first session - most beginners can sustain a rally in their first hour - and the sport builds its own word-of-mouth momentum through friend groups and workplaces.

How Fast Is Padel Growing Around the World?

Padel's global growth is now tracked in detail by its international governing body, and the numbers are large enough that it's worth being precise about the source and date of each figure.

According to the FIP World Padel Report 2025, published by the International Padel Federation (FIP) in December 2025, the sport had surpassed 35 million active players across 150 countries and 20 dependent territories. The report recorded 77,300 courts worldwide (up 15.2% year-on-year, with 14,355 courts built in 2025 alone) and 24,600+ clubs (up 16.1%). Registered national-federation membership grew 42% year-on-year, and the number of FIP-organised tournaments rose from 182 in 2024 to 290 in 2025, involving more than 11,000 professional and junior athletes.

A separate industry survey, Playtomic's Global Padel Report 2025 (produced with PwC's Strategy&), measured global courts at 50,436 as of the end of 2024, with 7,187 new courts (+26%) and 3,282 new clubs added that year, and projected the worldwide total to exceed 81,000 courts by 2027. The gap between Playtomic's 2024 figure and FIP's newer 2025 figure reflects different survey windows and methodologies, but both data sets point in the same direction: court construction has been accelerating rather than slowing down. Playtomic also found a 92% player return rate - the share of first-time players who come back to play again - which the report attributes to the sport's accessibility and social format.

(Figures above are dated to their source reports (FIP, December 2025; Playtomic/PwC Strategy&, 2025) because participation and infrastructure numbers change quickly. Treat any older statistic you encounter elsewhere with caution.)

Why Are More People Choosing Padel?

Beyond the headline growth numbers, a few practical factors consistently come up in why players switch to or add padel:

•     Shorter learning curve than tennis: the smaller court and forgiving wall rebounds mean new players sustain rallies almost immediately, rather than needing months of technique work first.

•     Doubles-only, social format: every match is a shared experience, which suits corporate groups, friend circles and club communities rather than solo training.

•     Lower physical demand than tennis: less court to cover reduces the sprinting and explosive movement tennis requires, making it approachable for a wider age range.

•     Space efficiency for facility operators: with roughly three padel courts fitting into one tennis court's footprint, clubs and gyms can add padel without needing a large plot of land - a significant factor behind how quickly it has spread into cities.

•     A genuinely new experience: for players who already know tennis or badminton, padel offers a related but distinct challenge, rather than requiring them to learn an unrelated sport from scratch.

Padel vs Tennis vs Pickleball

Padel, tennis, and pickleball are often mentioned in the same breath because they're all racket sports played over a net with a bounce-first rally structure, but the on-court experience differs substantially. Here's how the three compare on the fundamentals:

Aspect	Padel	Tennis	Pickleball
Court size	20m x 10m (200 m²), enclosed	23.77m x 8.23m (singles), open	13.41m x 6.1m (~81.7 m²), open
Walls	Glass + mesh walls in play	None	None
Racket / paddle	Solid, stringless, perforated	Strung racket	Solid paddle, smaller than padel
Ball	Low-pressure tennis-style ball	Pressurised felt ball	Perforated plastic ball
Typical format	Doubles only	Singles or doubles	Singles or doubles
Scoring	Tennis-style, usually no-ad (sudden point at deuce)	Tennis-style, with advantage	Points scored only by the serving team; games to 11
Serve	Underarm, below waist	Overhand	Underarm
Learning curve	Moderate - quicker than tennis	Highest of the three	Most beginner-friendly
Fitness demand	Agility and reactions over a smaller court	Endurance, power, full-court coverage	Coordination and short bursts of movement

(No sport here is objectively “better” - each rewards a different style of play. Tennis remains the most physically demanding and technically deep; pickleball generally has the lowest barrier to entry; padel sits between the two, combining tennis-like scoring with a squash-like use of walls.)

The Rise of Padel in India

India's padel story is recent but fast-moving. Per Wikipedia's overview of padel in India, the country's first padel court opened in Bengaluru in 2017, and the sport is administered nationally by the Indian Padel Federation (IPF), established in 2016, which has run nine annual national ranking events as of 2025. Court numbers stayed modest for years before accelerating sharply from 2023 onward.

According to PadelPark India co-founder Nikhil Sachdev, speaking to the Free Press Journal in March 2026, India's court count rose from just over 70 in 2023 to more than 300 by early 2026. A more recent industry estimate - the India Padel Report 2026, cited by Whalesbook and separately referenced through Hudle's sports-participation data reported by Passionate in Marketing (both June 2026), puts the national court count at approximately 500, up from around 100 in 2023, with an estimated player base near 100,000. The precise figures vary slightly between sources depending on survey timing, but the direction and scale of growth - roughly a four-to-five-fold increase in courts within about three years - is consistent across all of them.

Growth has concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi NCR first, before spreading to other Tier 1 cities including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Chandigarh, with early signs of expansion into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Demand is currently outpacing supply in the most established clusters - Delhi NCR and Mumbai reportedly average well over 500 active players per court against a national average closer to 300, which is one reason waiting lists for court bookings have become common in metro cities.

Investment has followed participation. Cricketer MS Dhoni has backed a padel venture (7Padel), and industry reporting frames padel as a market moving from a hobbyist activity into a structured commercial opportunity, with the Indian Padel Federation working to formalise a national team as padel enters the Asian Games program. The Olympic Council of Asia confirmed padel as an official sport for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, giving Indian players a first major continental stage.

What Is Driving Padel's Growth in India?

A few forces are converging to accelerate padel's spread across Indian cities. It's worth separating what is directly evidenced from what is reasonable industry analysis rather than confirmed fact.

Evidenced factors:

•     A documented shift in urban fitness habits, particularly among players in their 20s, is cited directly by operators as a driver of participation.

•     Private capital is funding most new courts - unlike traditional sports infrastructure that leans on public facilities, India's padel courts are largely built by gyms, real estate developers, and private clubs, which lets supply respond quickly to demand.

•     Continental competition (the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games) is creating a concrete reason for national federation-building and athlete development.

Industry analysis (informed projection, not confirmed fact):

•     Some industry reports forecast India's player base could reach roughly one million by 2036 - a tenfold increase from today's estimated base - which would require thousands of additional courts over the next decade. This is a projection from market analysts, not a guarantee.

•     Female participation is frequently flagged as India's biggest untapped growth lever: one industry data provider reported the female share of new padel users rising from 9% in 2022 to 16% in 2025, still well below a cited global benchmark near 40%.

What Equipment Do You Need to Play Padel?

Padel's equipment list is short compared with many racket sports, but each item affects how the game feels, especially for a beginner.

•     Racket (paddle/bat): A solid, perforated padel racket without strings - the single most important piece of equipment, and the one worth understanding before buying.

•     Balls: Padel balls look like tennis balls but are pressurised slightly lower, which suits the enclosed court and wall rebounds.

•     Shoes: Padel-specific or all-court shoes with a herringbone or multidirectional outsole are built for the quick lateral movement and abrupt stops the enclosed court demands, and typically offer better grip on artificial turf or synthetic court surfaces than a generic running shoe.

•     Bag: A padel bag is shaped to carry one or more rackets safely along with balls, shoes, and accessories - protecting the racket's face, which is more fragile than a strung tennis frame.

•     Apparel: Breathable, stretch-friendly sportswear suited to lateral movement; nothing padel-specific is mandatory, but fit matters for the sport's quick direction changes.

•     Accessories: Overgrips, protective racket edge tape, and a wristband or racket cord (many clubs require the racket to be tethered to the wrist during play) round out a starter kit.

How to Choose Your First Padel Racket

Padel rackets are generally grouped by shape, and shape is the single biggest factor in how a racket plays:

•     Round shape: the most forgiving option, with the sweet spot centred low on the face. Best suited to beginners and control-focused players because mishits are punished less severely.

•     Teardrop shape: a hybrid between round and diamond, balancing control and power. A common recommendation once a beginner has a season or two of experience.

•     Diamond shape: weight is concentrated toward the top of the face, producing more power but a smaller, higher sweet spot - generally suited to more advanced, aggressive players rather than newcomers.

Weight and balance matter alongside shape. Lighter rackets with a lower balance point are easier to manoeuvre and more forgiving on off-centre hits, which is why round, head-light rackets are the standard beginner recommendation. As technique and consistency improve, many players move toward teardrop or diamond shapes for more pace and finishing power.

Is Padel Good for Beginners?

Yes - padel is widely considered one of the more approachable racket sports for beginners, largely because the enclosed court keeps rallies alive longer and reduces how much technical precision is needed to sustain play early on.

That approachability comes from a few structural features rather than the sport being “easy” in an absolute sense: the smaller court limits how far a beginner has to move to reach the ball, the walls give a second (and sometimes third) chance to return a shot that would be a clean winner in tennis, and the underarm serve removes one of tennis's more technically demanding skills. None of this means padel lacks depth - competitive padel rewards positioning, wall reading and doubles teamwork that take real time to develop - but a first-time player can typically enjoy a rally within their first session, which is not always true of tennis.

Where Is Padel Heading Next?

Padel's near-term trajectory looks set to continue on its current path, though some of what follows is industry projection rather than confirmed fact and should be read that way.

On the competitive side, the Olympic Council of Asia has confirmed padel as an official sport for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games - a confirmed milestone that gives Asian federations, including India's, a concrete competitive target. Full Olympic inclusion is a separate and longer process: padel holds Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) status by most industry accounts, and Brisbane 2032 is widely discussed as the earliest realistic Olympic opportunity, but IOC approval has not been granted, and some recent analyses note that full IOC recognition of the International Padel Federation is still pending. Treat any claim of a confirmed Olympic debut as premature until the IOC formally announces it.

On infrastructure, Playtomic's 2025 report projects global courts to exceed 81,000 by 2027, while equipment-market analysts covering the padel racket segment specifically (a category distinct from the broader padel market) put that segment at roughly $134–152 million in 2025–2026, projected to grow at a compound annual rate near 13% into the early 2030s. In India, some industry reports forecast the player base reaching around one million by 2036 - a projection, not a certainty - which would require several thousand additional courts nationally over the next decade, with coaching, junior pathways, and greater female participation cited as the areas needing the most development.

Ready to Explore Padel Equipment?

Whether you've just played your first rally or you're upgrading from a beginner racket, the right equipment makes a real difference to how quickly you improve. Padelit stocks rackets, balls, bags, shoes and apparel from established padel brands available in India, and the racket guide is a good next stop if you're still deciding on shape, weight or balance for your game.

Frequently Asked Questions About Padel

Q.1 What is padel?

Padel is a doubles racket sport played on a 20m x 10m enclosed court, where the surrounding glass and mesh walls stay in play. Players use solid, stringless, perforated rackets and a low-pressure ball similar to a tennis ball.

Q.2 Why is padel so popular?

Padel combines a shorter learning curve than tennis with an inherently social, doubles-only format and a smaller court that fits easily into dense urban spaces - roughly three padel courts fit into one tennis court's footprint.

Q.3 Is padel the fastest-growing racket sport?

Padel is frequently described as one of the fastest-growing racket sports, with the FIP World Padel Report 2025 recording more than 35 million active players across 150+ countries and 15–16% year-on-year growth in courts and clubs. Whether it is precisely the single fastest-growing sport globally depends on the metric and comparison sport used, so broad claims should be read as directional rather than an official ranking.

Q.4 How is padel different from tennis?

Padel is played on a smaller, enclosed court where walls are part of the rally, uses solid stringless rackets instead of strung ones, is doubles-only, and is generally considered easier to pick up, though tennis remains more physically demanding over a full match.

Q.5 What is the difference between padel and pickleball?

Padel is played on a larger, enclosed court with glass walls in play and uses tennis-style scoring; pickleball is played on a smaller, open court with a distinctive plastic ball, a “kitchen” no-volley zone, and its own scoring system where only the serving side scores points.

Q.6 Is padel easy for beginners?

Padel is widely considered approachable for beginners because the smaller court and wall rebounds keep rallies going with less technical precision required than tennis, though higher-level play still demands real skill and teamwork.

Q.7 What equipment do you need to play padel?

At minimum: a padel racket, padel balls, and appropriate court shoes. A padel bag, moisture-wicking apparel and accessories such as overgrips and a wrist cord round out a starter kit.

Q.8 What padel racket should a beginner use?

Most beginners are advised to start with a round-shaped, head-light racket, since the sweet spot is larger and more forgiving on off-centre hits than teardrop or diamond shapes, which suit more advanced, power-focused players.

Q.9 Is padel growing in India?

Yes. India's court count has grown roughly four to five times over from about 2023 to 2026 - various reports put the current total at 300–500 courts, up from around 70–100 in 2023 - concentrated first in Mumbai and Delhi NCR and now spreading to other cities.

Q.10 Where can you play padel in India?

Padel is now available in most major metros, including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Chandigarh, through private clubs, gyms and multi-sport venues, though availability and court numbers vary significantly by city.

Q.11 Is padel included in the Olympics?

Not yet. Padel is not currently on the Olympic programme. It has been confirmed as an official sport for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, and Brisbane 2032 is often discussed as its earliest possible Olympic opportunity, but the IOC has not confirmed Olympic inclusion.

Q.12 How much does padel equipment cost in India?

Costs vary widely by brand and racket tier, from entry-level beginner rackets to premium professional models; because pricing changes frequently and varies by retailer, check current listings directly rather than relying on a fixed figure.