Padel and Tennis, what are the differences?
Padel is now a discipline of tennis, so people think it is really similar right?
At a glance, yes, it looks very similar.
It would surprise you to know that there are INSANE differences between padel and tennis.
Let’s get started.
This is one of the most obvious differences between padel and tennis.
If you have ever watched or seen padel, you will see that is has walls.
So the rules are the same as tennis however…
The walls DO NOT count as a bounce. So if I hit the ball over to the other side of the court, it can bounce one, and then hit the wall, and then you can play off them.
Amazing!
It also means you don’t have to spend ages picking up all the balls, they come back to you every time!
Watch this video of the professional world padel tour players below to see the walls in action!
Notice how the players are putting lots of spin and slice on the ball in order to manipulate it against the walls…
Different to tennis, where every shot is encouraged with topspin.
This is by FAR the craziest difference between padel and tennis.
As a padel coach, some of my students aren’t even aware this is possible.
But every single time a professional world padel tour match is played, they are running out the court and playing the ball back in.
Incredible right!
This is one of the things you need to see to believe, so here is another video showing this.
At round the 42 second mark, the player smashes, the ball goes out the court, the player runs out and then hits it back into the net.
A lot of people who see padel for the first time say “that is not allowed” or “that is not in the rules”.
These people are wrong.
You are allowed to run outside the court and play it back in, the ball doesn’t have to travel over the net like tennis.
Due to the walls, the game changes a lot, and when people smash, you are running forwards, not backwards.
The padel rackets have no strings, they are typically made of carbon fibre, and fibre glass.
This makes it harder to get as much spin and slice on the ball compared to tennis.
Padel is more about placement, control, tactics and have the mental edge of your opponents.
Here is a great article I recommend if you want to know how to choose a padel racket, then click this link.
Below is an awesome video showing the padel smash in slow motion, you can hear the sound of the padel racket, and how it is not string but instead carbon.
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