What is the difference between Padel / Paddle tennis / Platform tennis?

Padel, paddle tennis and platform tennis are three similar but different sports.

To make things even more confusing, platform tennis is often called "paddle tennis" by its players and sometimes only "paddle".

Needless to say, it can be hard to know exactly which sport a person is talking about.

One commonality? All three games have their roots in tennis. Padel (sometimes spelled "paddle") is the most popular and widely available internationally. It is also one of the fastest growing sports in the world by participation. 

While the three games are very similar, there are some key differences which are summarised in the table below:

Padel Court 

Paddle Tennis Court

Platform Tennis Court 

What’s the appeal of these sports?

The smaller dimensions of the courts cater to longer points and arguably require a bit more creativity and perseverance to hit winning shots. Among accomplished players, exchanges of three minutes or more are practically the norm, which adds up to a lot of sustained movement, exertion and team collaboration.

The nature of these games are slightly less technical than tennis, but still require the hand-eye and racket/ball coordination that tennis players have honed. Thus, there are many transferable elements from the game of tennis to these sports allowing seasoned tennis players to start in the middle of the learning curve.

Finally, doubles specialists out there will be particularly enthused as doubles is the predominant version of all these games.

We will do a deep dive into Paddle and Paddle Tennis in future posts, but for now we will focus in on the features and characteristics of Platform Tennis.  

The platform tennis court

The Platform Tennis court is about one-third the size of a traditional tennis court and is surrounded by a chicken wire fence 12 feet (3.7m) high. The taut fencing allows balls to be played off the wall and remain in play similar to racquetball and squash.

Originally developed on land unsuitable or too small for traditional tennis courts, the space under the platform allows for the installation of heating equipment that facilitates year-round play (as it melts any snow). As a result, platform tennis is especially popular in winter when tennis courts may be out of action.  

The deck is 60 feet (18m) long by 30 feet (9.1m) in width. The court measures 44 feet (13m) in length by 22 feet (6.7m) in width and is divided by a net that is kept taut at a height of 34 inches (860mm) at its center and 37 inches (940 mm) at either end.

The area between the baseline and the service line is called the backcourt. The area between the service line and the net is called the forecourt, which in turn is divided into two service courts, deuce and ad.

The area between the sideline and the alley line is called the alley (or ‘tram lines’ depending on where in the world you reside). There is a space of 8 feet between each baseline and the back screen, and a space of 5 feet between each side line and the side screen. These spaces are part of the playing area, but they are not part of the court.

The scoring is the same as tennis with the usual format being best two of three sets. However, the ways in which points are decided differ markedly. When the ball is in play, a team loses a point if:

• The ball bounces twice.
• If the ball lands outside of the baseline or sidelines or hits the net or any other object.
• A player hits the ball before it has completely passed over the net to their side.
• A player catches or handles the ball deliberately.
• The ball touches any part of a player.
• A player hits the ball out of play, hits an object outside the court and then rebounds back into the court.
• Any player touches the net whilst the ball is in play
• A player throws their paddle at the ball and hits it.

Want to delve deeper into the rules and etiquette of the game? The American Platform Tennis Association is a useful resource.

The gear

Platform tennis uses a spongy ball measuring 2.5 inches (64 mm) in diameter and is heavier than a regular tennis ball.

The ball is struck with a paddle that measures up to 18 inches (460 mm) and which may have up to 87 holes measuring no more than 3⁄8 inch (9.5 mm) in diameter to improve its aerodynamics. The paddle has a rough textured surface to get more grip and spin on the ball.