It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that we love padel, after all we’re the Padel Club. But there are lots of reasons as to why you can also fall in love with one of the UK’s fastest growing sports.

If you’ve found yourself asking the question, what makes padel fun? Hopefully, our list of reasons will make you think about booking a court and taking up this unique, and exciting racket sport.

If there is one thing that can be said about Padel is that it is easy to learn and play, making it completely accessible as a sport. The rules aren’t complicated at all.

Here are the rules and you can decide if they are complicated or not?

Firstly, you serve under arm below waist height.

Secondly, the scoring system is like tennis. 15,30,40.

Thirdly, you can play off all the walls to score a point.

In padel, you score points if

• the ball bounces on the ground twice on the opponent’s side
• the opponent hits the ball into the net
• the opponent hits the ball outside the play area, i.e. outside of the cage or against one of your walls
• the opponent hits the ball into their own grid
• an opponent is hit by the ball.

But one of the main reasons that this game is becoming so popular and loved by many is that it is easy to play. You don’t need to be athletic to love this sport and because it is mainly played in pairs, you rely more on tactics and working together than throwing yourself around the court.

Many players will learn the basics of how to play in 20 minutes and an average rally for beginners is 18 shots whilst in tennis it is 5. This makes the game so much more accessible to a wider audience regardless of ability.

There are lots of ways to get fit nowadays. From attending state of the art gymnasiums, HIIT classes in groups or at home, even home trainers like bikes, rowers and treadmills.

But for many, getting out and doing something different, something that challenges the body without putting lots of strain on joints and making it fun at the same time is the thing they are looking for. Padel is a great way to get fit, stay fit and get even fitter.

Padel is slower than tennis and squash in many ways, but you still need to sprint to get to the ball for a point, you still need to push yourself even if the rallies are longer and you can play intelligently by taking position on court and using experience to help you win games. Don’t forget, you will also develop great hand to eye coordination and even reaction times.

Padel is also fun. It’s never the same thing twice and you get to meet people and challenge yourself against other players and use it to get inspired about your own fitness journey whilst hitting Padel balls around the court.

Not only are there physical benefits to playing Padel, but there are plenty of mental benefits as well. Padel is a game of tactics as well as physique and agility which means that you are using different parts of your brain to manage a game. From concentration levels to even applying yourself to strategically moving into areas of the court, you are getting a mental workout that is fun at the same time.

Padel helps to improve critical thinking, essential for developing brains as well as promoting mental alertness by creating new connections in the brain. Studies have shown that pushing yourself mentally the older you get, the better it is for total cognitive function.

Another benefit of Padel for the brain is just how much it helps regulate serotonin, which helps with sleep and appetite. Finally, Padel can help with mental health as well as physical health. There have been many studies showing just how important playing sports can be to promoting good mental health. Padel is a great way to meet new people, play with friends and even get you talking to new groups of people in real life which are key ingredients to good mental health.

It can feel strange to hear that a sport can develop “life skills” but when you look at how Padel is played, then it makes a lot of sense. It involves a lot of things that you would consider are essential for the real world, including;

• Mental approach
• Working in teams
• Physicality
• Social skills
• Maturity
• Sporting
• And so on…

Whilst this may be targeted to a younger audience per se, it’s not the only audience that this can be applied to.

If you want to develop better teamwork with your colleagues, having regular scheduled games of Padel can do that. If you want to meet new people but have always felt social anxiety or awkwardness, Padel is a great place to start.