Padel has been rising through the sports industry at lightning speed. There are now a staggering 8 million active padel players around the world! Padel is easy to play, quick to learn, and sociable; so no wonder it is the fastest growing racket sport in the world.

What is the fastest growing sport in the world?

Padel is currently the world’s fastest growing racket sport, with the World Padel Tour becoming increasingly popular as the years go on.

There are 8 million padel players in the world, with 6000 of these players actively pursuing the sport in the UK. There are 107 padel courts in the UK, spread across 52 padel clubs. The LTA predicts that the number of UK padel courts is set to triple by 2023 with 400+ courts for UK locals to choose from – exciting times ahead!

What is the history of padel?

The sport began when Mexican billionaire Enrique Corcuera went to build a tennis court at his home in 1969. He’d run out of space and couldn’t fit a full size tennis court into his development plan, so instead decided to build a smaller version, merging his love for squash and tennis into one court – and just like that, padel was born.

In 1975, whilst in Marbella, Argentine millionaire Julio Menditenguia discovered padel and decided to take the sport to his home country of Argentina. Fast forward 50 years and Argentina is now home to 2 million active padel players and an impressive 10,000 padel courts.

It seems that the word spreads fast, but the love for padel spreads faster!

Where is padel most popular?

Padel is most popular in Spain, closely followed by Argentina. Spain is host to 20,000 padel courts and an estimated 4 million active players, making up 50% of the world’s padel players. The racket sport is the second most popular sport played in Spain, second only to football. 

So next time you take a Summer holiday to Spain be sure to check out the padel courts, you won’t be able to miss them.

Why is padel so popular?

The utter simplicity of padel makes it all the more popular. Padel is effortless to learn for all ages and abilities, making it the perfect sport for everyone and anyone. Players can find enjoyment right from the start, with less time committed to learning the sport and more time to play and compete.