I tried the new sport loved by David Beckham and Pippa Middleton
When a sport grows as quickly as padel has, it’s worth paying attention to. The squash-tennis-hybrid that boasts 30 million players worldwide has engaged the likes of Pippa Middleton, David Beckham and Novak Djokovic, while the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has reported a 600% increase in the number of padel courts in Great Britain since 2019 – a figure that’s hard to ignore. 2025 just might be the year padel goes mainstream.
But what strikes me most about padel is how accessible and social the sport is, at least that’s the impression I got during my trip to try out the sport at The Padel Hub in Slough. When I arrived, people of all ages were warming up while a women's-only club finished off their match. From the get-go, this felt like a sport I could get behind.
What is padel?
“The best way to explain padel is that it combines elements of tennis with those of squash,” explains Catherine Rose, who is currently ranked 3rd amongst British women in the International Padel Federation (FIP) standings.
The four-person game is played on a court surrounded by four walls and the scoring is conducted in the same way as tennis. “It’s pretty simple,” Catherine adds.
When a professional says their sport is easy though, it’s difficult to believe them. That’s why I took to the court as a complete beginner of padel – who also doesn’t play tennis – to see how quick it is to pick up.
How to play padel – as a beginner
First, you’ll need a padel racket – these can range in price from £29.99 up to almost £300 for a new one, or some padel clubs allow you to rent them for your session. You’ll also need a court to play on.
Adult Padel Racket Ionic Power
The LTA has a handy interactive map with over 500 courts so you can find the one nearest you. Again, booking a court will range in price (depending on location and whether it’s an indoor or outdoor court), so it’s best to check each court before booking. Typically, an hour on a court will cost between £24 and £70.
Once you’re on the court the rules are simple: serve underhand into the box diagonal to you across the net, then simply return the ball to get a rally going. The ball can bounce once before you hit it (just like tennis) but can also bounce off the surrounding walls (like squash).
It took me a few minutes to get used to the feel of the racket (my first serve when straight into net), but from there, it was easy to get a rhythm going. If, like me, you aren’t a squash player, you might find it tricky to use the walls to your advantage but, as they say, practice makes perfect and by the end of my hour session, I felt confident in playing a mini game within my group of four.
Luckily for me, there’s actually little technique needed to start off a game.
“It’s easier than a sport like tennis to start with: the swing is a lot shorter; the technique isn’t as complex; so, you can start off and have an enjoyable game with little racket experience,” says Catherine.
“It helps that padel is a new sport to everyone in the UK,” adds Catherine. “There’s no intimidation factor because everybody is trying it out and starting at the same point.”
Why has padel become so popular?
Padel was only invented in 1969 when a Mexican businessman set up a court surrounded by walls to prevent the ball from escaping onto his neighbour’s land. It wasn’t until 1991 that padel became internationally recognised.
The growth of the sport in Great Britain took place slowly from 1992 up until 2019 when the LTA integrated British Padel into the organisation.
Catherine puts the recent fast growth of the sport down to the celebrities that have picked it up and posted about it on social media. Sporting legends like Rafael Nadal and members of the Lionesses have hit the courts while even the Prince and Princess of Wales have reportedly tried their hand at the sport.
“When I started two years ago, nobody knew what padel was, and now everybody knows – the growth has been absolutely crazy,” says Catherine.
And in those two years, the 25-year-old, has gone from strength to strength travelling around the world to play in tournaments in places like Australia, Doha, and Mexico. In 2024, Catherine wanted to finish in the top 140 players in the world – she finished in 132nd place. So, what comes next?
“Next year I want to try and push the top hundred,” she says. “It’s a big jump and it’s never been done by a British woman, but we’ll see how the year goes.”
Is padel in the Olympics?
Although padel isn’t currently an Olympic sport, that would be the ultimate goal, explains Catherine. Currently, padel isn’t played widely enough to qualify but with the current growth rates, it’s something that Catherine can see happening in the near future.
“It’s a really exciting time to be a woman at the forefront of padel,” she says. “I’m hoping in my career time it will be in the Olympics, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
For now, Catherine is just excited to see more and more players getting involved and more clubs popping up around the country.
“It’s likely there’s one not too far away from you,” says Catherine. “A lot of clubs do taster clinics and sessions so there’ll always be something that you’ll be able to join in with and from there you’ll meet loads of new people at similar levels who you can play games with.”
To find your nearest padel club and get started, head to lta.org.uk.
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