Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the Netherlands

Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the Netherlands. Padel is fun, great fun and it lets your body and mind get in harmony. Padel is social. Playing padel makes you and your friends feel awesome. It’s a battle and a big laugh. Padel is addictive, play it once and you will never stop.

Padel is a racket sport, played on an enclosed court and usually played in doubles. Youngsters and adults both are very enthusiastic about padel, it is really trendy to play padel nowadays. It’s definitely the fastest-growing sport in the Netherlands. The game is a mix between tennis and squash. Play padel with four people and get completely immersed in the game. Padel is a fantastic, spectacular, fast, and dynamic game because of the use of the walls. But most important of all it’s a very enjoyable game.

The court where you play the fastest-growing sport in the Netherlands

A padel court is similar to a tennis court, but there are some major differences. For example, a padel court has glass walls and a metal fence. The padel court has an opening on both sides. Right there in the middele ou can enter the padel court. The dimensions of a padel court are:
Singles: 20 meters long and 6 meters wide
Doubles: 20 meters long and 10 meters wide
According to the guidelines, ceiling height is at least 7 meters, but 8 meters is better. Experienced padel players will probably prefer higher ceilings.
In the middle of the padel court hangs a 10-meter-long measuring a height of 88 centimeters above the ground in the middle and 92 centimeters above the ground at the end. The center of the net is lower due to the higher gravity in the middle of the net.

What do you need to play padel?

Padel is a sport that requires special padel equipment. A padel player with the right materials performs better and plays more comfortably than a poorly prepared player. Padel equipment consists of a padel racket, padel shoes, sports/padel clothing, and padel accessories.

Do not forget. The Padel cord should be around your wrist. For the safety of you and your fellow players, it is absolutely mandatory to prevent accidents. Imagine the racket flying out of your hand and hitting another player.

How to play padel? What are the rules of the fastest-growing sport in the Netherlands?

The rules of padel are very similar to those of tennis, the ball must also be hit over the net and into the opponent’s box. The ball must be served underhand rather than overhand and the ball must bounce behind the service line before serving. A big difference is that after the bounce you can let the ball hit the wall or wall and only then have to hit it back. The first serve is hit from the right side, after that the service can alternate left and right. The scoring in padel is the same as in tennis, namely 15, 30, 40, and game, with deuce at 40-40. Deuce requires two consecutive points to be scored to win the game. For more explanation of the padel game look at this video.
Padel spelregels in het Nederlands – YouTube
Padel game rules in English – YouTube

Best way to find Padel courts in the Netherlands

At this moment there are more than 400 locations in the Netherlands with more than 1450 padel courts where you can play. A great way to find a location to play padel is by using the padel guide “De Padel gids”.
Almost daily more padel courts are opening their doors and this fine specialized padel guide is fully up to date.

A padel court can often be found in or next to a sports complex. For example, the “Peakz Padel Utrecht” is a part of the Vechtsebanen sports complex. Peakz has great Padel courts and the friendly staff is more than willing to get you around. Peakz Padel Utrecht, Mississippidreef 161, Utrecht

Padel is also an officially recognized sport in the Netherlands

In 2011, the Dutch Padel Federation (NPB) was established in the Netherlands and recognized by the International Padel Federation (FIP). Since 2016, the Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association (KNLTB) has represented Padel in the Netherlands. Since 2019, the NPB and the KNLTB have had a joint competition calendar. The NPB and KNLTB have merged since mid-2020. All padel activities continue under the flag of the KNLTB.

The history of padel starts in Mexico

Padel as a sport was invented by Enrique Corcuera in 1962 in the Mexican City of Acapulco. Enrique was a very wealthy Mexican businessman who built a padel court in his garden. From then on Padel gained popularity and became really big in South America among the Mexican and Argentine elite. Subsequently, the Spanish royal family became enthusiastic about the sport of padel and the news of the royal family playing padel spread all over Spain. Finally, padel became the 2nd most popular sport in Spain where it is nowadays the most practiced sport after football.

The name padel comes from the word paddling. In the 19th century, during sea voyages from England to America, people went in search of entertainment and started playing tennis with paddles. Padel has gradually conquered Europe and padel courts are being built everywhere

Worldwide there are approximately 18 million padel practitioners. Also in the Netherlands, this super fun social racket sport is becoming more and more popular. The first padel court in the Netherlands was built in 2006 at the PSV-training-center in Eindhoven. Since then a lot of padel courts opened their doors to a fast-growing group of enthusiastic padel players.