Padel vs Pickleball: Court, Rules and Which One to Try First
Padel looks like the newcomer, but it's only four years younger than pickleball. Pickleball started on a backyard court on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in 1965, and padel on a private court in Mexico in 1969. What's new is that both are booming at once. In the United States, pickleball is far ahead, with about 24.3 million players in 2025 against about 1.07 million for padel. In Britain, padel more than doubled in a year, and in Australia the two are at similar levels. Both use solid paddles and an underarm serve, so they get lumped together, but on court they're very different games. If you're new to pickleball, our pickleball guide covers its rules and gear in full.
Key Takeaways:
The walls are the big difference: Padel is played in an enclosed court and the ball can be played off the glass, while pickleball has no walls in play at all.
Different courts: A padel court is 20 m by 10 m, about two and a half times the area of a 13.41 m by 6.09 m pickleball court.
Different scoring: Padel uses tennis scoring with games and sets, and pickleball games usually go to 11 points.
Pickleball is far bigger in the US: About 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, compared with about 1.07 million for padel.
Access favours pickleball: Up to four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court, while padel needs a purpose-built enclosure.
Both are open to wheelchair users: Each sport allows a second bounce for wheelchair players.
Table of Contents
Padel and Pickleball Quick Facts:
Invented: Pickleball in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and padel in 1969 in Mexico.
Governance: Padel has one world body, the International Padel Federation, while pickleball has two rival world bodies, the Global Pickleball Federation and the International Pickleball Federation.
Players worldwide: Padel has more than 35 million players across 150 nations (2025).
Players in the US: About 24.3 million for pickleball and about 1.07 million for padel (2025).
Players in Australia: More than 90,000 for each sport on the latest national figures (pickleball to June 2024, padel to April 2026).
Olympic status: Neither is an Olympic sport yet.
Sources: USA Pickleball, Tennis Australia, International Padel Federation, Sports & Fitness Industry Association, Australian Sports Commission, Tennis Australia padel release, Global Pickleball Federation, International Pickleball Federation
Padel vs pickleball at a glance
The padel figures come from the Regulations of the Padel Game and Tennis Australia. The pickleball figures come from the Lawn Tennis Association and USA Pickleball's rules summary.
Feature | Padel | Pickleball |
Court size | 20 m x 10 m | 13.41 m x 6.09 m |
Walls | Enclosed; the ball can be played off the glass after it bounces | None in play |
Net height in the middle | 0.88 m | 34 in (86.36 cm) |
Near the net | Service boxes; volleys allowed | Non-volley zone, the kitchen, 2.13 m from the net |
Racket or paddle | Perforated, no strings, up to 45.5 cm, wrist cord required | Solid, thin paddle with a rectangular head |
Ball | Pressurised rubber, 6.35–6.77 cm, less bounce than a tennis ball | Lightweight plastic ball with holes |
Serve | Underarm, at or below the waist, two attempts | Underarm, contact not above the waist, one attempt |
Scoring | Tennis scoring; best of three sets | Games to 11, win by two |
Format | Doubles | Singles or doubles |
Wheelchair play | Two bounces at inclusive events | Two bounces under published rules |
The court and the walls
A padel court is 20 m long and 10 m wide, enclosed by walls 4 m high at each end. According to Tennis Australia, the walls are glass and wire mesh fences, and they keep the ball in play longer. Once a shot has bounced on your side, it can come off the glass and you can still return it.
A pickleball court is 13.41 m long and 6.09 m wide, with no walls in play. The net sits at 86.36 cm in the middle, lower than padel's 88 cm. The feature that shapes the game is the non-volley zone, called the kitchen, which runs 2.13 m back from the net on both sides. You can't volley while standing in it.
Padel points often turn on patience and reading the rebound off the back glass. In pickleball, the kitchen stops players volleying from right on the net, so many points settle into exchanges at the kitchen line.
Rackets, paddles and balls
Neither sport uses strings. A padel racket has a solid, perforated face, with holes of 9–13 mm across the centre, and the regulations cap it at 45.5 cm long. Padel rackets also come in different head shapes, and according to LTA Padel, round heads suit control and diamond heads suit power. A wrist cord is compulsory.
A pickleball paddle is solid. According to LTA Padel, it's a thin plastic paddle with a rectangular head.
The balls are where the two sports differ most. A padel ball is pressurised rubber, 6.35–6.77 cm across, and looks like a tennis ball with less bounce. A pickleball is a lightweight plastic ball with holes across its surface.
Serving and the first shots
Both sports serve underarm and diagonally, and in both the receiver has to let the serve bounce. The details differ.
In padel, you bounce the ball in your own box and hit it at or below waist height, and you get two attempts, as in tennis. According to Tennis Australia, a serve that lands in the box and then hits the glass is good, but one that hits the wire mesh before its second bounce is a fault. After the return, either pair can volley.
In pickleball, the server gets one attempt, and contact can't be above waist level, according to USA Pickleball. A drop serve, where you let the ball bounce first, is also allowed. The two-bounce rule then applies, so the serving team has to let the return bounce before they can volley. That rule stops the serving side from rushing the net, and it's one reason pickleball rallies tend to start slowly.
How each sport is scored
Padel uses tennis scoring. Points go 15, 30, 40 and game, a set goes to the first pair to six games with a two-game lead, and a match is the best of three sets. The rules also allow a golden point, a single deciding point at deuce. Since 2026 the professional tours have used a Star Point, introduced by the International Padel Federation, which caps how long a deuce game can run.
Pickleball games are normally played to 11, win by two. In traditional side-out scoring, only the serving team can win a point, according to USA Pickleball. Rally scoring, where a point goes to whoever wins each rally, is also used in some formats.
If you already play tennis, padel's scoring needs no learning. Pickleball's doubles score call has three numbers, the serving team's score, the receiving team's score and the server number, which takes a few games to get used to.
Which is easier to learn?
Pickleball's court is smaller and its rules are simple, but the kitchen and the two-bounce rule take a few games to sink in. Padel's rules will be familiar to anyone who knows tennis, but letting the ball come off the back glass instead of hitting it early is a genuinely new skill, and it takes time before the walls feel like an advantage.
If you play tennis already, you'll likely find padel's scoring and stroke shapes familiar. If you've never played a racket sport, pickleball's smaller court and lighter ball should make for a gentler first hour.
Injury risk in padel and pickleball
The research on each sport measures different things, so the numbers can't be compared directly, but each tells you what to watch for.
For padel, a 2023 systematic review in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine found an incidence of 3 injuries per 1,000 hours of training and 8 per 1,000 matches, though the authors note the evidence is limited. The elbow was the most common injury site, followed by the knee, shoulder and lower back, and tendon and muscle injuries were the most reported types.
For pickleball, a 2025 study in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine estimated 66,350 pickleball injuries treated in US emergency departments between 2013 and 2022, rising significantly over the decade. The average patient was 64. Falls caused 65.5 per cent of injuries, fractures made up 32.7 per cent, and the wrist was the most injured body part.
That pattern reflects who plays pickleball as much as the sport itself. Older players who fall are more likely to fracture, so if you're starting later in life, good shoes, a proper warm-up and not lunging for every ball matter more than your choice of paddle. In padel, the elbow is the one to protect, and a coach can check your technique early.
Where you can play, and how popular each is
Access is pickleball's biggest advantage. According to the Lawn Tennis Association, up to four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court, and you can play on a tennis court by lowering the net to 34 inches in the middle. Padel needs its own enclosed court, so you can only play where a venue has built one.
That accessibility has a downside. Pickleball's popping sound has caused friction with neighbours, and in August 2026 a resident of Methuen, Massachusetts, sued his city over noise from courts behind his home, according to Boston.com. The city had already required quiet paddles on some of the courts.
The participation numbers vary a lot by country.
United States: About 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, compared with about 1.07 million who played padel, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
Australia: More than 90,000 Australians aged 15 and over played pickleball in the year to June 2024, according to the Australian Sports Commission. By April 2026, more than 90,000 Australians had tried padel, according to Tennis Australia, though the two figures measure slightly different things.
Britain: LTA Padel counted 860,000 people who played padel at least once in 2025, more than double the year before.
Worldwide: The International Padel Federation puts padel at more than 35 million players across 150 nations.
In practice, the sport that's easier to find depends on where you live. In the United States, pickleball is far bigger. In Australia, the two are at similar levels on the latest figures, and in Britain padel more than doubled in a year.
Wheelchair padel and wheelchair pickleball
Both sports adapt for wheelchair users with the same core change, a second bounce.
In pickleball, wheelchair players may let the ball bounce twice, and the second bounce can land anywhere, according to Pickleball Canada. Wheelchair and standing players can play together in hybrid doubles, with the wheelchair rules applying only to the player in the chair. USA Pickleball added wheelchair divisions to its 2024 National Championships.
In padel, the rules can be modified to allow two bounces, as they were at an Inclusive Padel Open Day at Padel Perth Reabold in 2024. Internationally, the Inclusive Padel Tour pairs a non-disabled player with a player who has a prosthesis, uses a wheelchair or has motor limitations, and gives that player two bounces, according to LTA Padel.
Pickleball has formal wheelchair rules published by national bodies such as Pickleball Canada. In padel, the two-bounce adaptation is used at inclusive events and on the Inclusive Padel Tour.
Which one should you try first?
Choose pickleball if you want to play this week without hunting for a specialist venue, you'd like the option of singles, or you're new to racket sports and want the gentlest start.
Choose padel if you already play tennis or squash, you enjoy long rallies and angles, or you'd rather play inside a court that keeps the ball alive.
Try both if you can. Neither needs much gear to start, and one session of each will tell you more than any comparison.
From my point of view, I was never much of a tennis player, and since padel borrows so much from tennis I’ve always assumed it would play in a similar way. I haven’t tried padel yet. I have played paddleball many times, though, and I enjoy it every time, which makes pickleball my natural first pick. A solid paddle, a compact swing and quick exchanges at close range feel far more familiar to me than a strung racket and long baseline rallies.
Padel may still surprise me. Its bat has no strings either and the serve is underarm, so the tennis connection may sit more in the scoring and the walled court than in the hitting itself. It’s next on my list, and I’ll report back once I’ve had a hit.
Who governs each sport
Padel's world governing body is the International Padel Federation. National bodies include Padel Australia, which works alongside Tennis Australia, USA Padel and LTA Padel in Britain.
Pickleball has strong national bodies, including the Pickleball Australia Association, USA Pickleball and Pickleball England, but two rival world bodies, the Global Pickleball Federation and the International Pickleball Federation. Our pickleball guide explains that split.
Neither is an Olympic sport yet, and both are pushing for a future place.
Final Thoughts
Padel and pickleball share a paddle and an underarm serve, and not much else. Padel is a walled, tennis-scored game of rebounds and patience. Pickleball is an open-court game played around the kitchen line, and it can be set up on any tennis court.
If one sport is easier to get to where you live, start there. If you've got both nearby, book one session of each. You'll know within an hour which one you want to come back to.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is the main difference between padel and pickleball?
A: The walls. Padel is played on an enclosed court where the ball can be played off the glass, while pickleball is played on an open court with a no-volley zone, the kitchen, beside the net.
Q: Is padel harder than pickleball?
A: Not necessarily, but it's different. Pickleball's smaller court and lighter ball should make a first session gentler, while padel's walls take longer to master. Tennis players will find padel's scoring familiar.
Q: Is a padel court bigger than a pickleball court?
A: Yes. A padel court is 20 m by 10 m, and a pickleball court is 13.41 m by 6.09 m, so padel's court has about two and a half times the area.
Q: Can you use a pickleball paddle for padel?
A: No. A padel racket is perforated and fitted with a compulsory wrist cord, and the two balls are very different, so each sport needs its own gear.
Q: Which is more popular, padel or pickleball?
A: It depends on the country. In the United States, about 24.3 million people played pickleball in 2025 compared with about 1.07 million for padel. Worldwide, padel has more than 35 million players across 150 nations.
Q: Can you play pickleball on a tennis court?
A: Yes. You can play on a tennis court by lowering the net to 34 inches in the middle, and up to four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court. Padel can't be played on a tennis court because it needs walls.
Q: Can you play padel or pickleball singles?
A: Pickleball is played as singles or doubles. Padel is designed for doubles and is usually played that way.
Q: Can wheelchair users play padel and pickleball?
A: Yes. Both sports allow a second bounce for wheelchair players, and wheelchair and standing players can play together in pickleball's hybrid doubles.
