What’s the difference between Padel and Tennis?

It’s the most searched for google term in relation to Padel, what are the differences from Padel to tennis. And here for you in black and white are 10 key ones

While Padel is a form of tennis it does indeed differ in many ways from the rackets, the balls – yes they are padel balls not tennis balls, the service, court dimensions, court surface, and even the net height.

1.  First up Padel is of course played in an enclosed court with walls, so the style of play incorporates either waiting for a ball to come off the walls or sometimes hitting it off the walls. Unlike in tennis, when the ball goes past you the point is over, in padel it invariably comes back again.
2. Both games do involve hitting the ball over the net and landing the ball on the court floor surface, but the rallies and games are approached in very different ways, with the average rallies in tennis being 3 shots while in Padel it is 15.
3. Court dimensions, the size of the Padel court is 20 metres x 10 metres while a tennis court is 23.77 metres long and 10.97 metres wide for doubles, but of course you then have the run off which can be means you require 36.58 metres by 18.29m. so whilst a Padel court is roughly 25% smaller than a tennis court, the overall playing area on a tennis court is considerably larger.
4. The rackets in Padel and Tennis are very different. One has a foam core with a short handle, while the other has a long handle and strings. The later creates power in tennis, while the former acts as a dampener in Padel and puts the focus on control as in a smaller space control is key.
5. The service is completely different, in tennis it is overarm and in padel it is underarm. The service in padel is bounced off the floor and must be hit underarm below hip height, while the tennis serve is one of the more complex skills to learn in the game as the ball must be thrown in the air and struck before it falls to the ground.
6. Padel is always played as doubles. Tennis is more often than not played as singles. Whilst there is one singles court in the UK now, the game will we hope always be doubles at competitive and club level, as a team game
7. The walls on the padel court do often make it feel more akin to squash than tennis, as it gives a different dimension and angle to how the ball is moved around a tennis court.
8. They may look exactly the same, yellow and furry, and some padel balls even have the same rubber mould in the production process as tennis balls, but they are different and you can easily spot this when you bounce a tennis and padel ball together at the same time. The Padel ball has less pressure inside, and therefore less bounce. So instead of speeding up when it rebounds off walls it slows.
9. Even the net is different. The official height of a Padel net is that it must be 0.88 metres high at the centre while in tennis it is 0.914 metres
10. From a physical power and reflex point of view the games key difference is that in tennis physical power can win through, and is vital to move forwards and sideways hitting powerful forehands. With Padel it faster shorter movement, changes of direction a little like squash and good reflexes. It is also rare to see a top spin shot played regularly on a padel court as it bounces up off the glass and is easier to hit for your opponents.