What is padel? A question we all asked ourselves the first time we heard this name, unaware of the existence of this new sporting trend.
Completely ignored for years in Italy, this practice is only now really starting to spread and, on balance, it is becoming a real fashion.
This is because it came as a real breath of fresh air in a stagnant world of novelty, welcomed by all as a pleasant break from the monotony.
New equipped areas for padel are popping up left and right but, for those who are still unaware of everything, let's find out what this sport actually is.
What is padel and how to play it?
Let's start right away by answering the fundamental question for which this article was written, namely what is padel.
Well padel is a racket sport which is somewhere between tennis and squash, taking a little of both and acquiring its own identity.
Its history is very recent, in fact the first game of padel was recorded only in 1969, before there is no news of any practitioners.
From here however, things evolved quite slowly because the first federations of the professional circuit only began to be born in the 2000s.
In Europe then, it had its first great diffusion in Spain, with the creation of the Padel Pro Tour in 2005, but things have stabilized since then.
The main countries in which it has spread have been the Spanish-speaking ones, with Latin America leading the way for the subsequent landing in Europe.
Only recently, however, has it begun to cross the borders of the Iberian Peninsula, expanding to other countries as wellincluding Italy.
How to play Padel?
The setting of the padel is purely tennis, both in court style and score counting (exactly identical to tennis), but with substantial changes.
Primarily the field is smaller, which generally leads to a slightly faster game, but the real difference is another one.
There are no home runs in padel or rather, they exist but they are not the ones we are used to thinking about in tennis.
The back and side walls can in fact be used to bounce the ball, thus playing on the side.
Of course, on the ground the ball can only touch the opponent's court once before a point is awarded, but the banks are free.
Dribbling is not allowed on the banks, mind you, but the ball can touch both the back wall and the side wall and then be sent back to the opponent's court.
A classic game of recovery is where the player hits the ball against his back glass so that it makes a long arc to reach the opponent's court.
Glass? Yes, glass. The back wall and part of the side wall is made of glass, to improve the bank game.
Everything else is in woven wire mesh, the non-flexible ones and with a very thick texture, so as to form a solid cage.
The home run occurs only if you hit the ball over the walls surrounding the field, which is especially possible for novices.
The most stringent rules are related to the joke, which must first touch the opponent's court before going onto the glass (but cannot touch the net).
Furthermore, he fights diagonally according to the same trappings of tennis, therefore respecting the first rectangle in contact with the net.
For more details, I leave you the articles on how to play padel and on field measurements.
What rackets do padel players use?
Ok, now we have seen how to play padel, but what is that tool that the player holds in his hands?
Already, the padel racket is certainly special, very different from the one used for tennis or other similar sports.
Yes because here we are dealing with one nice plump shovel, with a thickness of several centimeters and not thin with the retina.
These rackets have a nucleus which can be in different materials, each with strengths and weaknesses.
Added to this is one tubular structure and a surface, also with many possibilities that lead them to differentiate.
Lastly shape of the same, which can be a drop, roundabout oa diamond, with the differences explained at the given links.
If you want to know more about how to choose padel rackets, then you can find the explanation at the link indicated.
If, on the other hand, you're starting to get passionate about this sport, I'll leave you with some useful articles.
Buying Guide of clothing from padel.
The best padel shoes for all players.
Conclusions
We hope that, from this article, you have managed to discover a new and exciting sports world that will accompany you for a long time.
padel is truly a fantastic sport, full of interesting news and capable of giving emotions from the very first matches.
The learning curve is very gentle, allowing you to get the first satisfactory results from the very first lessons, you'll see!
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