PADELLING SUCCESS

Reporter Chris Slater tries his hand at the racquet sport taking the UK by storm

- BY CHRIS SLATER

AS I approached the set of four courts, nestled next to the Decathlon store just off the M60 in Stockport, other than the sound of the ball thudding against the glass walls that surround them, the most noticeable sound, was that of laughter.

In front of me were four men playing padel, widely regarded as the world’s fastest growing sport.

There are ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ followed by loud chuckles when one of them tried and failed to return the ball over the net.

Essentially a cross between tennis and squash, it also has elements of other racket sports, such Badminton.

It was invented in Mexico in the late 1960s and is particularly popular in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

However, it has now also taken off around the globe, including here in the UK, in a big way.

The number of people playing shot up from around 129,000 at the end of 2023 to above 400,000 just 12 months later.

It has a number of celebrity fans including tennis legends Serena Williams and Andy Murray, footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and, most notably, here in Greater Manchester, the comedian Jason Manford.

It is played on enclosed courts, which are slightly smaller than a doubles’ tennis court, and on a special form of sanded Astroturf.

The scoring system is the same as tennis but the bats are solid, not stringed, and smaller, as are the balls, which are also slightly softer.

There are glass walls behind which the ball can bounce off, like in squash.

If it hits the back wall or sides without bouncing, it is out, and if it hits the wall it must be returned without bouncing again, or the point goes to the other players.

As it is always played in doubles.

"That's what makes it quite a special sport. It’s unique” says Mark Hewlett, 46, the co-founder of Soul padel, Stockport's first, and now newly-expanded, padel club,