Being successful in a sport also means knowing all the subtleties. And one of them is how the padel is born, where it comes from to be able to better apprehend it, and explain it to muggles. In this column, you will explain the beginnings of the padel, why we play on a field smaller than tennis and with walls.

When we talk about the history of padel, several theories are discussed, all having their share of truth. However, the version that we propose to you is the one that is widely given in the world, and for which the International Padel Federation has declared as the official version.

The beginnings of padel

The International Padel Federation, and the vast majority of padel players consider that the creator of this sport is Enrique Corcuera. He invented the padel, at first a little for practical reasons. Indeed, in his home in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, he could not put a whole tennis court because a wall of 3 meters prevented him (his fence). He decided to create another wall of 3 meters on the other side, and thus bordered his wall court. At first, he was playing tennis with his friends on this smaller court, but his wife seeing that the balls of her husband, and her friends were going way too fast for her, decided to let them go, and wait for the rebound on the wall. Then padel-tennis was born, or playing tennis with walls.

Then came the time to introduce the first rules to this new sport. Enrique Corcuera will establish, in 1962, the bases of all the rules that we know today. But in his day, the grounds and walls were made of concrete, not glass and windows like today. For the little anecdote, it was the wife of Enrique Corcuera, Viviana, who writes the first rules of the padel, and offered them to her husband as a birthday present.

Knowing the padel’s origin is essential for any player who wants to fully experience the sport. And, this knowledge is essential to develop the padel, and to discover muggles who are not familiar with the appearance of this new sport. You must therefore become a prophet of modern times to talk about the padel to your loved ones, and for that it is important to know the origins.

Alexis Dutour

Alexis Dutour est un passionné de padel. Avec sa formation en communication et en marketing, il met ses compétences au service du padel pour nous proposer des articles toujours très intéressants.

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