Journal

Padel in Marbella: Spain's First Court, and Where to Play Now
Spain's padel story starts in one hotel garden in Marbella. The court itself is gone. A rock with a bronze plaque marks where it stood. This page covers both halves. First the story of how padel reached Spain through Marbella, with a source for each part. Then the clubs on that stretch of coast where a visitor can actually get a game. 1974: a tennis court with chicken wire Padel began in Mexico. The FIP and the LTA both credit Enrique Corcuera, who built the first recognised court at his... Read more...
Flying With a Padel Racket: Hand Luggage Rules for 5 UK Airlines
Yes, a padel racket can usually go in your hand luggage. The catch is that it has to fit inside a bag your ticket actually allows. And on the cheapest fares, it often doesn't. UK airport security is the easy part. The gov.uk hand luggage list allows tennis racquets in both hand and hold luggage. Padel isn't named, but security is rarely where the problem is. The airline's bag sizes are. So here's what five UK airlines say, taken from each airline's own site, all checked on 19 October 2026.... Read more...
London Padel Clubs With a Bar: Where Padel and Pints Share a Building
Some nights the padel is the reason. Some nights it's the excuse. Either way, it's better when the drink is in the same building and you're not walking to a pub in damp kit. This page is only about the social side: which clubs have a proper bar, beer garden, roof terrace or balcony, what they list for food, and how late they say they're open. For courts, booking apps and coaching, our London padel clubs guide covers the lot. Everything below was checked on each club's own site or... Read more...
14 Signs You Are a Padel Addict (and What Your Score Means)
On 15 May 2026 the LTA said 1,000,000 people now play padel in Britain. In 2019, it was 15,000. Plenty of that million play now and then. Some have quietly rebuilt their week around a glass box 10 metres wide and 20 metres long. I started playing about two and a half years ago. Since then I've played at a lot of clubs in London, Essex and Manchester, and padel has given me some of my closest friends. So nobody on this list is being judged. Count how many you... Read more...
Mk1 Hoodie Colours: All Eight Shades, Side by Side
The Mk1 Box Hoodie comes in eight colours. Most are easy to tell apart. Black and Navy Blue can be close, and the three light shades are easy to confuse on a phone. This page puts every shade next to the others, says what each one really looks like, and shows you how to pick between the light ones without guessing. Quick facts first. Every colour is the same hoodie: 350 g/m2, 42% cotton, 53% polyester and 5% other fibres, fleeced inside, oversized and boxy with a drop shoulder. £75,... Read more...
Made to Order Clothing: What Happens Between Your Order and Your Door
Every Padelism piece is made to order. That's why UK delivery takes 7 to 10 working days, not two. Next to the big retailers, that can look slow. So here's what actually happens in those days, what to plan around, and why it's a better way to buy clothes. What made to order means Made to order means your piece is produced after you pay for it. There's no warehouse of finished hoodies in every size and colour waiting on a shelf. The order comes in, then it gets made,... Read more...
Game, Set, Matcha and the Other Women's Designs, Explained
There are four cropped hoodies in our women's range, and each one carries a different design. Game, Set, Matcha. Cute and Competitive. Wellness Club. Sunday Padel Club. Two are jokes, one is a mood and one is a Padelism original since 2025. This page goes through what each graphic actually shows, the wordplay behind the name, where the print sits, and how the product photos style it. All four are £70 and live in the women's collection. The short version: Game, Set, Matcha is a small character print on a... Read more...
Women's Padel Hoodie: Cropped or Unisex?
Cropped or unisex? It looks like a style question. Mostly it's a length question. Our cropped hoodies are 43 to 50 cm long. The unisex Mk1 Box Hoodie is 70 to 78 cm. That gap decides what you wear underneath, and what trousers you pair it with. Below are the real chart numbers for both, plus how to read a unisex size chart when you usually shop women's. The short answer: pick a cropped hoodie (£70) if you want a short, shaped top that shows your waistband and works with... Read more...
How to Stop a Hoodie Pilling (and Fix It When It Does)
Pilling is the little bobbles that turn up on a hoodie after a few months. Under the arms, down the sides, round the neck. You can't stop it completely on a cotton and polyester blend. You can slow it down, and you can get rid of the bobbles safely when they show up. Our unisex hoodies and sweatshirts are a 350 g/m2 blend of 42% cotton, 53% polyester and 5% other fibres. That's exactly the kind of fabric this guide is about, so here's the honest version. Why a blend... Read more...
Cotton vs Polyester Blend Hoodie: What Our Two Labels Tell You
Look at the labels on our clothes and you'll spot a split. The heavyweight tees say 100% cotton. The hoodies, sweatshirts and joggers say 42% cotton, 53% polyester and 5% other fibres. Seeing "polyester" on a £75 hoodie can look like a corner being cut. Fair question. So here's what each fibre actually does, with sources, including the parts that don't flatter the blend. The two labels, side by side All of these figures come from our own product pages. Heavyweight tees Hoodies, sweatshirts, joggers Fibre 100% cotton 42% cotton,... Read more...
Padel Stag Do or Hen Do: A Planner for Groups of 8 to 16
Padel works brilliantly for a stag or hen do. It's doubles, so everyone is involved, and people who have never played can win points in their first hour. The catch is the planning. Eight to sixteen people means several courts at once, a mix of keen players and total beginners, and a bar to get to afterwards. This page covers the lot: courts and hours, formats non-players enjoy, UK clubs with a bar, the hand-off into the evening, and what matching tees cost. Courts and hours: the booking sheet A... Read more...
Indoor vs Outdoor Padel: Which Court Should You Book This Winter?
UK padel courts come in three types. Indoor, inside a building. Covered, with a roof or canopy over an otherwise outdoor court. And outdoor, open to everything. In summer the choice barely matters. In winter it decides your evening. And winter is when UK search interest in padel peaks, according to The Padel Paper's 2026 search report. So the court type matters most in the very months people are looking hardest. Here's how the three compare on light, wind, glass, bounce and roof height, and which one to book. The... Read more...
Padel Shoes vs Tennis Shoes: Match the Sole to the Court
The difference that matters is underneath. Turn the shoe over, look at the sole, then think about the court you play on most. A UK padel court is sand-dressed artificial turf. A tennis court might be hard, artificial clay or grass. Each one suits a different tread. Get the match right and you move better. Get it wrong and you can end up slipping, or sticking. We make clothes, not shoes, so everything below comes from the LTA, the FIP rules and two padel retailers' sole guides. Sources are listed... Read more...
Padel league night: what to wear as a team of four
A league match is the one time your padel group plays as a team. Four of you, two pairs, one club name on the fixture list. It's easy to turn up in whatever was clean. If you're new to the format, start with how padel leagues work in the UK. You don't need a kit to play. But if you want to look like a side, it's cheap to sort and easy to get right. This guide covers what to wear on the night, four ways to plan team colours,... Read more...
Padel leagues in the UK, explained: which format fits you
Social games are great until every Thursday feels the same. A league gives your padel a point. You get a fixture, a table and a reason to turn up when it's cold and dark. The trouble is that "padel league" means five different things in the UK. Each costs a different amount, asks for a different amount of your time, and suits a different level. Here's how they compare. Every detail comes from published league rules and reports, checked in October 2026. The comparison table Format Typical cost to you... Read more...
How to Choose a Padel Racket: Six Questions, One Spec
This guide doesn't end with a list of rackets to buy. It ends with a spec. Six questions, answered in order, and you walk into any shop knowing what to ask for: weight, balance, core, face, shape and budget. Padelism makes clothes, not rackets, so there's nothing to sell you here except a pack of overgrips at the end. I've played padel in the Algarve, Malaga and Madrid, and at a lot of clubs in London, Essex and Manchester. Here's the straight version, built from the LTA's racket guide and... Read more...
Padel kit budget: what to spend on shoes, racket and the rest
You've played a few times on hire rackets and borrowed balls. Now you want your own kit. How much should it cost, and where should the money go? A sensible first kit costs about £90 to £125. Split it roughly evenly between shoes and a racket, and buy the shoes first. The rest of this page shows the working, with real UK prices read on 19 October 2026. The budget table Three spend levels. Same five things in each. Starter Mid Top Shoes £35 to £48 £61 to £73 £110... Read more...
Why Is Padel So Popular? Six Reasons and the Evidence Behind Each
In 2019 the LTA counted 15,000 padel players in Britain. By May 2026 it put the number at one million. That's not a slow build. So what's driving it? This page answers the why. Each reason below comes with one fact you can check, and a link to where it came from. If you just want the numbers laid out year by year, the UK padel statistics page has them all. The short answer Reason The fact behind it Source It's built for four people The rules place one pair... Read more...
Your first padel lesson: what happens, minute by minute
Booked a beginner padel lesson and not sure what you've signed up for? Below is a sample hour, block by block, built from what real UK beginner classes say they cover. Then five questions worth asking the coach before you pay. In one hour you'll learn how to hold the racket, hit the basic shots, meet the glass, try the serve and finish with some points. Nobody expects you to be any good. What a beginner group lesson usually looks like Lots of UK intro classes run for one hour... Read more...
Padel for beginners near me: intro sessions across the UK
You've decided to try padel. Good. Now you need somewhere that will teach you, near home, without paying for a full court and four rackets first. Many UK clubs run an intro session for exactly this. You turn up on your own, a coach shows you the basics, and rackets are usually provided or for hire. Below is a region-by-region list of real intro sessions, what the first one costs and where you book it. Every price was read from the club's own listing on 19 October 2026. Prices and... Read more...
Padel Ball vs Tennis Ball: The Specs Side by Side
Put a padel ball next to a tennis ball and most people can't tell them apart. Yellow, fuzzy, near enough the same size. The LTA says they're made from a similar rubber compound and covered in the same material, which is exactly why they get mixed up. They're still different balls. And the difference comes down to two things: size and pressure. The short answer: a padel ball is slightly smaller and less pressurised than a tennis ball. The weight range is identical. The LTA says the lower pressure makes... Read more...
Padel Warm-Up Routine: A Courtside Card for Your Next Booking
If your court is booked in a fixed slot, the clock starts when the slot starts, not when your legs are ready. And until it does, the group before you may still be on court, finishing a point that won't end. So split the warm-up in two. Do the body part courtside while you wait. Do the ball part in the first eight minutes on court. Then, when the hour is up, take five minutes to cool down and layer up before you head for a drink. The exercises below... Read more...
Can You Play Padel Singles? Court Size, Plus Games for Two or Three
Yes, you can play padel singles. It just isn't in the rulebook. The International Padel Federation (FIP) rules are written for pairs, and there's no singles court or singles format anywhere in them. Some clubs have built narrower singles courts, and on a normal court you can still have a proper game with two or three of you. So if your fourth drops out an hour before you're due on court, don't cancel. Here's the singles court size, then six games for two or three players, each with a way... Read more...
Padel Ball Rules: 13 Edge Cases, Ruled One by One
Most padel rules settle themselves. One bounce, then the walls, then hit it back. The arguments start with the odd ones. The ball clips your partner. Your racket brushes the net after a winner. The ball seems to hit the strings twice. Someone volleys a serve that was flying long. The rulebook answers all of them, but never side by side. The 2017 edition, still the one hosted on the LTA's website, had worked "Case" examples after many of its rules. The FIP edition in force since 1 January 2026... Read more...
Padel back wall defence: let it pass, read the corner, stand in the right place
The back wall is what keeps so many padel rallies going. A ball that would beat you in tennis bounces, hits the glass and comes back to you. Under the FIP rules it stays live until it bounces a second time (Rule 12.3). The hard part is knowing which balls to let go, and where to be when they come back out. Below: a let-it-pass rule by ball speed and height, two diagrams for corner balls, and a four-week drill block. Padelism makes clothes, not coaching plans, so every technique... Read more...
Padel Volley Technique: The Racket-Face Chart for Block, Punch, Low and Drop Volleys
A volley is any shot you hit before the ball bounces. The LTA describes being up at the net as the more attacking position, where volleys and smashes put the other pair under pressure, and says most points are won there. So once you can get forward, your volleys decide a lot of points. Most volley tips are about the swing. This one is about the racket face, because the angle of the strings at contact decides where the ball goes. The Padel School sums it up in one line:... Read more...
How to Serve in Padel: Pick a Target, Then Take the Net
The serve is the one shot in padel nobody can hurry. You choose the moment, the spot and the pace. Get it right and the point starts with you walking forward and your partner already at the net. The LTA's serving tips boil it down to placement over power. Aces are rare. A deep serve in the right place, one you can follow in, does more work than one hit flat out. This page is technique only: the motion, a target map, the first steps after the serve and a... Read more...
Padel Positioning: Six Diagrams and the One Cue to Move
Padel is played two against two, so where you stand always depends on where your partner is. British No.1 Christian Medina Murphy told the LTA that players should learn positioning "at the net, in defence and on the transitions". Below are the six positions you'll find yourself in, drawn from above. Each one comes with a single cue: the thing to watch for that tells you where to go next. The positions come from the LTA, the FIP rules and two coaching sites. The cue lines are shorthand written for... Read more...
How to Lob in Padel: Height, Depth and When Not To
Stuck at the back with two players camped at the net? There's a calmer option than hitting harder. Lob it. More lobs, less drama. You stop trying to blast through two people, and you send the ball over them instead. I make clothes, but I play too, in London, Essex and Manchester, and in the Algarve, Malaga and Madrid. The advice below comes from the LTA, the FIP rulebook and coaching sources, all listed at the end. What the lob is for A high percentage of padel points are won... Read more...
Padel Net Position: Three Routes Forward and How to Cross No Man's Land
A lot of padel comes down to one question. Who owns the net? The LTA puts it plainly on its serving page: the odds of winning the point if you're at the net are significantly higher in padel. Its tactics page compares the net player to a goalkeeper coming off his line. You look bigger, you see the whole court, and you have more shots to choose from. The back of the court is where you defend. So you want to be at the net. The hard part is getting... Read more...
Padel Tournament Day: What to Bring for a Day of Matches
A normal booking is an hour. A tournament day is different. You might play three or four short matches spread across a whole day, and spend more time sitting by the court than standing on it. That changes what goes in the bag. This list is built around the gaps: what to change between rounds, what to keep warm, and what has to be within reach because you can't pop back to the car. Last checked: 19 October 2026, against the LTA's 2026 padel organiser guide, the LTA Competition Regulations... Read more...
The British Padel Tour Explained: From Your First Grade 5 to Grade 1
"British Padel Tour" can sound like it's only for the top pairs at a big London venue. They are the top rung. But it sits on a five-step ladder that anyone with a free LTA Advantage membership can climb, starting at a local venue. Here's each grade, the real ranking points, the shape of the season and the path from entry form to your first ranking. Last checked: 19 October 2026, against the LTA's padel competition pages and its 2026 Referee and Organiser Guide. The ladder, Grade 5 up to... Read more...
What Do Pro Padel Players Wear? Their Sponsors and the Rulebook
Pro padel players wear light technical shirts, shorts and skirts made by a clothing sponsor. On the tour, a rulebook decides how many sponsor logos they can carry, which brands can't sponsor them at all, and when they're allowed to change. At your club, you wear whatever sports kit you like. And once you leave the court, nobody is counting logos. Here's who dresses five of the best known players, what the Premier Padel rulebook actually says, and the gap it leaves. Who dresses the top players Sponsor deals move... Read more...
What Happened to World Padel Tour?
World Padel Tour doesn't exist any more. In August 2023, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) agreed to buy it from Damm, whose events company ran it. WPT finished its 2023 season, played its last event in Barcelona that December, and from 2024 the pros have played on one tour: Premier Padel, governed by the International Padel Federation (FIP). That's the short answer. If you drifted away from the pro game around then, or you're newer to padel and keep seeing "WPT" in older match videos, here's how it happened, in order,... Read more...
Is Padel an Olympic Sport? Where It Stands in October 2026
Last checked: 19 October 2026. Padelism is not affiliated with Premier Padel or the FIP. No. Padel is not an Olympic sport. It isn't on the programme for Los Angeles 2028, and the sports for Brisbane 2032 haven't been picked yet. But "no" hides a lot. Padel has started handing out medals at big multi-sport Games run by Olympic bodies, in Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean. Its world federation, the FIP, says openly that the Olympics are the goal. I'm a padel player who makes clothes, not an official. So... Read more...
Premier Padel P1 vs P2: How the Tiers Actually Work
You see "P1" on one poster and "P2" on another and assume it's a branding thing. It isn't. The tier decides how many pairs get in, how much prize money is on offer and how many ranking points the winners walk away with. This guide lays out the 2026 structure in plain English. The numbers come from the FIP, padel's world governing body, unless another source is named next to them. The 2026 season at a glance The 2026 calendar was announced in December 2025 with 26 tournaments in 18... Read more...
Padel in the Netherlands: The Numbers, the Winter Season and Getting Kit Delivered
The Netherlands has about as many padel players as Britain. It has nearly twice as many courts. In 2025, 876,000 people in the Netherlands played padel at least once. The LTA's figure for Britain at the end of 2025 was 860,000. But by the end of the year the Dutch had 3,523 courts. Britain had 1,825 in May 2026. Here's what's behind those numbers, how the Dutch keep playing when the weather turns, and how to get Padelism clothing delivered to a Dutch address. Padel in the Netherlands in numbers... Read more...
Winter Sun Padel Holidays: Where to Play, November to March
On 15 December, the sun sets in London at 15:54. You get just under eight hours of daylight, and most of it happens while you're at work. That's the real reason people book a winter padel trip. It isn't only the warmth. It's playing outdoors at 5pm without floodlights, then sitting outside afterwards. This guide compares four popular winter sun spots across the five darkest months: the Canaries, the Algarve, the Costa del Sol and Dubai. Two numbers matter for padel: how warm it is during the day, and when... Read more...
Padel in Portugal: How Big It Is, and Lisbon vs Porto
Portugal had about 1,560 padel courts and half a million players in mid-2025, according to the FIP. For a small country, that's a lot of padel. It has far fewer courts than Spain. But here's the interesting bit: the courts it has are no busier. This page covers the numbers, how they compare with Spain, and how Lisbon and Porto stack up. Portugal in numbers The FIP's World Padel Report 2025 gives these figures for Portugal, estimated in June 2025: 1,560 courts 456 clubs, an average of 3.4 courts each... Read more...
Padel in Dubai and the UAE: Courts, Heat and When to Play
The UAE has passed 800 padel courts. That's the figure in the 2026 Global Padel Report from Playtomic and Strategy&, PwC's strategy arm, as reported by Padel Addict in May 2026. So finding a court in Dubai is not the hard part. Finding one at a temperature you can play in is. This guide covers how big the scene is, how the heat shapes when people play, where the indoor and rooftop courts are, and what changes when the pro tour comes to town. A quick note on where this... Read more...
Premier Padel Calendar 2027: What's Confirmed and What's Expected
There is no Premier Padel 2027 calendar yet. Not on the FIP's calendar page, not on Premier Padel's site. If you have seen a full list of 2027 dates somewhere, it didn't come from either of them. What does exist is a handful of real clues. A host city with dates up. Venue deals that run for years. A rulebook for 2027 that has already been published. This page pulls those together, keeps the confirmed separate from the expected, and links every entry to where it was said and when.... Read more...
Hexagon Cup Padel 2027: Teams, Format and a UK Fan's Guide to Madrid
The Hexagon Cup is padel with team colours. Eight teams, famous owners watching from the bench, and men and women playing for the same side. The next one is at the Caja Mágica in Madrid from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 January 2027. Here's what's confirmed, what isn't yet, and how to get there from the UK. I've played padel in Madrid. A January weekend there with top-level padel on is an easy sell. Padelism is not affiliated with Premier Padel, the FIP or the Hexagon Cup. What's confirmed for... Read more...
Padel Gifts for Beginners: Give the Kit, Leave the Racket
Someone you know has just caught padel. They've played a handful of times. They talk about the glass far too much. And they still turn up with a hire racket and whatever trainers were by the door. That makes them easy to buy for, once you know where the gaps are. It also makes one present a trap. I started playing about two and a half years ago, and I make clothes for the hours around the game. So this guide does one job. It splits what a new player... Read more...
Padel in Birmingham: Four Clubs, Checked One by One
Birmingham has a club open until 2am, a canopied set of courts at a rugby club, a Powerleague with a show court and a David Lloyd for members. This guide looks at four venues properly: Connect Padel in Moseley, Core Padel in Tyseley, Powerleague Birmingham and David Lloyd Birmingham. Every detail comes from the club's booking page, its website or a named listing, as they stood in October 2026. Courts, roof, hours, booking, facilities. Where two sources disagree, the page says so rather than picking one. The four at a... Read more...
Padel in Leeds and Sheffield: Four Indoor Clubs Compared
This guide compares four indoor clubs in Yorkshire's two biggest cities. The two big Leeds clubs have 20 indoor courts between them. The two Sheffield clubs here have nine. Side by side, it's easy to see which booking window, membership and weekly session suits you. I've played a lot of padel across the Pennines in Manchester. This guide sticks to what the Yorkshire clubs publish, taken from their four Playtomic listings on 19 October 2026. Classes and memberships change, so check the app before you book. The four at a... Read more...
Padel in Edinburgh: Where to Play and What to Expect
Edinburgh padel is small, and that's useful to know before you start searching. The LTA's Edinburgh page lists four venues and ten courts between them. Add Game4Padel Thistle, which books on MATCHi, and you have five places to play, plus a David Lloyd club at Shawfair. Here's the other thing. No Edinburgh venue in this guide has a fully indoor padel court. Most courts are covered: there's a roof over your head, but you're still outside. The LTA describes each of its Edinburgh venues as having "outdoor covered" courts, and... Read more...
Padel in Bristol: Four Clubs, Side by Side
The LTA calls Bristol "one of the UK's hotbeds for padel". Its Bristol page lists five venues. Add up their courts and you get 35. Four of those venues hold 33 of the 35 courts: Rocket Padel in St Annes, Surge Padel in Fishponds, The Padel Team in Easton and Padel4all in Lockleaze. They're quite different once you look at what's around the court: the shop, the bar, the hours and which app you need on your phone. So that's how this guide compares them. Everything below comes from each... Read more...
How Much Does Padel Cost in the UK? Real Club Prices, October 2026
Short answer: at the clubs below, an hour of padel costs between £3.75 and £14.67 per player. A whole court costs £15 to £58.68 an hour. The cheapest slots are weekday mornings outside London. The dearest are peak slots in London. I've played in London, Essex and Manchester, and prices move a lot from club to club. So below is what a non-member pays at eight clubs, nearly all of it from the clubs' own price and booking pages. At one of them, the same hour costs two and a... Read more...
How long does it take to get good at padel?
This question usually turns up a few games in. You've had a laugh, you've hit a few good ones, and you've also spent half the hour picking balls out of the back corner. So how long until you're actually decent? Honest answer: nobody has measured it, and any page that gives you a precise number is guessing. What I can give you is a set of milestones you can tick off, and a rough idea of how long each one takes depending on how often you play. I've been playing... Read more...
Padel vs Squash: Same Walls, Opposite Jobs
Padel and squash both put you inside a box of walls. But the walls do opposite jobs. In squash, a wall is the target. In padel, the target is the floor on the other side of the net, and the walls are your second chance once the ball has bounced. If you play squash and you're about to try padel, that one difference explains most of what will feel odd. Here's how each game works, then a transfer guide: what your squash game gives you, and what you'll need to... Read more...