Padel Department
Padel is typically played in doubles on an enclosed court about half the size of a tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis and the balls used are similar but with a little less pressure, the main differences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, stringless rackets are used. The height of the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.
The sport was invented in Acapulco, Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera in 1969. It is currently most popular in Hispanic American countries such as Argentina and Mexico as well as in Spain, although it is now beginning to spread rapidly across Europe and other continents.
Padel Pro Tour (PPT) is the professional Padel Circuit which was created in 2005 as a result of the agreement between a group of organizers of matches of Padel and Association of Professional Players of Pádel (AJPP) and the Spanish Feminine Association of Pádel (AFEP). The sport's popularity along the Costa del Sol in southern Spain has exposed it to a large number of British visitors, leading to an increased popularity of the sport in the UK and a launch of the UK Padel Federation in 2011. The US Paddle Association was founded in Chattanooga, TN 1993 and opened two courts in the Chattanooga area. The American Paddle Association was formed in 1995 and built its first courts at a private club in Houston, TX for exhibition games. The first public courts opened in Miami, FL in 2009, and several clubs have opened nearby, as well as in Los Angeles, since then.