As we have already seen in the past, the numbers are clear: padel’s success is growing exponentially. And, despite the pandemic, this Spring and Summer 2022 will surely confirm this trend.
If you are one of the millions of people that have recently fallen in love with padel, hereby you will find some interesting facts about this sport that you could easily use to amuse your friends… maybe while you are resting at our lounge area after a fierce match played on one of Sporting Versilia’s four padel courts near Forte dei Marmi.
Padel Facts
- Despite its success being mostly recent, padel has a long history: it was invented in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera.
- Corcuera wasn’t initially intentioned in inventing a new sport. He just wanted to build a paddle tennis (a different sport from padel, as you surely know) court inside his property. Because of the walls surrounding the space available for the court, he decided to include them in the game. From here, he developed the current padel rules.
- The first Italian padel court was created in 1991 in the province of Vicenza. Now courts are available all over the country, but not all can provide you with the same quality. For its high-quality padel courts, Sporting Versilia relies on Italian Padel.
- Padel is becoming worldwide popular, but it is indeed mostly practiced in Latin America, especially Argentina. Spain as well is a big player, and Italy is quickly bridging the gap!
- Single padel games aren’t contemplated: this sport is only practiced in doubles. Maybe this “social nature” is one of the reasons for its success.
- Pro padel tournaments feature glass walls to let the audience easily see what’s happening inside the court.
- Maybe we will be watching padel matches at the Olympics soon: FIP recently announced that padel will be featured at the 2023 Krakow European Games!
- According to official rules, padel balls must only be white or yellow to guarantee a proper contrast with the blue court.
