Padel or padel: is there a difference?
“Padel”, “padel”, “tennis padel” or “tennis padel”: there are so many ways this game is commonly called. But what is the correct term? Let’s get some clarity.
Is it “Padel” or “Padel”? A little history…
Legend has it that the first version of this game was born at the end of the nineteenth century, when members of the English navy crew used their free time exchanging a ball with the help of an oar (“padel” means “padel” in English), exploiting the walls of the hold, aboard the sailing ships that sailed the oceans during the “race to the colonies”.
According to others this game was born, in its primitive form, in 1898 thanks to the New York Reverend Frank Beal with the name of “Padel Tennis”, as a recreational activity reserved initially for children. The name (padel) would derive from the solid plate racket – padel Racquet (‘padel’) in English. In fact, a solid wooden racket was used to play, while the courts was surrounded by metal fences.
In another version about the history of padel, the game instead derives from the Platform Tennis invented around 1920 by Fessenden Blanchard and James Cogswell in New York. The two wanted to play tennis in the garden in the winter. For this reason they decided to install a tennis court of small size (there was no space to have a regular size) that had the floor raised relative to the ground – hence the “platform” of the name – to allow to install, under it, a heating system that avoided the accumulation of snow. To prevent the ball from coming out of the perimeter, a fence was finally added on the edge of the courts.
Always the lack of space also characterizes the latest version on the birth of this sport, the officially recognized one, according to which in 1969 the Mexican patron Enrique Corcuera , wanting to build a court
The story doesn’t end here
Some time later, Corcuera invited the Spanish entrepreneur Alfonso Hohenloe to play at his house, who was so enthusiastic that on his return to Marbella (1974) he had a courts built in his sports club.
Curiously in Marbella (Spain) it was mainly the Argentines who played. Many of them returned home and there they spread the Padel: in a few years, in Argentina, the game spread to the point that millions of people – literally – began to practice this easy and fun sport, thanks to the many public courts built.
In parallel with Argentina, the sport began to spread in Spain, which, unlike its South American cousins, had an audience of famous people and bourgeois classes.
On 25 July 1991, the International Padel Federation was established in Madrid. It was the first big step to organize a first international circuit based on a true regulation of the game.
It says “padel”. So where does the term “padel” come from?
We have seen that the term Padel has been used both by the founder of this sport and still by the international federation that regulates the game – the International Padel Federation.
The term “padel” comes from a misspelling of the original term – which, in fact, has no meaning. This distortion probably occurred because “padel”, in the Anglo-Saxon language has the meaning of “padel”, vaguely reminiscent of the shape of the racket used in this sport (very different from tennis).
The Italian federation that officially deals with padel is the Italian Tennis Federation – FIT , which is the governing body of this sport since 2008. Like other federations around the world, while adopting the original rules related to the game padel, defines it padel and often therefore the two terms end up getting confused.Quindi… Come chiamarlo?
In conclusion: you can call it padel (the official name given by the creator of the game) or padel (the variant spread by English speakers). Either way, you won’t miss.
Rest assured that this sport capable of conquering tens of thousands of people only in Italy in the last year, will excite you thanks to a fun and friendly game, which can be played by people of different ages, sex, technical and physical conditions and, Above all, it requires a minimal expense, so really accessible to anyone.
Why all the interest?
There are 10 thousand Italians who are passionate about this sport and the number is expected to grow.
«In Spain the game is very popular – explains Gianfranco Nirdaci, national coordinator of this sport within the Italian Tennis Federation, in an interview with Sole 24 ore. – but in Europe immediately after there are us and our growth trends are really higher».
A sport that lately is involving athletes of the calibre of Novak Djokovic , winner of thirteen career slams last of which Wimbledon 2018; Roberto Mancini, current Technical Commissioner of the Italian National, who at Guerin Sportivo declares that today he could not help but play it, Francesco Totti who is so passionate to get a courts built in his home garden and many others…
It is a sport that unlike tennis is much easier to learn and has faster and more fun playing times.
It is an advantageous discipline for all athletes: it can be a valid motor activity without aggressive movements, suitable for keeping fit and at the same time can be simply an opportunity to meet and “meet”. As for the courtss instead, they are both outdoor and indoors, therefore practicable all year round.
Italian Padel: Professionals at your service.
At Italian Padel we are the largest Italian company specialized in the production of structures for padel courts. We deal with the design, construction and installation of turnkey padel courtss certified, designed and manufactured entirely in Italy.
Among our most important works there are the international tennis courts of Tennis Padel 2016 in the Foro Italico in Rome for Officine del Padel.
We have built more than 100 courts in Italy alone and among our customers we include both private and sports centers.
If you want, you can take a look at our portfolio Our courtss and, if you like, contact us by mail (info@italianpadel.it) or phone (+39 0309686073).
