Padel vs Pickleball: Differences in Court, Rules and Equipment
Contents
Padel and pickleball are both fast-growing racket sports with underarm serves, but they share very little equipment or tactics. Figures below come from the FIP Rules of Padel, the USA Pickleball Official Rulebook and its Equipment Standards Manual.
Side-by-side
| Padel (FIP) | Pickleball (USA Pickleball) | |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 10 × 20 m, enclosed | 20 × 44 ft (6.10 × 13.41 m), open |
| Walls | In play | None |
| Net height | 0.88 m centre / 0.92 m ends | 34 in (86.4 cm) centre / 36 in (91.4 cm) sidelines |
| Special zone | Service boxes (lines 6.95 m from net) | Non-volley zone (“kitchen”), 7 ft deep |
| Serve | Bounced, struck at or below waist height | Volley serve (upward arc) or drop serve |
| Bounce rule | — | Serve and return must both bounce |
| Scoring | Tennis scoring; golden or star point options | Traditional: serving side scores, to 11, win by 2. Rally scoring provisional |
| Format | Doubles | Singles or doubles |
| Racket / paddle | Max 45.5 × 26 cm, 38 mm thick, holes, strap | Max 17 in long; length + width ≤ 24 in. No thickness or weight limit |
| Ball | Felt, 6.35–6.77 cm, 56.0–59.4 g | Plastic, 26–40 holes, 7.29–7.54 cm, 22.1–26.5 g |
What carries over
- Soft hands at the net: pickleball’s dink game and padel volleys both reward control over power.
- Underarm serve: neither sport lets you win points with a big serve.
- Doubles teamwork: moving as a pair matters in both.
What doesn’t
- Walls: padel’s back-glass and side-wall play has no pickleball equivalent.
- Ball weight and bounce: a padel ball weighs more than twice as much as a pickleball ball, so timing and swing length differ.
- Kitchen rule: pickleball bans volleying inside the 7 ft zone, while padel players volley right up at the net.
For coaches running both sports: pickleball players converting to padel usually volley well but need wall training, while padel players converting to pickleball need to unlearn volleying from inside the kitchen.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between padel and pickleball?
Padel is played on an enclosed 10 × 20 m court with walls in play, a pressurised felt ball and a perforated foam-core racket. Pickleball is played on an open 20 × 44 ft court with a plastic holed ball, a solid paddle and a 7 ft non-volley zone.
Is pickleball scored like padel?
No. Padel uses tennis scoring. In traditional pickleball scoring only the serving side scores, and games go to 11, won by 2. Rally scoring is a provisional option.
Are padel and pickleball paddles the same?
No. A padel racket can be up to 45.5 cm long with holes and a wrist strap. A pickleball paddle is at most 17 in long, with length plus width no more than 24 in.