One of the fastest-growing sports in Britain could be making its way to Peterborough
There's been a growing demand for padel courts in the city
Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in Great Britain according to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and it may soon make its way to Peterborough.
More than 400,000 adults and juniors in Great Britain played padel at least once in 2024, up from 15,000 in 2019, 89,000 in 2021, and 129,000 at the end of 2023.
More people can learn about the game in a shorter period of time
It combines elements of tennis and squash, and is typically played in doubles on an enclosed court around 25 per cent smaller than a tennis court.
Padel has the same scoring system as tennis, but the courts have walls, so shots can be played off them.
There are currently three active planning applications for padel courts in and around Peterborough which, if approved, would be the first of their kind in the city.
These include proposals for five padel and three pickleball courts at Powerleague next to Stanground Academy, two padel courts at Burghley Park Golf Club, and four padel courts at Peterborough One Retail Park, all submitted by different applicants.
Peterborough City Council planners have not yet made decisions on the applications.
Why is padel so popular?
There are 893 padel courts now available across 300 venues in Britain.
Alan Jordan, who runs Padel Peterborough and submitted the plans for courts at Stanground, believes the social side to padel is what makes it so popular.
He said: “Many more people can learn about the game in a shorter period of time. The laborious thing of picking up a tennis ball is a lot more challenging than that of padel.
“It is a skilled game, as any racket sport, but more people are willing to participate because they don’t have to spend as much time trying to perfect the game in order to play at a competitive level.
“People don’t have to spend hours and hours having private tennis lessons in order to become a better player.”
There are far more padel courts in Spain (over 16,000) than there are tennis courts, which Mr Jordan believes will eventually be the case in the UK.
He said he could see Peterborough alone having up to 20 padel courts.
“If you follow the theory around the fact that more people can play it and people want to have some fun, within that smaller space, it is a lot more enjoyable than tennis because you don’t have to run around picking up the ball,” he said.