The three get lumped together because they all involve a net and a bat of some kind. They play very differently, and the differences decide which one you will enjoy.
The court
- Padel: 20m × 10m, fully enclosed by glass and mesh. The walls are in play.
- Tennis: 23.77m × 10.97m for doubles, open. Anything past the baseline is gone.
- Pickleball: 13.4m × 6.1m, open, with a seven-foot non-volley zone either side of the net.
Padel sits between the other two in size but plays smaller still, because the enclosure keeps the ball alive. You cover less ground than in tennis and you have far more time than the dimensions suggest.
What you hit with
Padel uses a solid perforated racquet with no strings, roughly 45cm long. Tennis uses a strung racquet with a long handle and a much bigger sweet spot for generating pace. Pickleball uses a flat paddle, smaller again, and a hard perforated plastic ball rather than a pressurised one.
Practically: tennis rewards a big swing, padel rewards a short controlled one, and pickleball rewards touch at the net.
The serve
This is the biggest difference for a beginner. Tennis is served overarm, and a bad serve ends the point before it starts. Padel and pickleball are both served underarm, below the waist. Nobody is aced in their first session, so points get played and everybody gets a game.
Scoring
Padel and tennis share the same scoring: 15, 30, 40, game, six games to a set. Pickleball uses rally-free scoring to 11, and only the serving side can score, which takes some getting used to if you have come from tennis.
Which one should you try
- You want the shortest path from never having played to having a real rally: padel.
- You want a social game that is easy on the joints and quick to set up: pickleball.
- You want the deepest technical ceiling and you are prepared to put in the lessons: tennis.
Padel is also the most sociable of the three at a fixed group size. It is always four players, always doubles, and a session is naturally a group activity rather than a one-on-one contest.
Padel 88 is a private indoor court in Prestons, in the Liverpool area of south-west Sydney. Every booking gives your group the whole court to itself, and bookings go through the Playtomic app.