Padel vs Pickleball: Key Differences Explained

Padel and pickleball have a lot in common on paper. Both started in the 1960s, both use an underarm serve, and both have grown fast in recent years. The names are also easy to confuse. On court, though, they are very different games. Padel is played inside glass walls that are part of the rally. Pickleball is played on an open court, with a no-volley zone at the net.

This comparison uses the official rules of each sport: the International Padel Federation's Rules of Padel (in force from 1 January 2026) and the 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook.

Padel and pickleball at a glance

The court: walls versus an open court

The biggest difference is the court. A padel court is a 20 by 10 metre rectangle and must be completely enclosed. The back walls are 3 metres of glass or another solid material with a metre of metal mesh on top. The sides combine wall panels and mesh. The walls are part of the game, so the court's shape decides how points are played.

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, the same size for singles and doubles. That is roughly the size of a badminton court. Around it, USA Pickleball asks for a playing surface of at least 30 by 60 feet, but nothing around the court is in play. If the ball goes past you, the point is over.

In practice, a padel court needs a purpose-built enclosure, while a pickleball court needs only a flat surface, lines and a net.

The walls change the game

In padel, once a ball has bounced on your side it stays in play if it hits your glass or fence. You can wait for it to come off the back wall and then hit it. You can even play it into your own wall so that it carries over the net. Shots that would be clean winners elsewhere can be returned, so rallies tend to be long and defending well matters as much as attacking.

Pickleball has nothing like this. Instead, its defining feature is the non-volley zone, often called "the kitchen". This is a 7-foot strip on each side of the net where you cannot volley. Every volley must be hit from outside it, and you commit a fault if you touch the zone while volleying or if your momentum carries you into it afterwards. The result is a game of soft "dinks" into the kitchen and quick exchanges at the net.

Serving

Both sports serve underarm and diagonally, but the details differ:

• Padel. The server bounces the ball behind the service line and hits it at or below waist height, with at least one foot on the ground. The serve must bounce in the opponent's service box. If it then hits the metal fence before bouncing again, it is a fault. If it hits the glass, it is good. Our padel rules guide covers every serving rule.
• Pickleball. There are two legal serves. The volley serve is hit out of the air, below the waist, with an upward arc and the paddle head below the wrist. The drop serve lets the ball bounce first. Either way, the ball must clear the non-volley zone and land in the diagonal service court.

Pickleball also has a two-bounce rule: the serve and the return must each bounce before being hit. In padel the receiver must also let the serve bounce, but after the return the ball can be volleyed straight away.

Scoring

Padel uses tennis scoring. Points go 15, 30, 40 and game, sets are played to six games with a tie-break at 6-6, and matches are the best of three sets. At 40-40, organisers choose between traditional advantage, a single "golden point", or the "Star Point" format used on the professional tours.

Pickleball games are usually played to 11 points and must be won by two. In standard side-out scoring, only the serving side can win a point. If the receiving side wins the rally, they win the serve instead. In doubles, both partners serve before the serve passes to the other side, except at the start of a game. Rally scoring, where every rally wins a point, is allowed in the 2026 rulebook only as a provisional option.

Rackets and balls

A padel racket has no strings. It is a solid, perforated paddle up to 45.5 cm long and 26 cm wide, with a head no thicker than 38 mm, and it must be worn with a wrist cord. The ball is a pressurised rubber ball that looks like a tennis ball. A new one dropped from 2.54 m must bounce 135 to 145 cm.

A pickleball paddle has a solid face with no holes through it, made of rigid, non-compressible material. Its length plus width cannot exceed 24 inches, and its length alone cannot exceed 17 inches. The rules set no limit on thickness or weight. The ball is a light, perforated ball with 26 to 40 round holes and a diameter of 7.29 to 7.54 cm. USA Pickleball says balls with larger holes are customary indoors and smaller holes outdoors.

Where each sport is played

Padel is strongest in Europe and South America. The International Padel Federation's World Padel Report 2025 counts more than 35 million amateur players worldwide, with more than 61% of them in Europe. Spain, Italy and Sweden have the most courts in Europe. You can find clubs in our directory of padel courts by country.

Pickleball is strongest in the United States. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association reports that 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020.

Which should you play?

You do not have to choose. The two sports reward different things:

• Choose padel if you like long rallies, want to use the walls, or come from tennis or squash. The strokes, scoring and doubles tactics will feel familiar, and the glass adds a new layer.
• Choose pickleball if you like fast exchanges at the net and touch shots, or want a game that needs only lines and a net rather than a walled court.

The main practical question is what is near you. New to padel? Start with our guide to what padel is.