A welcome introduction: Get to know padel, a fast-growing racquet sport
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- A group of padel players pose for a photo at Padel Den in Orem.
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- An outside view of Padel Den, a new facility in Orem that hosts padel competition and matches.
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- Players compete in the sport of padel at Padel Den in Orem.
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- Players compete in the sport of padel at Padel Den in Orem.
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- A display of padel racquets on a wall at Padel Den in Orem.
Kyle and Parker Quinlan went on vacation to Puerto Rico a few years ago, taking in the local flavor and looking for fun activities.
They found the sport of padel.
“We saw the courts with the glass walls and I was like, ‘What’s that?'” Kyle Quinlan said. “They taught us the rules and we fell in love with it. We were hooked immediately.”
Both were Utah Valley University graduates — Kyle in business management, Parker in information systems — and they’d always dreamed of starting a business together. When they returned to Utah, they discovered there were no padel courts in Utah.
In April, the two brothers opened the first padel facility in Utah County, “Padel Den,” in Orem. It was the second facility to open in the state to support the fastest growing sport in the world.
Padel (it’s usually pronounced “paddle” in the United States but “pah-DEL” in foreign countries) was invented in Mexico in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera when he adapted his backyard space to build a small, walled court. Padel is a racquet sport that is a combination of racquetball, squash, pickleball and tennis. Players are required to serve underhand. The game is scored like tennis and matches are best of three sets. Padel is played as a doubles sport on artificial turf with a court 1/3 the size of a tennis court and boasts 35 million players worldwide.
“We had two or three hundred people attend our grand opening in April,” Kyle Quinlan said. “It’s been awesome. Utah has a very active lifestyle in racquet sport. The sport is growing well here. We were the second club to open and in the past few months four more clubs opened in the state, so it’s growing pretty quickly. We go to lunch with the other club owners to talk about how we can grow the sport and make people more aware of it.”
Kyle Quinlan said Utah went from zero courts to 30 in a relatively short amount of time and there’s a possibility of adding outdoor courts in American Fork.
“Padel just passed pickleball as the fastest growing sport in the United States,” Quinlan said. “Pickleball isn’t growing as much because it’s more established but what pickleball is in the US, padel is everywhere else. My dad lives in Ireland and he said there is a two-week wait list for court times. There are about 1,000 courts in the US and in Spain alone there are 17,000. Right now we’re in the awareness phase, just trying to get people to try it.”
Quinlan said padel appeals to all age groups — “My father plays, he’s 71 and he still beats me to this day,” he added — and there’s a social aspect to a sport mainly played with doubles.
“In padel, even if the ball goes past you, the point is not over because you can play it off the wall,” he said. “It’s played on turf so it’s easier on your knees and joints. I think it combines all the best aspects of racquet sports into one. It’s more about control than power. It’s a fun mind game and a good athletic activity.”
There is professional padel in the United States (the Pro Padel League) but it’s made up mostly of players from Spain and Portugal. There is a world championship of padel held every two years in Argentina.
With its popularity and rapid growth, it’s likely that facilities will soon be coming to northern Utah — perhaps ones like the one that opened in Orem.
Padel Den is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and is busiest from about 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., according to Quinlan. The facility offers a free lesson with classes at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. Players are shown the basic rules of the sport and there are coach’s clinics for beginner, intermediate and advanced players. Once a player comes to play they meet others interested in the sport and often exchange phone numbers to form groups.
“We have Open Play so players can meet others that want play,” Quinlan said. “We do social events as well We have ‘Pizza and Padel’ and even money ball tournaments.”
It’s $60 to rent a court, which can be split between the four players. If you rent a racquet for $5, it works out to about $20 a person. There is also the option of a trial membership, which is $29 for 15 days of unlimited access.
The facility includes a ping pong table, a warm-up gym and televisions to create a social hang-out area, along with a 24-hour golf simulator.
“With the trial membership, players can try out the perks of full membership,” Quinlan said. “Our goal right now is to introduce as many people as we can to the sport. It usually takes two or three times playing to really fall in love with padel. The first time you’re just learning the rules. The second time you’re learning to play the ball off the glass. The third time you’re used to that and the rallies are longer, so it’s super fun.”
