Walk up to a padel court for the first time, and you'll immediately see it’s not quite tennis and not quite squash. It's its own unique beast. The court itself is a 10-meter wide by 20-meter long rectangle, completely enclosed by a mix of glass and mesh walls. This contained design is the secret sauce to what makes the sport so strategic and, frankly, addictive.
Think of the court as more than just a playing surface; it’s an arena. It’s a social hotspot built for doubles, where the walls aren't just boundaries—they're an active part of the game. This clever design is a huge reason for padel's meteoric rise across the globe.
As of , the padel community has exploded to an estimated 30 million players spread across more than 130 countries. To keep up, new courts are popping up everywhere, with the worldwide count now sitting around 63,000. Even in markets like the U.S., where the sport is just taking off, there are already roughly 100,000 players and 454 courts, with many facilities smartly pairing them with pickleball courts.
At its heart, the padel experience is defined by three things: the playing area, the rebound walls, and the net. Each piece is engineered to create the kind of fast, continuous rallies that get you hooked. In tennis, a powerful shot can kill the point. In padel, the walls give you a second chance, turning a sure loser into a potential winner.
A padel court is like a conversation between players, and the walls are the punctuation. They add pauses, emphasis, and unexpected turns, making every rally a unique story.
This setup rewards clever strategy over pure power. You have to learn how to use angles and play the ball off the glass to outsmart your opponents, which naturally leads to longer and more exciting points. If you want to dive deeper into the nitty-gritty, you can check out our guide on what is a padel court.
For anyone new to the game, getting a handle on the court's layout is the first step. The specific mix of glass and mesh isn't random; it's a perfect marriage of gameplay function and spectator-friendly design.
Here’s a quick rundown of the key specs that make up a standard padel court.
Component Specification Detail Overall Dimensions 20m x 10m A compact size that encourages doubles play and fast reflexes. Back Walls 3m High Glass Allows for strategic rebounds and provides excellent spectator viewing. Side Walls Glass & Mesh Panels A combination that contains play while allowing for different rebound effects. Net Height 88cm at Center Lower than a tennis net, facilitating more volleys and smashes.These core features work together to create the dynamic, fast-paced game that millions have come to love.
To really get padel, you first have to understand the battlefield. The easiest way to picture it is to imagine a tennis court that's been shrunk down and dropped inside a big glass box. It's a simple idea, but every single dimension, line, and material is meticulously chosen to create the game's signature mix of speed, strategy, and fun.
The official playing surface of a padel court is a rectangle measuring 20 meters long by 10 meters wide. This compact size, about a third of a tennis court, is no accident. It's built for doubles, pulling all four players closer together for faster reactions, more volleys at the net, and a far more social, interactive game.
But it’s the walls that truly define padel. They aren't just boundaries; they're an active part of every single point, turning what would be a lost shot in tennis into a strategic second chance.
A padel court's walls are a hybrid system, combining tempered glass and metallic mesh, and each surface plays a different role in the rally. The back walls and the first side panels are where the real magic happens.
This combination of glass and mesh creates incredible strategic depth. Players have to instantly read the ball's trajectory off different surfaces, deciding in a split second whether to attack with a volley or play a defensive shot off the glass.
A padel court isn't just a space you play in; it's an instrument you play with. Mastering the angles and rebounds off the walls is like a musician learning the nuances of their instrument—it elevates the game from simple hitting to a strategic art form.
Right in the middle of it all, you'll find the net, dividing the court into two equal halves. A padel net is a bit lower than a tennis net, with a standard height of 88 cm at the center, rising to 92 cm at the posts. This lower height is a direct invitation for aggressive net play and makes smashing a much more accessible weapon for all players.
Just like in tennis, the court has service lines, which are drawn 6.95 meters back from the net. A line running down the middle splits this area into two service boxes, a left and a right. To serve, you must hit the ball underhand so it lands in the diagonally opposite box.
Here’s a key difference from other racquet sports, though: there’s no "no-volley zone" or "kitchen" in padel. This small detail changes everything. It encourages players to rush the net and intercept shots, leading to those intense, rapid-fire exchanges that make the sport so thrilling to watch and play. The whole layout is designed to promote non-stop action.
The surface under your feet on a padel court does way more than just provide a place to run. It's the soul of the game, dictating the bounce of the ball, the speed of play, and even how safely you can pivot and lunge for a shot. Think of it like the difference between running on a hard track versus soft grass—each one completely changes how you move.
When you step onto a modern padel court, you’re almost always playing on artificial turf. But here's the catch: not all turf is created equal. You’ll mainly come across three types: monofilament, fibrillated, and the newer textured monofilament. Each one offers a totally different feel and playing experience.
If you've ever watched a professional tournament, you've likely seen a monofilament court. It's considered the premium standard for competitive play. This turf is made of individual fibers that stand up separately, a lot like blades of natural grass. This design lets the sand infill shift around freely, resulting in a faster, more consistent playing surface.
What does that mean for your game? A higher, quicker ball bounce that rewards an aggressive, fast-paced style. If you love charging the net and ending points with a powerful smash, you'll feel right at home on a monofilament court.
The trade-off for this top-tier performance is a higher upfront cost and a need for diligent maintenance. The sand needs to be brushed and redistributed regularly to keep the court playing fast and to stop it from compacting.
Fibrillated turf is the reliable all-rounder of the padel world, prized for its incredible durability and how well it holds onto its sand. Instead of individual strands, this turf starts as wider yarn that's slit to form a net-like or honeycomb pattern. As you play, these fibers split and fray, which actually helps lock the sand infill in place.
This creates a slightly slower game than you'd find on a monofilament surface. The ball bounce is a bit lower and more predictable, making it a fantastic choice for beginners and intermediate players who are still honing their shots. The extra grip also gives players a great sense of stability when making sharp cuts and sudden stops.
Fibrillated turf is built to last. It prioritizes durability and player stability, making it a go-to for high-traffic clubs and public courts where longevity is just as important as how it plays.
Because it holds sand so effectively, a fibrillated court generally requires less intensive maintenance than a monofilament one, making it a smart, cost-effective option for the long haul.
The latest innovation to hit the market is textured monofilament turf. It's a clever attempt to blend the best qualities of both monofilament and fibrillated surfaces. The fibers are still individual strands, but they're manufactured with a textured or curled shape.
This unique, C-shaped structure helps trap sand much better than standard monofilament, giving you more grip and stability underfoot. At the same time, it keeps the game moving at a faster pace than fibrillated turf. It's the perfect middle ground, offering a balanced feel with good durability and a lively bounce.
To help you visualize the differences, here’s a quick breakdown of how these surfaces stack up against each other.
Ultimately, the best surface depends on the intended use—from a high-performance club aiming for pro-level conditions to a public facility needing a durable, low-upkeep court.
No matter which turf type is chosen, there’s one component that’s absolutely non-negotiable: sand infill. This isn't just a light dusting on top; it's a vital part of the court system. The sand is what gives the turf fibers stability, controls the ball's speed and bounce, and, crucially, allows players to slide into shots safely without getting their shoes caught.
Without the right amount of high-quality, rounded silica sand—usually around 12-15 kg per square meter—the turf would wear out in no time, and the risk of injury would skyrocket. Regular brushing to keep that sand evenly distributed is the single most important maintenance task for any padel court. Get that right, and you'll ensure great performance and a long life for the court.
Building a padel court isn't just a construction job; it's more like assembling a high-performance machine. Every single component, from the foundation buried underground to the very last light bulb, has to be executed with precision. Getting it right ensures the court is safe, lasts for years, and provides that premium playing experience we all love. It's a journey that turns an empty plot of land into a vibrant arena for the sport.
The whole thing follows a logical, ground-up sequence. Before you see any steel frames or glass panels going up, the site itself needs to be perfectly prepared. Honestly, this initial phase is the most important one. The quality of the groundwork determines the lifespan and performance of the entire court. A weak foundation will cause headaches down the road, no matter how great the materials on top are.
This handy infographic breaks down the construction journey into three main stages, from preparing the site to adding the final touches.
As you can see, it's a step-by-step process. You can't build the structure without a solid foundation, and you certainly can't lay the turf until the frame is secure.
The first, and most critical, step is creating a perfectly stable and level base. It all starts with a site survey to check out the terrain and soil. Once that’s done, any grass or debris is cleared, and the ground is excavated to the right depth.
Next up is pouring the foundation, which is almost always a reinforced concrete slab. You can think of this as the court's chassis—it provides the structural backbone for everything else. Getting this part right is absolutely non-negotiable.
A standard spec for the concrete base is a thickness of at least 10-15 cm. This provides the stability needed to hold up the tons of steel and glass in the enclosure, preventing any shifting or cracking over time.
One crucial detail here is that the concrete slab needs a very slight slope, usually between 0.5% and 1%. It’s almost impossible to see, but it’s essential for proper water drainage. This simple feature prevents puddles from forming on the turf and keeps the court playable even after it rains.
Once the concrete has fully cured and set, the skeleton of the padel court starts to rise. This involves putting up the galvanized steel frame that will hold all the glass and mesh panels. The posts are bolted directly into the concrete foundation, creating a rigid and secure perimeter.
With the frame in place, the iconic walls are installed. This is a delicate process that demands incredible precision.
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It's this unique combination of glass and mesh that creates the specific playing environment that defines padel.
With the enclosure fully built, the focus shifts to the playing surface. The chosen artificial turf—whether it's monofilament, fibrillated, or textured—is rolled out and cut precisely to fit the court's dimensions. The seams are then glued together to form a single, uniform surface.
Next comes the sand infill, a vital step. Specialized silica sand is spread evenly across the turf and then brushed deep into the fibers. This sand stabilizes the turf, helps control the ball bounce, and makes the surface safer for players.
Finally, the lighting system is installed. Modern courts almost exclusively use LED lights mounted on tall poles, typically 6-8 meters high. The goal is to get uniform, glare-free light across the entire court, making night games just as clear and enjoyable as playing in the daytime. Once the lights are on and the net is up, the court is officially ready for its first match.
Figuring out the price tag for a new padel court isn't as simple as picking a number. The total investment is a blend of several key components, and the final bill can swing wildly, typically landing somewhere between $25,000 to over $50,000 for a standard outdoor setup. What causes this big range? Everything from the quality of turf you choose to local labor costs in your area.
Think of it like building a house. You have the foundational cost for the basic structure, but your personal touches—like opting for professional-grade turf or top-tier lighting—are what really shape the final price. The main costs fall into a few big categories, and each one takes a significant chunk of the budget.
The biggest expenses are for the parts that physically make up the court. These are the absolute essentials where quality has a direct impact on how the game feels and how long your court will last.
Most of your money will go into the court's structure and playing surface. These are the bones of the operation, and trying to save a few dollars here can lead to bigger headaches and costs down the road.
It's worth remembering that your location plays a huge role in the cost. Europe is still the heart of the padel world. Back in , out of roughly 40,000 courts globally, a massive 31,401 were in Europe. Spain alone has over 22,000 courts, showing a mature market where you might find more competitive prices for materials and skilled labor. You can dive into more stats like this about the global padel court boom on Padel.FYI.
Once you have the basics covered, a few key upgrades can seriously improve the player experience and—for those running a business—boost revenue. Adding a roof or canopy is a game-changer, turning an outdoor court into a year-round facility that can operate rain or shine. You can learn more about this popular choice by reading our article on the benefits of indoor padel courts.
Other popular add-ons include premium, anti-glare LED lighting for amazing night sessions, custom-branded wind nets, and even integrated camera systems so players can record and analyze their matches. These extras will increase your initial spending, but they also make your court far more attractive and valuable.
For club owners and investors, looking at the return on investment is a critical part of the equation. A well-built padel court can be a very profitable business through a mix of:
By turning your court into a lively community spot, you can quickly see that initial construction cost transform into a reliable source of long-term income.
As padel’s popularity explodes, so do the questions about the courts themselves. It makes sense. Whether you're a club manager thinking about an investment, a homeowner with a big backyard, or just a curious player, you want to know the practical details.
We get questions all the time about everything from space requirements to a court's lifespan. Let's clear up some of the most common ones and give you the straightforward answers you need.
The playing area itself is a neat 10 meters wide by 20 meters long. But that’s not the whole story. You can't just drop a court into a space that size; you have to account for the steel structure, the entrances, and a bit of a safety buffer around the outside.
To be safe and give players enough room, you should really plan for a total footprint of at least 11 meters by 21 meters. In fact, most professional setups will allocate a 12m x 22m space. That extra meter all around makes a huge difference for player access and makes routine maintenance much easier.
Absolutely. This is one of the smartest and most popular ways for existing clubs to get into padel. A standard tennis court is spacious enough to fit two, and sometimes even three, regulation padel courts. It’s a fantastic way to maximize your real estate and offer something new.
The existing hard surface of the tennis court can often work as a sub-base, which saves a lot of time and money. The key, however, is to get that base thoroughly checked first. It needs to be perfectly level and have solid drainage before you even think about laying down the turf and glass.
A padel court's lifespan is a tale of two parts. The big stuff—the steel frame and the tempered glass—is built to last. With good care, you can easily get over 20 years out of them. The artificial turf, on the other hand, takes a beating. Expect to replace it every 5 to 8 years, depending entirely on how much it’s used and how well you maintain it.
This is a huge one, and the answer is almost always: it depends on where you live. The rules can vary wildly between cities, counties, and countries. If your plans include 6 to 8-meter floodlights for nighttime play, you will almost certainly need to get planning permission from your local government.
There are a good number of factors that are determining the price and we would like to introduce this to you in more detail:
The application (indoor or outdoor) actually decides which of the 3 available Padel Court construction systems is the most appropriate for you. We recommend models BASIC, PANORAMIC BASIC, BASIC PRO and Mod. PANORAMIC for Indoor use, and the Mod. PREMIUM for Outdoor use.
The Mod. PREMIUM provides an additional reinforcement of the vertical supports to achieve a better structural stability against wind loads.
The combination with our Structural Engineering Packages (SEP) makes the Padel Court very versatile for every application and convert our value proposition as the strongest and safest of the market.
See also this post: Wind loads on Padel Courts | Structural Strength
See also overview of Padel Court models.
You can achieve best price optimization through 2, 4 or 6 Padel Courts, since we can load 2 Padel Courts on one truck or container at a time, depending on the model. Of course, 3 Padel Courts can be ordered and delivered. In this case, the second truck would go with only 1 Court and the transport costs would be the same as the first truck with 2 courts. This is for truck deliveries in Europe. For container loads for oversees and other remote areas needs to be calculated independently.
Artificial turf – fibrillated, monofilament or textured
The fibrillated turf is very common and is also very popular among the players. The silica sand works much better with the fibrillated turf and creates an optimal playing surface after a short time. The monofilament is usually longer lasting and has an extra cost. The silica sand takes much longer to work into the fibers to create optimal playing surface. Is less exposed to hardening due to lack of maintenance on outdoor facilities. However, both solutions need to be regularly brushed.
NEW! Textured Turf with low maintenance and high comfort
Artificial turf systems with textured filaments (crimped) allow intensive use, optimal cushioning and achieve a long lasting life even with reduced care.
The textured structure perfectly encapsulates the silica sand as a stabilizing sand and ensures a constant volume. The recommended silica sand filling for this solution is only approx. 7-8 kg/m2. In conventional fibrillated and monofilament solutions, the silica sand amount is 15 kg/m2. The textured artificial turf is also the one used in the WORLD PADEL TOUR. For more information see HERE.
For the steel structure we can go for any color of the RAL-table with no surcharge.
Green has to surcharge. Blue, Terracotta and purple has a little surcharge.
See overview color combinations:
On indoor facilities we recommend “open on both sides“, since the ball can also be played from outside the court.
For outdoor facilities “doors on both sides” or also”open of both sides”. It depends on how you want to position the Padel Court in your facility
Ball-stop-nettings around the perimeter (on the long and short side) are needed for Padel Courts that are very close to the roadside or on a roof construction. This prevents balls going down the street.
For outdoor: Tempered glass of a thickness of 12 mm (1/2″) is always the first option. For indoor systems usually 10 mm (3/8″) .
Southern countries also use 10 mm for outdoor, but countries with high technical requirement, such as UK or Germany, we recommend the use of tempered glass 12 mm (1/2″) . In countries like USA, we do offer also laminated glass solutions of 12 mm (1/2″).
Indoor – If there is enough light and you can use the existing lighting system, then you could go for “without any lighting on the court“. This will make the court cheaper. If there is some need for more light you could just add some more LED-spotlights on the ceiling, where the power supply if much easier to get.
If you prefer the lighting on the court, we can of course supply the lighting pillars and the LED-Spotlights.
On outdoor Padel Courts usually 2 spotlights per lighting pillar are used. Nowadays, we are only considering LED.
See also this post: Lighting system on a Padel Courts
By truck: The transport costs heavily depend on the distance we have from the loading point to your place.
Sea freight: On container loads we usually do EXW or CIF to your closest seaport. Our closest port is Valencia-Spain. We recommend asking your local logistic company for a door-to-door service.
We deliver to Europe and specialized in remote areas like Mauritius, Barbados, Maldives and other challenging areas.
There are situations where the truck can not reach the place of installation and the material can not be unloaded directly at the place of installation with the help of a crane (sourced locally) or forklift. If this is not possible, then an additional working day for moving the material to the place of installation with smaller trucks, would have to be taken into consideration. Usually the path is done when making the foundation for the court, so that this scenario is relatively rare.
Depending on the Padel Court Modell and local conditions, we would need 3-5 days to build a Padel Court and it should be noted that all work needs to be completed on-site before we show-up, so that we can install the Padel Courts straight away.
These are the main criteria that has an impact on price and total costs, and it varies significantly from case to case as the needs and expectations are different. We design the quote based on your requirements and needs.
To give you a rough idea about the price:
Starting at approx. € per Padel Court for several courts for indoor use. The price depends on quantity, Indoor/Outdoor, configuration as described before, commercial conditions, construction system based on wind loads and conditions at the place of installation.
If OUTDOOR: foundation made by a local contractor. See post about foundation
If INDOOR, the subfloor needs to be concrete and free of electrical, water and gas tubes as we need to anchor the Padel Courts to the ground. See post
Feel free to use our contact form to send us your price request and find out the price for your project. We will provide some more information about Padel and its possibilities for you.
Are you interested in learning more about padel court with electric roof? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!